Get Ready for School with Siblings, Twins, and Multiples Play Activities

Infants and preschoolers love pretend and play with lovies as soon as they can grab for toys. Many infants will react happily to cause and effect play and will soon grow into loving pretend play with their preschool siblings and family members. Suggested activities can include the following:

Materials:

Yikes! Brandon and His Twin Sisters Go to School book
Twin and multiplies play kits (e.g. Calico Critters Stroller Set with mother and twin guinea pigs)
Community stickers (i.e. My Town Reusable Sticker Pad)
Building kits (i.e. 80 Mega Blocks)

Activities:

Read Yikes! Brandon and His Twin Sisters Go to School and ask the following:
- Why did the twins starting going to preschool?
- What activities did they participate in when they attended school?
- What did they learn when playing with different toys?
- Do you attend preschool? What are your favorite play activities?
- Have you ever played with twins or multiples? Do they look the same? What have you learned when playing with twins or multiples?
- Can you tell the difference from each twin or multiple child? What would you do if they looked identical and could not tell the difference between each child?
- Describe your favorite activities at school.
- Make a sticker picture of a fun day at school.
Build a home for your Calico Critters and other pretend friends.

How many of your friends are identical or look the same and how many are different?
Create a puppet show using your Calico Critters and friends. What are they doing to get their older brothers and sisters ready for the first day of school? What can you do to help your older sibling get ready for school?
What happens when your roll the Calico Critter twin stroller? Can your other friends fit into the stroller? Does the stroller roll faster or slower with different friends who fit into the stroller?
What types of school activities do you like to play? Do you like to color or draw pictures?
What do you do with stickers? Can you make a picture with your stickers? Can you tell a story? What does each person in the story do in your community? Can any of these people help your siblings get ready for school? Do they help your brothers or sisters during the school day?
What community helper would you like to be when you get bigger? Pretend you are that person. What do you do in that job?

When reading and discussing suggested books with your children, listed below are several relevant California Common Core Standards for English Language Arts and Literacy:

Kindergarten: With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text.
Grade 1: Ask and answer questions about key details in a text.
Grade 2: Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text.
With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and the story in which they appear (e.g. what moment in a story an illustration depicts).
Kindergarten: With prompting and support, retell familiar stories, including key details.

Listed below are relevant Common Core Standards in Mathematics for these activities:

Kindergarten Measurement and Data: Classify objects and count the number of objects in each category.
Kindergarten Counting and Cardinality: Identify whether the number of objects in one group is greater than, less than, or equal to the number of objects in another group, e.g., by using matching and counting strategies.