Integrating literacy experiences through invitations to explore, deepen the connection in many ways. Books related to the explorations are motivating and appealing to children. Even more information can be gained from these books in context of a story when they are able to see it come to life.
The awarding winning book Last Stop on Market Street written by Matt de la Peña and the unmistakeable vibrant diverse imagery by Christian Robinson was something I wanted to recreate in small world play. In this story CJ and his grandma take a bus ride together, discovering the beauty and wonder of the their vibrant neighborhood. Pictures impart a lot of meaning and information to help the children learn more about at topic, interact, relate their own experiences, and guide the children's inquiry. A story such as this exposes children to see a wonderful perspective.
To set this small world play I placed cars, trees, figurines, school bus, and city blocks. Small world play is simply when you set an invitation to explore where children use items to engage in scenes from their own experiences, environments, books, pictures, fairytales, or to expose them to new ones. Small worlds are great for many areas of development, including language, imaginary play, and sensory play. This type of play can be defined as where children accept and assign roles, and then act them out.