Theme: Press Here

Book: Press Here by Herve Tullet
Craft: Cork stamp art
Linguist’s Corner: Two-word phrases

Book

Press Here by Herve Tullet is a very simple book on its face, but complex in the interaction it offers. The book offers a series of simple instructions (press here, tilt the page, etc.). The illustration on the next page introduces the idea of “cause and effect” play… book-style!

This book is surprisingly complex in the vocabulary opportunities it offers as well. Each page has a very short, seemingly simple phrase. Looking more closely at the language, however, you’ll notice that the text is very rich in verbs. And - the illustrations offer lots of practice with adjectives, as the dots change in color, size and placement.

Why is it important to expose children to a variety of word types? Check out the Linguist’s Corner below!

While reading Press Here, I would target the following linguistic skills:

  • Following simple instructions

  • Verb comprehension

  • Adjective expression (“it’s bigger!”, etc.)

  • Colors

  • Imitating silly sounds (make a “boop” sound when the child pushes the button, and a “sh sh sh” sound as the child shakes the book… make it fun, make it your own!)

This book allows children to interact with it in a way that is somewhat unique. How many times are kids not only allowed, but encouraged to shake a book? Books like this are wonderful for teaching one of the more important skills: learning to love reading.

Note: if you purchase the book at the link above, LTC will receive a 10% commission at no extra cost to you. I’ve intentionally chosen to partner with bookshop.org because I believe in their mission: “To help local, independent bookstores thrive in the age of ecommerce. Certified as a B Corp, Bookshop.org puts this mission and the public good above financial interests, giving over 80% of our profit margin to independent bookstores.”

Better yet - see if your local library has this book! While you’re there, introduce yourself to the librarian. :)

Craft

Once you read the book, you’ll see that it’s very easy to ad lib a craft to accompany the book. Get some of those dot markers and go crazy on a piece of white printer paper!

If enjoy wine after kids’ bedtime and have some corks laying around, this cork stamp art looks like a fun project!

Or use pompoms or construction paper and a glue stick to make dot collages.

While making this craft together, I would target the following linguistic skills:

  • Verbs such as “paint” or “glue”

  • Colors

  • Requesting (e.g. “more glue” etc.)

  • Adjectives (big dot vs. little dot, fast painting vs. slow painting)



Linguist’s Corner

When a child is acquiring language, it is important to expose them to a variety of word types. This is especially helpful when a child is just beginning to combine words into two-word phrases.

The most common word type that caregivers tend to model for children would be nouns. This is helpful especially when we want to empower the child to ask for their favorite things (toys, food, affection, etc).

It will be very difficult, however, to combine words into short phrases if the child’s vocabulary primarily consists of nouns! Verbs (action words like run, eat, jump and play) and adjectives (description words like fast, slow, big and small) are very fun to model during play and are incredibly helpful for building two-word phrases.

A book like Press Here, which is very engaging and deceptively simple, is a wonderful way to target verbs and adjectives!

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Stay patient, stay connected, and have a blast! Feel free to send me an email and show me how your craft turned out. I am a team of one and I read every single email that you all send to me. :)



About Language Through Connection

Brianna Lopez, M.S., CCC-SLP is a certified speech/language pathologist, a linguist and the founder of Language Through Connection. At Language Through Connection, we believe in creating an environment where language can thrive through deeply engaging, connection-oriented activities and strategies.

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