UP!
By Kristine O’Connell George
Illustrated by Hiroe Nakata
Pre-reading:
What do you like to do with your daddy? Where do you want him to take you? What’s your favorite thing about dad?
Questions for your tot:
What do you see?
What is baby doing?
Where are they going?
This color is ___________ Do you see another color?
Do you see any animals? What kind?
Which picture do you like best?
What do you like to play with your daddy?
Play I Spy with UP!
See if together you can find the following objects:
child on a sled
alarm clock
an apple slice
unmade bed
green chair
a teddy bear
a brown dog
a blue bird
a see saw
a butterfly
baby ducks
a ladybug
What can you see?
Art Projects:
Using your camera (or camcorder) recreate each scene from the book with your tot and his or her dad. Narrate the tape to match the text of the book. Or, create a parallel UP scrapbook with the pictures.
On a paper plate have your child draw (or paint) a picture of them with their daddy doing their favorite thing. Or, a portrait of their dad is cute too. Wash the edges of the plate with brown paint to make it look like a frame. Hang on a prominent wall or give as a Father’s Day present.
Create a special card (or again, video) just for dad. Ask your child to complete the following phrases and then have them find pictures in magazines that relate to add to the card. (Warning: these could be hilarious)
I love Daddy because…
Daddy likes to….
Daddy’s favorite place to go…
Daddy likes to eat…
This reminds me of Daddy because…
Daddy is a great….
Or..
Draw the trunk of a tree (or cut out of brown grocery bag) and have your child glue onto a larger white paper. Then, press their thumb into ink or nearly dry paint to create the leaves. Print on the bottom: Thanks for helping me grow!
Let your child help make a special Father’s Day meal for that special guy. Be sure to put many of his favorite foods on the menu!
Simple gift:
Using the new clay that dries without baking, have your child make a sculpture that winds around a pencil cup (plastic lemonade containers are perfect) for dad’s desk.
Sing this song to the tune of “London’s Bridge”
Daddy’s arms can hold me high
to the sky, I can fly
Daddy’s arms can hold me high
or hug me tight.
Pre-reading skills:
After reading through the entire book at least once, flip back and read only the rhyming words. Exaggerate the different sounds, so baby can hear the difference. (This develops phonemic awareness, a building block to later reading skills). Then, see if you can come up with other words that rhyme with these (even nonsense words).
Have your tot put his or her hands in the air each time he or she hears the word UP!
Choose any word from the story and then list other words that start with the same letter. For example: Dad. Dad begins with D, it makes the sound “d” so do the words dog, dear, doll, dig, etc. Maybe your child will think of some too!
Make an ABC book based on all your child’s favorite things to do. First, make the list, and then break out the camera for great action poses! Your child will love this one of a kind book where they are the star.
