Preschool Visit

MOO

I recently met a young Mom and she bought an ABC Book I had illustrated. She has talked to her children's preschool and they would like to have me visit. The woman in charge really liked the book and thought they might even use it for their curriculum (alphabet and counting book) I told them I would but I'm not quite sure what to do when I get there! The author lives in California. I'm in Mesa, AZ right now.

Any tips and ideas on what to do with three and four year olds? It's been awhile. I don't think the visit is supposed to be very long because of their short attention spans.

TessaW

That's really cool! I'd pick one or two activities based on the book. You could do a short presentation (read from the book, maybe use some props), a movement activity, and possibly a craft activity- though a craft will involve a bit of money and prep.

I think the most important part will be to keep each activity short and sweet and be as engaging as you can. Make sure your voice is loud and clear enough and you're making eye contact with the kids. Ask questions out loud if you do a presentation, I've notice that it keeps this age group more engaged. If no one has an answer after a short pause, give them hints and even answer the questions yourself to keep the pacing moving along.

If you show some examples of the book here, we might be able to help you come up with some ideas.

Jeremy Ross

Hi @Marsha-Kay-Ottum-Owen, school visits are incredibly awesome! What better way to connect with your audience than reading directly to them!

Here are some items to consider:

Have you received the author’s consent to do solo act, or does your contract allow you to promote without consent?
Does the school expect you to visit for free or will they pay for your time?
Since you’re the illustrator, I suggest you bring some large posters to draw on for the kiddos. Perhaps make a group activity out of the event.
How large is your audience? Will you read to 1 class, 2 classes, at the school library?
What does the school expect of you? Read, draw, be funny, etc.?

Congratulations!

MOO

Thanks. I haven't asked my friend (the author) but she is aware of the situation and interest in the book. I guess I'll text her to make it official I was thinking of making a simple coloring book with animals from the book and send it as a PDF for the kids to use after the visit. I'm not asking for money and haven't been offered any. That doesn't matter to me at this point in life. It would just be a community service type thing. They want me to visit all the classes and talk about what it's like to be a book illustrator. I think I will bring some of my other books and read one or talk about them a little. I think my original illustrations are in Minnesota but I could show some samples from other books I am working on at this time-but not sure. I can definitely do some drawing with them and maybe I can read and engage them with a book , etc. Thanks for the ideas. I'll let you know how it turns out

MOO

@TessaW Great ideas, Tessa! I think I will try a drawing activity. They have some art supplies there. I can let them know what I need. I'm sure I can keep it simple. I once visited an older elementary school class with the author and I had them draw their names from a chart that had animals from the book made with the letters they started with. I think pre-schoolers would be too young for that though.

!