As a child, I loved camping. My family and I had many wonderful adventures camping together. I also enjoyed special camp outs with my girl scout troop growing up, and fun overnights while I was at summer camp. I have to confess though- as an introverted child with a vivid imagination, camping could definitely raise some fears for me. Especially in the dark, my active mind could turn even the smallest noises into something frightening. I don’t want my boys to feel the same anxiety when camping. These camping storytime book picks are perfect for easing worries and making camping fun. Plus I’m sharing a few cool extension ideas to keep the story time fun going!

Standard Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. I may receive a commission from purchases you make through the links in this post (at no additional cost to you), which allows me to continue providing free content on the blog. 

Camping Storytime Choices

Caillou Goes Camping by Roger Harvey

Some parents may not be fans of the tv show centered around this (ok, I’ll just say it- whiney!) preschooler. However, I’ve always been a fan of the books. Their bright, clear illustrations are engaging, and the text is generally a reassuring social story for young audiences. In this volume, Caillou and his grandpa enjoy a fun camp out adventure together.

Good Night, Sleep Tight, Don’t Let the Bedbugs Bite by Diane deGroat

#thebigone is always a fan of deGroat’s books about Gilbert. He’s enjoyed them even more since he’s started school, as I think he is really able to identify with the classroom and friend dynamics represented. Gilbert faces his fears in this fun story- the perfect example for my boys!

Camping Out by Heather Amery & Stephen Cartwright

Books from Usborne have been popular for years, and seem to becoming even more loved in recent months. This slightly older story is a quick, fun tale of 2 young campers who hear a noise outside their tent. The book addresses the idea of a noise outside in a light, non-threatening way, making it great for young kids.

Night Animals by Gianna Marino

This story shares such a fun twist on the idea of the noises you hear outside at night. The illustrations are fun and quirky, and personality shines through on all of the nocturnal creatures. The frightened night animals help present the classic ‘they’re more scared of you than you are of them’ adage in a silly way that kids love.

Shine A Light On Night Animals!

Here’s a fun, easy art project that lets kid’s explore the idea of discovering nocturnal animals like those in the book.

Materials: 

1. Flashlight and night animal printables. (See below!)
2. Crayons, colored pencils, or markers.
3. Scissors.
4. Brass fastener.
5. Thumbtack or pin. (Optional, but definitely helpful! Adult supervision a must, obviously!)

Directions: 

1. Print out 1 of each sheet. (See below!)
2. Color animal sheet and flashlight sheet.
3. Cut out animal circle.
4. Cut out flashlight overlay.
5. Use thumbtack to poke a small hole in the center of each cut out, on the grey dot.
6. Poke brass fastener through hole in flashlight page, and then through animals page, stacking together. Open brass fastener to secure.
7. Enjoy spinning the animal circle and ‘discovering’ the nocturnal animals!

Camping Storytime Counting

Here’s a simple math activity inspired by a perennial camping favorite. It’s a great hands on way to practice counting. As a bonus, the threading action is also perfect for strengthening fine motor skills!

Materials:

1. Printable Camp Out Counting sheet. (See below!)
2. 12 brown pipe cleaners. (Or 6- see #3).
3. Scissors. (Optional- you can cut 6 pipe cleaners in half, rather than using 11 full size ones).
4. 55 white plastic pony beads.
5. Pencil/pen.

Directions:

1. Print a copy of Camp Out Counting sheet. (See below!)
2. Assemble additional materials.
3. Cut pipe cleaners in half, if desired.
4. Start counting ‘marshmallows’ and adding them to each ‘stick’!
   1. Add the number of marshmallows on each stick to the right in the # column, and a check in the ‘done’ column when each skewer is complete.
5. Laminating your printable is optional, but will produce a sturdier learning tool that can be used repeatedly. Numbers can be written with dry erase marker to make it easy to reuse.
6. Feeling hungry? Try the same activity using real marshmallows and pretzel sticks instead!

Does your family go camping? What is your family’s favorite part about camping out?

Grab Your Printables!

