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July 15, 2013

Meerkat Small World: a Child-Led Literacy Adventure

I am so excited to have Jessica from Play Trains guest posting on Housing A Forest today.  If you have a little train enthusiast in your home, then I know you will enjoy her blog too.  It is packed full of engaging train activities that I know you will love.  However, for a fun twist instead of trains, Jessica is sharing a fun Meerkat Small World: a Child-Led Literacy Adventure with us today.

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Meerkat Small World: a Child-Led Literacy Adventure | Play Trains! guest posting for Housing a Forest.

It may come as a surprise to anyone who’s visited us at Play Trains! that we have time for anything other than, well, playing trains. But the truth is we also spend quite a lot of time pretending to be meerkats.

The Little Engineer’s best friend is a stuffed meerkat named Meekat, whose story I told as an introduction to how I made him his own tiny felt engineer’s hat. Most of our meerkat activities include Meekat, but perhaps the most special meerkat experience we’ve had happened in a place the scruffy little mongoose isn’t allowed to go: our sandbox.

Meerkat Small World: a Child-Led Literacy Adventure | Play Trains! guest posting for Housing a Forest.

Last summer, we had several meerkat books out from the library. Learning about his favorite animals inspired the Little Engineer to make a meerkat small world in the sandbox. We took Mama Meerkat and her pups out with us and pretended to build a new meerkat habitat at the zoo. We mounded the sand and dug small caves (he wouldn’t let me get the sand wet enough for tunnels). From our planters around the play area, we picked herbs and weeds and stuck them in the sand for plants.

Meerkat Small World: a Child-Led Literacy Adventure | Play Trains! guest posting for Housing a Forest.

After we’d been working for some time, building and rebuilding the habitat, he asked for markers and paper to write on. My first reaction was to say markers and sand don’t mix, but fortunately I took a moment to think it over and went inside to grab them.

He immediately went to work and wrote a sign for the meerkat habitat.

Meerkat Small World: a Child-Led Literacy Adventure | Play Trains! guest posting for Housing a Forest.

He told me it said, “No taking Meerkats out of the meerkat cage,” and, “No feeding meerkats.” But he, as the zookeeper, was allowed to feed them bugs, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, and grapes.

Next, he asked me to write a sign for him as he said the words.

Meerkat Small World: a Child-Led Literacy Adventure | Play Trains! guest posting for Housing a Forest.

And then then he drew the plans for a meerkat habitat.

Meerkat Small World: a Child-Led Literacy Adventure | Play Trains! guest posting for Housing a Forest.

Finally, he asked me to write down his words again as he described what happened in the habitat.

Meerkat Small World: a Child-Led Literacy Adventure | Play Trains! guest posting for Housing a Forest.

About halfway through, I commented that it sounded like a poem. I think he was emulating the rhythm of one we had recently read. He liked that idea so much he mentioned it in the poem itself.

Drawing attention to what he was doing did seem to break the natural flow of the poem. But on the other hand, it got him to purposefully try to create poetry. And I had to smile when he saw I had used an exclamation point and added his word for them into the poem. He still calls exclamation points “Gusto!” thanks to the way I first described their function to him.

This literacy adventure took no more from me than a simple yes and a willingness to follow his lead. What a beautiful experience it was to watch my child’s language skills and imagination blossom in such a relaxed, natural way.

Jessica ~ Play Trains

 Play Trains | Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter | Google+

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Thanks so much for sharing Jessica!  What a great reminder to follow our kids lead, and watch the learning unfold.  We all love comments, so why not pop over and visit  Play Trains and tell Jessica how much you enjoyed her post on Housing A Forest.

Here are a few of my favorite posts from Play Trains to get you started:

  • Fizzy Engine: Baking Soda and Vinegar Trains 
  • Dryer Sheet Box Engine Shed 
  • Pipe Cleaner Trees for Wooden Train Layouts

 

Related posts:

  1. Nocturnal Possum Small World
  2. 10 Cool Summer Activities
  3. Sandbox Visitors
  4. Pixy Stix Learning Tray
Posted in Kid Projects and tagged Guest Post, Small World.

Welcome to Housing A Forest!
I would love for you to grab a cup of coffee and stay a while. You can read more about us or catch up on our favorite experiments, projects + art activities.

Related posts:

  1. Nocturnal Possum Small World
  2. 10 Cool Summer Activities
  3. Sandbox Visitors
  4. Pixy Stix Learning Tray
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2 thoughts on “Meerkat Small World: a Child-Led Literacy Adventure”

  1. Jessica @ Play Trains! on July 15, 2013 at 11:36 am said:

    Thank you so much for inviting me to guest post at Housing a Forest, Tammy! It’s always so exciting to see a post of mine up on one of my favorite blogs. 🙂

    Reply ↓
    • Tammy on July 15, 2013 at 11:40 am said:

      I love reading what you and your little engineer are up too! Thanks so much for sharing.

      Reply ↓

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