"The Giant Encyclopedia of Theme Activities for Children 2 to 5" contains over 600 favorite activities created by teachers for teachers. It is edited by Kathy Charner. Activities are listed by subject matter such as Alphabet, Animals, Art, Birds, The Body, Circus, Clothing, Colors, Our Community, etc. all the way through to Zoo. There are 48 different categories and this book has something for everyone.

The Health and Safety category includes an activity called “Brushing the Alligator’s Teeth”. Children learn hygiene and motor skills by using an egg carton, an old toothbrush and white paint to brush the “teeth”. Black paint can also be provided if anyone wants to show cavities!

The Holiday category includes activities for birthdays, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, Martin Luther King Day, Chinese New Year, Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Easter and Mother’s Day.

One of the Nature category activities has instructions for making mobiles out of nature objects. Children can gather their own leaves, nuts, dried bark and pine cones. They can paint them or sprinkle them with glitter. Sticks and string complete their individual mobiles and a nature lesson is a bonus.

Each activity lists the appropriate age of the child. In addition to comprehensive lists of materials and instructions each activity is followed by a list of additional related activities and books, poems or songs to enhance the experience.

If you have only one activity book in your library, this should be the one. The number and variety of activities can keep your children busy year round and give you many fresh ideas to share with them.