Check out what the other bloggers have come up with below:

We were recently given the chance to check out Garden Safari Vegetable Soup. I knew it was an opportunity I could not pass up. The benefits of cooking with kids are multifaceted. Young chefs gain fine motor experience while ripping, chopping, or stirring. There are sensory benefits as they get their hands dirty and explore the way ingredients smell, feel, and taste. Measuring components of recipes presents a perfect opportunity for applying math to the real world. The act of preparing a dish with a child opens the door for discussing healthy food choices. As an added bonus, picky eaters tend to be more willing to try something they’ve helped make. Read on to see what we thought of the book. Stay to the end to grab some extras I created to extend our Garden Safari storytime learning a bit further!

Standard Disclosure: I recieved a free copy of this book to facilitate my review. This post contains affiliate links. I may receive a commission from purchases you make through the links in this post (at no additional cost to you), which allows me to continue providing free content on the blog.

Reading Garden Safari Vegetable Soup

My kids loved checking out this cute book from Kitchen Club Kids. The rhyming verses from authors Eluka Moore, Larry Puzniak, and Marianne Welsh give Garden Safari Vegetable Soup a fun, sing-songy quality, perfect for reading out loud. Kristen Gau’s illustrations are cheerful, bright, and lively. The expressions on the little cooks faces are expressive and vibrant. My boys are enthusiastic fans of helping in the kitchen. They loved that the book focused on a recipe they could get involved with. As a mom who wants to help her family eat healthier, I was a huge fan of the focus on fresh, whole food ingredients. End of the Rainbow Fruit Salad is another book from the team, that I’m adding to my kiddos’ birthday lists this summer. They’re total fruit fanatics, so I know it’s going to be perfect for them!

Garden Safari Inspired Early Learning

Inspired by the colorful illustrations of vegetables in the book, I created a fun color literacy printable perfect for early learners. Kids can work on reinforcing both color knowledge and sight word recognition. Grab your free printable sheets below, and use scissors to cut each vegetable piece out.

I created 2 versions of the game pieces. One is a bit simpler, and includes some ‘hints’. The colored text will make matching a bit simpler for your youngest readers, who may not be ready to just read text. The black and white text version is a perfect challenge for slightly older readers. Color names were a big part of my oldest’s sight words lists in kindergarten, and this game is ideal for practicing them in a fun way.

Laminating is optional, but the pieces will hold up better for repeated use (over time, or for multiple kids in a classroom setting). My son used clothespins to indicate his answers. If you have laminated your veggie cards, using dry erase markers to indicate answers would work well and erase easily to use again.

i Spy Bottle- Garden Safari Sensory Fun!

Since he was young, #thebigone has enjoyed sensory exploration. ‘I Spy’ bags, bottles, and jars have been some of my favorite ways to introduce sensory games to him. ‘I Spy’ is great because the hunt is super engaging, and most kids can explore it independently. Games like this are ideal for days when I need a little quiet time. As a bonus, now that #thebigone is much older, he gets to help set the games up for his little brother. (Less work for mom is a win-win!)

I involved the kids in shopping for the supplies for our bottle. We used the printable you can grab below as a shopping list, and enjoyed a sort of scavenger hunt as we picked beads to represent the veggies in Garden Safari Vegetable Soup. We used a combination of glass, wood, and plastic beads for ours, but materials are flexible. Brown rice is a perfect filler for the jar- inexpensive, easily obtained, and aligned with the theme. To fit with the cooking theme, we used a plastic food storage container as the vessel. Super glue (or hot glue) helped to be sure the top stayed securely in place.

Toddlers and younger kids may enjoy exploring the bottle without the printed list- sometimes open ended discovery is best at this age. Older kids may like to read their lists independently, or see who can check every ingredient off the list fastest. Regardless of exactly how they utilize the I Spy Bottle, young chefs are sure to enjoy the opportunity to explore!

Get Cooking!

If you have some mini foodies or asiring chefs in your home, be sure to check out the awesome products available from Kitchen Club Kids. Take a peek through their site and choose some of the kid friendly recipes and fun to try with your little sous chefs! And don’t forget the printables below so you can maximize your family’s Garden Safari Vegetable Soup story time learning!

Do your kids like to help you in the kitchen? what’s your favorite tip for getting your kids involved with meal preparations?

So, no joke- the illustrator most represented in my boys’ home library is very likely Eric Carle. Board books, paperbacks, hardcovers- we’ve got them covered. Lift the flap, coloring books, audiobooks? You’ll find those in my home as well. Understandably, there was no way I could pass up a chance to participate in this month’s book club. The Very Hungry Caterpillar, The Very Busy Spider, The Very Quiet Cricket… Yup, we’ve got them all. Truthfully, my biggest challenge was narrowing down which book I wanted to use as my inspiration!

