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    Using Books To Support Social Emotional Development: Pat Them Gently

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    jbonvier
    This document provides suggestions for using the book "Pat Them Gently" to promote social and emotional development in young children. It includes asking questions before and after reading to build understanding of gentleness, allowing children to practice gentle patting of illustrations and stuffed animals, discussing when gentleness is important with people and pets, and bringing in a therapy animal with reminders from the book about gentle behavior. Follow-up art and dramatic play activities further reinforce learning to be gentle.

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    Using Books To Support Social Emotional Development: Pat Them Gently

    Uploaded by

    jbonvier
    59 views2 pages
    This document provides suggestions for using the book "Pat Them Gently" to promote social and emotional development in young children. It includes asking questions before and after reading to build understanding of gentleness, allowing children to practice gentle patting of illustrations and stuffed animals, discussing when gentleness is important with people and pets, and bringing in a therapy animal with reminders from the book about gentle behavior. Follow-up art and dramatic play activities further reinforce learning to be gentle.

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    This document provides suggestions for using the book "Pat Them Gently" to promote social and emotional development in young children. It includes asking questions before and after reading to build understanding of gentleness, allowing children to practice gentle patting of illustrations and stuffed animals, discussing when gentleness is important with people and pets, and bringing in a therapy animal with reminders from the book about gentle behavior. Follow-up art and dramatic play activities further reinforce learning to be gentle.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    59 views2 pages

    Using Books To Support Social Emotional Development: Pat Them Gently

    Uploaded by

    jbonvier
    This document provides suggestions for using the book "Pat Them Gently" to promote social and emotional development in young children. It includes asking questions before and after reading to build understanding of gentleness, allowing children to practice gentle patting of illustrations and stuffed animals, discussing when gentleness is important with people and pets, and bringing in a therapy animal with reminders from the book about gentle behavior. Follow-up art and dramatic play activities further reinforce learning to be gentle.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    Download as pdf or txt
    of 2

    Book Nook

    Using Books to Support Social Emotional Development

    Pat Them Gently


    By Melanie O’Brien
    Baby Piggy Toes Press

    Pat Them Gently provides a wonderful introduction for young


    children to begin to understand what it means to be gentle to
    animals. Each page provides simple instructions (“Say a quiet ‘hello’
    and be very slow”) along with friendly, furry illustrations that
    children can use to practice patting gently. The skills children learn
    from this book will apply not only to animals, but also to how they
    can be gentle with other children. (Ages 1-4)

    Examples of activities that can be used while reading Pat Them Gently and throughout the day
    to promote social and emotional development:

    • Before reading the book, ask the children if they know what it means to be gentle. Ask questions
    like, “If I touch something very softly, am I being gentle?” or “If I want my voice to be gentle,
    should I talk loudly or quietly?” These questions will help children start to think about what the
    word “gentle” means, and what behaviors they can use to be gentle or not gentle. Tell the children
    that you are going to read a book about being gentle to animals. Ask why they think it is
    important to be gentle to animals (so that the animal doesn’t get hurt or scared, so that children
    won’t get hurt).

    • While reading, allow children to take turns practicing “patting gently” with the furry illustrations
    in the book. You can demonstrate with the first illustration, and repeat as needed to remind the
    children what gentle patting looks like. The next time you read the book, try giving each child a
    stuffed animal to hold while you are reading the story. Have them pat their stuffed animal gently
    each time you read those words in the book.

    • After reading the book, ask children if they can think of other times when they might need to be
    gentle (for example: if they give a friend a hug, when they are playing, when there is a baby
    around). You can help them think of different situations (think of the times that you tell children
    to “be gentle,” what are some of those situations). Go through each situation and explain why
    being gentle is important. Some of the reasons might be similar to the ones they came up with for
    animals, (so no one gets hurt) and new reasons (so that toys don’t get broken). Talk about how
    important it is to be gentle to other children. Throughout the day, let children know when you
    notice them being gentle! If someone needs a reminder about being gentle, ask if they remember
    practicing patting gently in Pat Them Gently. Can they try to do that again?

    • Use the story as a way to talk about pets in general. Ask children about any pets that they might
    have at home. They can even bring in a picture of their pet if they have one. Ask children how it
    makes them feel to be around a pet. Does it make you happy? nervous? excited? Some children
    like being around pets very much, but some children might not. Some children might like small

    Office of Child Care


    The Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning Head Start Bureau
    Book Nook
    pets like cats, but feel unsure about big pets like some dogs. Remind children then even if they like
    animals very much, they should always follow the directions they learned in Pat Them Gently, such
    as, “When you meet a pet, don’t touch them yet,” and “First ask ‘Please’”

    • If none of the children in the class are allergic to pets, try bringing a real pet to class one day.
    Check to see if there are therapy animals in your area that could come visit your class! Therapy
    animals are often used in hospitals or nursing homes, and are specially trained to be very calm and
    friendly. Before letting children touch the animal, read the book together again to remind everyone
    how to be gentle. Let each child have a turn petting the animal, using the steps they learned in the
    book (First say please, talk quietly to them, and of course “Pat them gently!”) Take a picture of
    each child with the pet and put the photos on a “We Can Be Gentle!” bulletin board in the
    classroom. Seeing these pictures in the classroom will help children to remember their gentle
    behavior every day.

    Reading the same book for several days in a row is a great way to provide opportunities for infants,
    toddlers, and preschoolers to develop a sense of competence and confidence, which is an important
    part of social and emotional development. They become able to turn pages, point at and label
    pictures, talk about the story, predict what will happen next, learn new vocabulary words, talk about
    their own experiences in relation to the story and even make up their own story! Try reading Pat
    Them Gently for several days in a row and use some of the ideas, activities, and teaching
    opportunities listed below to enhance social and emotional skills.

    Being Gentle

    Art: Remind the children how they were able to pat the furry animals in Pat Them Gently. Tell them
    that they can make their own furry animal to pat gently just like the ones in the book! Make sure the
    Pat Them Gently book is in the art center so children can look at the pictures to get ideas for their
    own drawings. Provide cotton balls, furry fabric, and/or felt for children to glue on their animals to
    create the furry spot. Toddlers will probably need more help in creating their furry animals (consider
    providing pictures of dogs and cats that toddlers can color and then glue furry material on their
    animals). After the children complete their drawings, bind the pictures together to make a We Pat
    Them Gently classroom book. Read the book and let each child pat his or her own illustration as you
    read.

    Dramatic Play: Create a “Pat Them Gently” Clinic in the dramatic play center. Encourage children to
    use stuffed animals, baby dolls, etc. to practice being gentle. Children can introduce their pets or
    babies to one another, allowing everyone lots of practice at using the steps in the book. Ask the
    children if they can remember how they learned to be gentle in Pat Them Gently and remind them of
    the different ways to be gentle to pets and to other children (ask please, talk softly, touch softly).

    This Book Nook was developed by Erin Olinger and Tweety Yates

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