The following articles have been compiled from materials given to
new volunteers during their reading club training sessions.
From May 2020 through August 2022 we were limited to only using Zoom for our reading clubs - so any crafts we guided them through needed to make use of only common household items they were likely to have while participating at home. Since the reading guides we provide for all of the teacher-approved books before the pandemic were written for our face-to-face reading clubs, they may contain craft ideas that the kids can not easily do at home. Below are clever and simple activity and craft ideas you can use for most any book you read-aloud virtually or at home. It's also best to practice your activity or create your craft ahead of time so you have a model and experience.
*Note: All our activity and craft ideas are just suggestions. You can use them, but you don't have to use them. You can expand upon them or add your own twist, so long as they are things the kids can do on their own with the materials they have at home. |
Activity/Craft description
(click to see directions/sample) |
Grade Level
|
Description or Materials Needed
|
| Show Us |
K - 5th |
Ask the kids to show something in their house that a character in the book could use. Volunteers should model this idea with something in their own house. |
| Zoom Scavenger Hunt |
K - 5th |
The website to the left has a detailed example, but it need not be as planned as that and can involve items, colors, etc. relevant to the book |
| Play Hangman or do art on the Whiteboard |
2nd - 5th |
The Hangman link on the left shows a video of a PE teacher explaining how to play Hangman on Zoom. Click this link to learn about using the Zoom whiteboard. |
| Show and Tell |
K - 5th |
Ask kids to show off one of their favorite things in the Zoom meeting. Ask them which character from the book would also like that thing, or have kids show something a character in the book would like. |
| Online Word Search Puzzle |
K - 5th |
Using a site such as thewordsearch.com/maker/, create a word search puzzle ahead of time that you then screen share with the kids during the Zoom session. The kids can use Zoom's screen annotation tools to draw circles around the words as they find them. For younger kids you will probably need to help them with words displayed vertically, diagonally, or backwards. |
| Guess the Animal |
K - 2nd |
One player thinks of an animal and the other players asks questions to figure out what animal it is. |
| I Spy |
K - 5th |
One player picks an object in the background of their screen area. Then the other players try to guess what object they picked by asking questions to figure it out. |
| Name, Animal, Place or Thing |
2nd - 5th |
Each player will be given a letter and they need to use it to give a Name, Animal, Place, or Thing starting with that letter in one minute. They can type their answers into the Zoom chat. Go around the group on Zoom with each person getting the next letter in the alphabet until you finish the whole alphabet. |
| Charades |
2nd - 5th |
One player chooses a book title, famous person, character, movie, or song. Then the player acts out the item they picked without using words. The other players watch on Zoom and place their guesses in the Zoom chat. The first person to guess correctly wins. |
| GoNoodle |
K - 5th |
This website features movement and mindfulness videos created by child development experts. If you decide to use it, be sure to explore it ahead of time so you know what activity to share that would be relevant to the book and fun for the kids. |
| Starfall.com |
K - 3rd |
This website provides activities you can screen share with the kids. If you decide to use it, be sure to explore it ahead of time so you know what activity to share that would be relevant to the book and fun for the kids. |
| Origami Bird |
3rd - 5th |
Paper, scissors, tape or glue |
| Origami Penguin |
3rd - 5th |
Paper, scissors, tape or glue |
| Paper Boat |
K - 5th |
Paper |
| Chick Corner Bookmark |
3rd - 5th |
Paper, scissors, tape or glue |
| 3-D Fish |
3rd - 5th |
Construction paper; scissors |
| Picture Fish origami |
K - 5th |
Paper, crayons or pencils |
| Paper House |
K - 5th |
Paper, crayons or pencils |
| Paper Plate Clock |
K - 5th |
Paper plate, crayons or pencils, tape or glue, paper |
| Popsicle Stick Kitty Craft |
3rd - 5th |
Popsicle sticks, scissors, crayon/markers, googly eyes or make them out of paper |
| Tulip in Heart Card |
3rd - 5th |
Paper, scissors, pencil, tape or glue |
| Animal Face with Mouth |
3rd - 5th |
Paper, scissors, a straw, tape or glue |
| Recycled Wind Chime |
K - 5th |
Plastic cup, string, tape or glue, beads or similar |
| Dangly Octopus |
K - 5th |
Plastic cup, paper, markers, tape or glue |
| Garbage Bag Kite |
K - 5th |
Garbage bag, duct tape, strings/ribbon, wooden sticks |
| Fork Flower Painting |
3rd - 5th |
Paper, glue or tape, plastic fork, paint |
| Q-tip Daisy Flower |
3rd - 5th |
Q-tips, pipe cleaners (or similar things) |
| TP Roll Binoculars |
K - 5th |
TP Rolls, ribbons, paper, markers/crayons, glue, tape, or rubber bands |
| Simple STEAM Activities to Do With Household Items |
K - 5th |
STEAM is an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics. As you consider incorporating any of the ideas from this webpage, please consider if the kids we serve are likely to have access to any of the required materials at home. |
| Free Arts and Crafts Resources for Home Learning |
3rd - 5th |
As you consider incorporating any of the ideas from this webpage, please consider if the kids we serve are likely to have access to any of the required materials at home. |
| Fun Fashion Activities: Jewelry Making, Knitting, and More! |
3rd - 5th |
As you consider incorporating any of the ideas from this webpage, please consider if the kids we serve are likely to have access to any of the required materials at home. |
If you have any more activities or simple, generic crafts we should add above, please send them to us at info@readingtokids.org!