Standard Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. I may receive a commission from purchases you make through the links in this post (at no additional cost to you), which allows me to continue providing free content on the blog.

After much deliberation and debate, for this month’s craft I eventually settled on The Very Busy Spider. We actually have this title in a few formats- we like it that much! The board book edition has been perfect for chubby toddler hands. Our lift the flap format provides a lot of interactive reading fun for slightly older audiences.

The Very Busy Spider Flashback

When #thebigone turned four, I became a stay at home mom and began a year of preschool fun at home with him. In conjunction with a pretty serious Spider-Man phase, I turned to The Very Busy Spider for some hands on activities I hoped would pique his interest. (Spoiler alert: he loved it!) We kept things pretty simple and laid-back, which should make them simple to reproduce for your kids as well.

[Outdated cell phone photos ahead, so image & filter quality are less than ideal. My apologies!]
[Oh, and I swear, he doesn’t usually go shirtless this often. But at age four, anything potentially messy – paint, glue, slime – we generally minimized the risk to his clothing!]

1. We spent a morning stringing yarn all around our playroom to spin our very own spider web. Then #thebigone laid down under it for a rest. (Spinning webs is hard work!)
2. Once we had spun a giant web, we set about catching some ‘bugs’. I cut some amorphous blobs out of black construction paper to represent flies, and #thebigone had fun ‘catching’ them in his web with clothespins. (Great for fine motor!)
3. For some sensory fun, we created a simple white slime. We added tiny black spider confetti to tie it to our theme- and up the ‘ick’ factor a bit!
4. Glitter glue was a major obsession for #thebigone for a while, so he created a glitter glue web on black paper. (Adults can draw a web with white pencil or crayon first, and kids can ‘trace’ with the glitter glue.)

The Very Busy Spider fast forward

This time around, I was particularly inspired by the board book edition of The Very Busy Spider that we own. Throughout the book, the silk threads of the spider’s web are all raised. This brings a little bit of a touch and feel, sensory component into the reading, and makes it extra engaging for young readers. I wanted to recreate that three dimensional aspect at home.

As I’ve mentioned previously, squeezing tubes of paint or glue is a great hand strengthener and fine motor exercise for little hands. Activities like these can help prepare children’s hands for the important task of efficient, legible writing in the future.

Materials:

• Piece of paper.
  • We were inspired by the final illustration of the book, so we chose darker shades- black and blue. Your child can choose what they prefer- white is also a great choice as it mimics Carle’s illustrative style well. Patterned or textured paper will best resemble the images in the book, but flat works fine also- no need to buy something special.
• Puffy paint.
  • Colors are flexible as well. Silver, glow in the dark, or white work best on darker shades of paper. If using light paper, a wide range of paint colors will work.
• Brown paper.
  • Patterned or textured paper is a great choice, as Carle’s illustrations have a lot of distinct detail in them.
  • Crumpling the paper before use, or creating an abstract texture with paint, crayons, markers, or colored pencils is another great option for imitating the artist’s distinct style.
• Scissors.
• Glue stick.
• Star stickers. (Optional, but fun! Bonus points for glow in the dark.)

Spin Your Web:

1. If you need to add interest to your brown paper, complete this step first. If using paint, allow the paint to dry completely before moving on.
2. Cut 4 strips of brown paper, to represent the 4 sticks the spider used to frame her web.
   
3. Glue the 4 strips to your base paper. Trim off any extra.
   
   
4. If you are adding star stickers, attach these now.
   

1. Alternatively, drawing stars with white or yellow crayons or colored pencils is another great option.

• Use your puffy paint to create a spider web on the paper. Use the illustrations from the book as reference if you need inspiration.
  1. If kids need a little extra guidance with this step, feel free to draw a simple web on the paper first for them to ‘trace’ with the puffy paint.
     
• Allow the puffy paint to dry completely.
• If you used glow in the dark puffy paint or stickers, be sure to let them set in the light for a bit. Then duck into a dark closet or room to get a glimpse of your very busy spider’s web at night.

Do your kids have a favorite Eric Carle book? Do you? Let me know in the comments!

Interested in joining us next month? Join the Facebook group for updates HERE and feel free to participate whenever you can.