When Donatella and I started the FunLab adventure, we had the wonderful experience of collaborating with the Sabbiarelli team during their launch of the Italian made sand art kit. The years have flown by but I still love including Sabbiarelli products in FunLab activities because children love them. I always thought that it would be a great match for a book reading and what better opportunity than the FunLab Book Club! The book that I was looking for an activity to pair with is book about a silly crocodile who teaches us about the risks associated with being SELFISH – THE SELFISH CROCODILE. An additional plus for incorporating the sand art technique into Book Club is that it is a fun way to review how to say 12 different colors in ENGLISH!
You will need:
The Selfish Crocodile
Sabbiarelli Cards – we used the crocodile from this album
Sabbiarelli colored sand
12 trays
Word development: fish, nut, sharp teeth, river, crocodile, frog, mouse, tooth and crab, yellow, orange, dark green, light green, dark blue, light blue, pink, red, white, black, brown, purple (need flashcards for teaching vocabulary – download these)
Remember that the success of any reading is being animated! The kids will be giggling at the story line and you but you will have their attention if you really act out the story and point at related images as you read. Before I read, I usually go through the flashcards just to make sure that the main words are fresh in their minds.
Set up your workshop with 12 trays. Each tray should have a SINGLE color of sand. Teach the kids how to paint with sand. It is easy peel off the paper, pour on the sand, rub and SHAKE. The most important thing is that they move but the sand stays in its designated tray.
We had all the kids make the crocodile but if you look in the Sabbiarelli wild animal album you will find all the animals which are shown at one point or another in the book!
Try it out at your book reading and let us know how it goes
have a good week
Alison
#likeagirl
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