The book Gilbert the Ghost by Guido Van Genechten has become a staple in our house. The story is about a special ghost who doesn't like to be scary because he wants to be polite. After getting in trouble with the school principle he is sent to the abandoned tower where he finds his way of staying true to himself while becoming friends with a cat.
After reading this story almost every night, we created last years Spooky House STEM Invitation to inspire creating a STEM + Small World Play invitation to recreate the story. First I created the two main characters (Gilbert + Cat ) out of Cardboard and painted it with acrylic paint. Then set up Excellerations® Building Brilliance® Magnetic Clear, LED tea lights, wooden ghosts, spiders, webs, and mini tombstones.
You can either set up a small world such as this to recreate pages from the book and simply let the children explore and build upon the invitation. Another option is loosely set up the materials and let the children build it from start to finish.
Extended the literacy experience through STEM and Small World Play deepens their comprehension of the story, builds upon their language, and honors their interests with what's going on in the world around them. The best part about integrating books and hands on learning is that it further ignites their curiosity and wonder of the world all through the power of a story.
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