Sometimes children like big books and sometimes they like little books. This book is so much easier to make when you tell the story about going on a picnic.
Make a picnic book by telling this story:
Let’s go on a picnic. First we need a picnic basket.
(Fold the paper in half.)
Next, we need hotdogs.
(Fold the paper in fourths.)
We also need hamburgers.
(Fold the paper into eighths.)
We’ll need a picnic bench to sit at.
(Open so it’s folded in half. Bring one bottom flap to the fold. Turn
over and bring the other bottom flap to the fold.)
A picnic is more fun if we share it with a friend. (Tear down middle crease
until you reach the fold.)
Now all we need is a book to write a story about our adventures on our picnic.
(Hands on top of bench, bend down, and fold around to make a book.)
Use for: letter books, word families
reading the room, writing the room
fact families
shape or color books
unit or theme
spelling words (picture/sentence)
friends’ names and phone numbers
opposites, story elements
original stories
Hint! Let children decorate an individual cereal box to store their picnic books.
Picnic Book with a Window
Cut a “window” out of one section of a picnic book and children can draw a secret picture inside.
