One square. Unlimited possibilities. One bright red square starts out perfectly happy. But then something happens. On Monday, the square turns orange, gets cut up and punched with holes. Though no longer a perfect square, it transforms into something just as wonderful…a babbling, giggling, clapping fountain. On Tuesday, the square (now yellow), gets torn into pieces and turns into a garden. Each day of the week, Perfect Square turns a different color & its “perfectness” is disrupted and each day it creatively turns itself into something new and different. On the last day, nothing happens to Perfect Square. It waits and waits. I LOVE that instead of waiting any longer for something else to change it, it changes itself!
If you have been following my blog, Facebook page & other social media pages for any length of time, you know that I love & own hundreds of kids picture books. There are lots of “good” books & then there are a few “great” books….. like Green Eggs & Ham with it’s message of trying new things, exploring feelings with Dr. Seuss’ My Many Colored Days, the creativity of Not a Box, the sensory extravaganza & fun of being made into a pizza in Pete’s a Pizza, affirmation & the power of friendship in Agate, What Good is a Moose?, etc.
Perfect Square falls into the “great” category for the following reasons:
- includes lots of early learning concepts (colors, shapes, days of the week)
- large, easy to read text
- lots of great vocabulary, descriptive language & action words
- fosters creativity
- lots of opportunities for kids yoga
- has a great empowering messages of taking life’s “unperfectness” and making your own beauty out of it & the beauty of thinking outside the “box”.
Kids yoga opportunities in this book:
- fountain (volcano and/or waterfall)
- bird
- flower
- kite
- bridge
- river (seated forward fold)
- fish (* for safety reasons I often do easy pose + a mudra of the sign for “fish” rather than the traditional “fish” pose)
- mountain
- window (could either do a group pose to create a window or could do star pose to make arms & legs like the windowpane divider)
- the book then repeats back through all the previous items which gives kids great practice to repeat the poses they had just learned
The book trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JD9PnQFc8Kk
A peek inside the book:
This book lends itself perfectly to doing a craft activity! Really….. I dare you to read this book and not do a craft….. it won’t be possible 🙂
Free activity guide from the publisher:
Perfect Square – free printable activity guide from the publisher (PDF)
See ideas:
http://shannonsbooknook.com/?p=2310
More ideas: http://mathfour.com/picture-books/perfect-square, http://thriftylivingde.blogspot.com/2012/03/perfect-square-craft.html
Book extension ideas. Love all the great descriptive language in this book! http://centerforeducation.rice.edu/slc/IdeaMoNov2011.html
I purchased my copy of the book for 34% off on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Perfect-Square-Michael-Hall/dp/0061915130
Feel free to share any requests you have for kids yoga lesson plan ideas in the comments below or on the OMazing Kids Facebook page!
Angela Moorad, MS, CCC-SLP, IAYT, RCYP-2
Speech-Language Pathologist
Founder of OMazing Kids, LLC – inclusive wellness activities for kids of all abilities
Radiant Child Yoga Certified – Levels 1 & 2
E-Mail: amoorad1@juno.com
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OMazing Kids LLC is an organization that promotes inclusive wellness activities for kids of all abilities. The blog and social media pages share information about books, DVD’s, CD’s, games and other products specifically designed for kids wellness, mindfulness and relaxation, product reviews & giveaways, lesson plan & activity ideas, research, kids wellness in the news and a connection corner with listings of individuals doing adapted yoga and those offering trainings.
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