Tip #14 Picture hunt

Today we’re going on a picture hunt. What’s that, you ask? Remember the “Where’s Waldo?” books? Like that.

In most picture books, the illustrator ‘hides’ things inside the pictures. It might be other animals, a squirrel in a tree for example, or a bunny peaking out from behind a bush.
This makes the story more alive for children and shows what else is going on, besides what the words might say.

When you read a story to your child or students, have them study the pictures. What else do they see there? Younger children can tell you what they see. (They may even make up a story about what they see that’s totally different from the story.)

With older children you can make a game out of it. One game can be to write down everything they see in the picture. Who ever has the longest, most accurate list wins.

Another game you can play is a relay race, of sorts. Divide the class into two groups. Line them up. Have one team member from each team race to the board and write one thing they see in the picture. As they tag the child up next, that child races to the board and writes another thing. When both teams have finished (one round each) see how many different things they saw. Any duplicates? The team that wrote it first gets the point.

Have fun! See you tomorrow with another great tip.