10 Nonfiction Books and Activities: Virtual Book Club for Kids

This month's virtual book club author is Gail Gibbons. She's written lots of great nonfiction books for kids. Since we had a hard time deciding on just one, here are ten crafts and activities you can pair with one of her books.  Be sure to link up your own Gail Gibbons activity below.

Fingerprint Lady Bug Life Cycle Craft

My sister gave my kids their very own Ladybug Land. It's a little enclosure for ladybugs. You mail in your certificate and the company sends you your very own ladybug larvae to raise to adulthood. My four year old was so excited to get them that we were actually standing at the mailbox waiting when the mailman finally delivered them into his loving arms. (My three year old daughter was less enthusiastic. She was holding out hope that the bug company had included some princesses in the box.)

Weaving a Bird's Nest: Preschool Craft

How to Make a Liquid Rainbow

My sister brought her four kids for a visit at the end of August.  She also brought the book How to Make a Liquid Rainbow.

Counting Octopus {Clothespin Craft}

My four year old is interested in learning about all sorts of things, so I love nonfiction books that are short and simple enough to read with him.  Octopus Under The Sea is one of those books.  With only a sentence or two on each page, it keeps his attention but provides enough facts to keep him interested.

Animals That Hatch From Eggs Project

My four year old came up with a great idea.  We were reading a Dinosaur Train book about how Buddy hatched from an egg when he said, "We should do a project about eggs hatching!"

5 Ways to Celebrate Ice Cream Month Preschool Style

July is National Ice Cream Month and we're such big fans that we've been celebrating all month year long. 

Dissolving Rocks

We recently checked out the Kids' Guide to Building Cool Stuff from the library.  It's got eleven fun projects that kids can do.  When my four year old pages through it he says, "Can we do that?!" for almost every one.  The projects are fairly easy to do and don't require anything too fancy, but mostly they are FUN!  The results of most of the activities are impressive enough that it would hold the interest of an older child but not so complex that preschoolers can't make a significant contribution to them.  This book would make a great gift for those boys that are hard to buy for.  The only critisim I have is that they didn't really include the scientific explanation and when you've got a four year old always wanting to know why, that comes in pretty handy!