‘Handy’ Reading Torch

Ages: Toddlers, preschoolers

Materials: Paper towel tube, yellow and orange construction paper, marker, scissors, tape, paper bag, shoe box
 

In the spirit of the 2008 Summer Olympics taking place in Beijing, China this August, make a reading torch to keep track of all the books you read with your child this summer.
 

Instructions:
 

1.  Using a marker, take turns tracing each other’s hands on sheets of yellow and orange construction paper.
 

2. Cut out each handprint. Store extra handprints in a shoe box.
 

3. On a small handprint, write the title of a book you’ve recently read with your child. On a larger handprint, write the title of a book or magazine you read by yourself.
 

4. Cut out a square from a paper bag. The square should long enough to cover an empty paper towel tube.
 

5. Wrap the paper bag square around the tube and tape it in place.
 

6. Have your child tape the small and large handprints on the top of the tube.
 

7. Every day after story time, add a handprint to the tube. By summer’s end, you and your child will have a reading torch that brightly displays all of the books you both read!