Picture Book Preschool is a preschool/kindergarten curriculum which consists of a list of picture books to read aloud for each week of the year and a character trait, a memory verse, and activities, all tied to the theme for the week. You can purchase a downloadable version (pdf file) of Picture Book Preschool by Sherry Early at Biblioguides.

Preschoolers and water . . . what a great combination! For this week (week 40) in my curriculum book Picture Book Preschool, the theme is Boats, Rivers, and Bridges. There are so many projects that can go with this theme:
Sail paper boats in the bathtub or somewhere else.

Build a bridge out of popsicle sticks or paper or cardboard or blocks.
Go for a boat ride.
Play PoohSticks.
Make a town in the sandbox or in the dirt and flood it. (Engineer Husband used do this in his backyard repeatedly.)

And one of the books listed in the curriculum for this week is Three Days on a River in a Red Canoe by Vera B. Williams. The book tells the story of a girl, her mom, Aunt Rosie, and Cousin Sam who go together on a weekend canoeing and camping trip. The four adventurers cook outdoors (recipes included), canoe in the rain, catch fish, fall into the river, and have an all-around good time.

I got the book out for this post, and Brown Bear Daughter (14) exclaimed, “Oh, I love that book! That’s one of my favorite books!” Karate Kid (12) has been in canoeing classes for about three years now, and I would say that the book gives a fairly good picture of what a novice canoeist would encounter and enjoy. However, the creek that Karate Kid and his friends paddle in is much nastier than the one in the book. Which is one reason I read about canoeing and KK does it.