Playing with blocks promotes fine motor skills, develops creativity and problem solving, planning, lateral thinking, and more. Adding a toy hammer tacks on coordination and persistence and an extra layer of fun! This building activity is inspired by Arthur’s Tree House but can be used at anytime. Show your child the illustrated instructions and have him or her lead the activity.
Here are the four steps illustrated above:
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Go get your blocks and sit with them on a hard surface
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Find a TOY hammer
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Use your toy hammer to tap on each blog and hammer it into place
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Build a tower block-by-hammered-block
Here are some book-based talking points:
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What was your favorite part of the book? Why?
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Do you remember what Arthur was excited about?
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Is there a book or magazine that you like to read a lot? Which one? Tell me about it?
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Why didn’t Arthur want to read in his room?
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Why didn’t Arthur want to read in the living room?
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How did Arthur even think about reading in a tree?
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Have you ever solved a problem by looking around? What was the problem? How did you solve it?
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What did Arthur’s family do before they started building the tree house?
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Is there anything in this book that you didn’t understand?
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Is there anything in this book that you’d like to talk about?