Five COUNTING Tips to Get the Most out of HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHRISTMAS CHILD by Laura Sassi + A Giveaway

I chose for my new book HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHRISTMAS CHILD to both rhyme and count because it has all the right components: a kid-friendly setting and theme (It’s Jesus’ birthday in the stable), fun, countable characters and items, a young intended audience, and a poignant, upbeat feel.

But there’s another reason I decided to infuse counting into this particular story. Counting is not just something that little ones love to do, it can also be a soothing, rhythmic way to slow ourselves down when we are rushing through a story (or through life). The process of pausing to count images on a spread, or stars in the sky (or whatever) compels us to pause for a moment to look, to point and to ponder.  And that’s exactly what I hope little ones and their caregivers will do as read this simple counting Christmas story.

With joyful counting in mind, here are five tips for using COUNTING to get the most out of HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHRISTMAS CHILD as you enjoy it with little ones, ages 2 – 4.

1. Do some pre-read counting. Before reading, get your little ones in the mood by counting to ten together using fingers or toes. Then look around your reading space and see what else there is to count. Maybe window panes or number of chairs or cozy pillows? Close by asking if they will help you count in the book they are about to enjoy.
2. Count items on book cover. Before opening the book, see if your little ones can 1) guess what the story might be about using picture clues from the cover and 2) count things on the cover. For HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHRISTMAS CHILD this could include counting eyes, halos, animals, hands and feet and one big star.
3. Read, pause, point and count across each and every spread. Now is the time to enjoy the story, pausing to engage with the text and illustrations, counting as you go. With HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHRISTMAS CHILD, it’s nice to conclude the story with this thought: How about we count the days until Christmas together? Then, using a calendar, X off and count each day until Christmas.
4. Make numbers out of dough! After reading the story, grab some play dough. Then using the numerals in the book as models, have your little ones roll the dough into coils and then shape into one of the numerals from the story.  Roll the remaining dough into little balls to match the numeral.  Or, for extra fun, shape them into their corresponding items in the story.  (Ex:  six spiders) Squish and repeat as often as is fun.
5. Go on a post-reading COUNTING hunt. After reading the story, extend the counting fun by investigating your tree or a family nativity and counting items. Count by color, shape, or any other category, looping in the thought that we are also counting with anticipation the days until Christmas, Jesus’ birthday!

BONUS FUN:  Be sure to check out https://happybirthdaychristmaschild.com for more book-themed fun including the book trailer, an inspirational message, a downloadable activity kit and purchase links.  (Available wherever books are sold.)

 

 

Activity kit:  https://s3.amazonaws.com/supadu-imgix/paracletepress-us/pdfs/discussion_guides/DG-9781640607996.pdf

Laura Sassi        

  PARACLETE PRESS will give away one copy of the delightful book to a person chosen at random from those who leave a comment on this post (US residents only).

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