Last week my daughters were given a copy of Some Bugs. The book was published for kids between the ages of 18 months and five years old. It’s a great little book about the unique attributes of various insects. The plotline, if you can call it that, is simply “some bugs pinch, some bugs fight, some bugs…” The artwork in Some Bugs is fantastic.
As I read Some Bugs for the tenth time this morning (yes, my daughters are in the phase of wanting things read over and over), it occurred to me that that book would be a perfect fit for a Tinkergarten program or a program like it. Tinkergarten is an educational program designed to get young children (18 months to 8 years) involved in hands-on, outdoor learning experiences. I took my daughters to a Tinkergarten program last spring and summer. We loved it!
The reason that Some Bugs is a good fit for a Tinkergarten program or one like it is that every Tinkergarten lesson included a leader reading a short story to the kids. The stories aligned with that day’s activity. The end of Some Bugs encourages kids to go outside and take a close look at bugs.