You Choose by Nick Sharratt and Pippa Goodhart and published by Picture Corgi Books and Puffin is a brilliant book to get your children talking to you. It isn't a story but a book full of beautiful bright pictures for you to choose what you like best. Each page has a theme and asks a question for you to choose from the pictures. We love looking at this book in our house and it is fun to be able to choose different things each time you look at it. The pictures are bright and colourful, the questions are written large and clearly at the top of the page and the whole concept of the book is brilliant. I also love that the last page is choosing where you would like to sleep so it also makes a good bedtime story book.
Activities
Child's choice activity
Choices discussion
Good and bad choices activity - sort, snap, pairs
Catalogue activity
Choice spinning wheel
Making your own choices/being told what to do discussion
Choosing where to spend a day out
Outdoor activity choice
Water play choice
Choose the menu for the day
Make a menu
Indoor
As adults we make choices everyday so it is an important skill for children to learn how to make choices confidently and this book helps with that. With younger children you could start with giving them choices of what to wear for the day or what they have for breakfast and with older children you could give them the choice of what the family is having for dinner or what present they are going to buy someone. You could then have a discussion with your child/children about how they feel when they get to choose. Another activity could be to draw some good choices and bad choices pictures and cut them up. Older children can help you come up with the ideas. Then your child/children can sort them and put them in the correct column. You could always do two of the same pictures and turn it into a game of snap or pairs. If you do decide to do this I would draw your pictures on card or stick your pictures on card as this will make them last longer while you are playing your games. If you don't want to draw you could always get your child/children to act out good and bad choices and take photos and use these for your child to sort or to play the games. Some examples could be taking something that isn't theirs (bad choice) or helping put the shopping away (good choice). Another activity could be for your child/children to cut out some pictures from a catalogue what they would choose to buy and then they can stick these on some paper. They could always draw a house and choose things that they would like to go in their dream home. A final indoor activity could be to make a spinning wheel with all different activities on like hopping, holding your breath for ten seconds or pretending to be a dog. This could be made with a paper plate, felt tips, a piece of card for the arrow and a split pin. You could start with your letting your child choose the activity and then get them to spin the wheel. After the activity you could talk about if it is more fun to have to do what the wheel says or for them to make their own choice.
Outdoor
The first activity could be for you to give your child/children a couple of choices of places to go out to and then they can choose from them how you are all going to spend the day. You could extend this to them helping you decide what to put in the picnic. For a staying at home outdoor activity (if you have the space) you could set up some fun activities and then your child/children can go round and choose what they want to do. You could set up chalking, skipping, a small obstacle course or some bubble blowing for example. A final outdoor activity could be to set up a water tray/bowl and then you could give them the choice of what they would like to play with in the water. You could give them some cups to choose from or animals or some things that float and sink and then they can choose what they would like to play with. You could always do this activity inside in the bath.
Cooking/Food
You could do a day where your children get to choose the menu for the day; breakfast, dinner and tea. They can obviously only eat what you have available so if you plan this activity ahead then they could let you know what they need you to buy from the shop or you could just give them two or three options of what you have in the house. This is a good activity for getting your child/children to think about what foods go together and what don't. Also if they choose hopefully they will be more inclined to eat their food. Older children could also make a menu for the day and let the other people in the family know what they have chosen.
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