Cherise Mericle Harper

Video of Ms. Ellie reading the book.

• Vehicle painting: this book is a perfect fit with one of my favorite activities. Put some red, yellow, and green paint on plates, let your child drive cars and trucks through the paint and then on paper to make some cool art.
• Play Red Light, Green Light: this game could get pretty cut-throat in elementary schools, but with younger children it is a great way to practice their self-control and ability to follow directions. Remember that their brains are not as fully developed as ours, so their response times will be slower. Try using a sign with green on one side and red on the other along with your voice and have your child run to you (or dance, wiggle or jump if you don’t have space to run) while you show the green “light” and stop when you show the red “light.” With older kids, you can add in a yellow light and ask them to move slowly.
• Sing “Blinking Traffic Lights”: Blinking, blinking traffic lights. On the corner, shining bright. Green means go, red means stop, flashing yellow very slow. Blinking, blinking traffic lights. On the corner, shining bright. 

• Build a bridge: give your child different materials with which to build a bridge, and see if the bridge is strong enough to hold up their toy vehicles or animals. Toddlers can build bridges with blocks, and older children can try to make strong bridges with things like popsicle sticks, cups, straws, cardboard tubes, pieces of flat cardboard, and tape.
• Video of kids building with recycled materials:  http://www.peepandthebigwideworld.com/en/parents/activities/52/little-builders/
• Sing in opposites: you can sing “Make Some Music” (or any simple song) in opposite ways: high and low, fast and slow, quiet and loud.
• Find the opposite: you can play a version of “eye spy” with opposites, where you find or name something big (wet, bright, loud, etc.) and ask your child to find or name something that has an opposite characteristic.
• Opposite books: Stop, Go, Yes, No!; Dinosaur Roar; No, No, Yes, Yes (and others by Patricelli); Opposites, Boynton; Black? White! Day? Night! 

• Construction, traffic books: Little Blue Truck Leads the Way; Dump Truck Disco; I Read Signs, Hoban; Truck, Crews