How Tall Are You? - Tall

Tall
by Jez Alborough
Laptime: toddler - preschool
Story Circle: preschool

Little ones love it when adults recognize that they are getting bigger. They love to tell us that they are no longer little. They are bigger than the kitty and their baby brother and when they are on their Daddy's shoulders and can see the whole world around them, they are bigger than anyone.
Jez Alborough in his picture book Tall, captures that childlike desire to be bigger with expressive illustrations and only 15 words.
Bobo is a little chimp in a big jungle. He is small and wants to be tall, so his friends help him experience what it is like to be tall. Being tall is wonderful but he discovers that there is a place where small is best of all - safe in his mother's arms.

Laptime Activities: Be Tall

1. Take a tape measure and measure everyone in the family. Mark the heights in a place where the height differences are visible. Allow your child to stand on something stable and safe that will allow them to be as tall as each different family member. Measuring is a good time to talk about numbers, counting and spacial differences.
2. Go to a playground with safe climbing equipment. Stand on the ground and talk about what you see. Climb to the highest point that your child is comfortable with and talk about what you see now that you are taller.

Story Circle Activities:
Try this movement rhyme:
Children start curled up in a ball on the floor.
Jack- in- a-box, Jack-in-a-box, small and still.
Wont you come out?
Yes, I will!
Children jump up with arms stretched up high, making themselves as tall as possible.

1. Send your class on a scavenger hunt in your class library to find pictures of things that are tall and small. Sit in a circle and have each child share the picture that they found and say if it is tall or small.
2. Take your class out to the playground. Stand on the ground and talk about what they see. Then have each child climb the ladder to the top of the slide. When they get to the top ask them what they see. After they have a quick look around they can slide down and the next child can have a turn. When everyone has had a turn to see what the world looks like from a taller perspective go into the classroom and draw pictures of what they saw.