How to Turn One Picture Book Into a Week of Play & Learning

Often, as parents, we think we need to have everything planned out precisely in order for our children to learn. We think we need to decide what our children are going to learn first: A is for apple, the life cycle of an apple, geography.

But oftentimes, a good picture book is already the best starting point.

What if you didn’t have to start with a theme, a worksheet, or a bunch of printables you need to spend hours cutting out on Sunday?

Instead, you could start with a story and see where it takes you.

A great story is full of ideas children naturally become curious about. A place they’ve never heard of. An animal they want to know more about. A food they want to taste. A question they suddenly need answered.

Their curiosity can become the curriculum.

What Does It Actually Mean to Let the Story Lead?

When you let the story lead and, in turn, your child’s curiosity, you’re not trying to cram every academic subject into the week.

You read the story together, as many times as you’d like, and notice what catches their attention. From there, you can offer a few simple invitations to explore those ideas and see what actually interests them.

Some days that might look like pretend play or art. Other days you may pull out a nature book to dig further into something you discovered, cook together in the kitchen, build something, or head outside to explore in real life.

And some days you just read the book. That’s okay, too. The story is the starting point. Where it leads will look different for every child.

How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World 

How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World by Marjorie Priceman is a perfect example of how much can grow from one picture book.

A girl wants to bake an apple pie, but when she heads to the market for her ingredients, she discovers it’s closed. What is she to do? Travel the world collecting the ingredients herself, of course. Suddenly, a story about making an apple pie has opened the door to apples, baking, farms, food, geography, travel, maps, ingredients, measurement, pretend play and more.

You could visit an apple orchard and see where apples grow in real life. Bring home a few varieties and have an apple taste test. Which is the sweetest? Which is the crunchiest? Does everyone have the same favorite?

Cut open an apple and investigate what’s inside. Count the seeds, put them into groups, or take a closer look with a magnifying glass.

If your child is interested in letters, arrange apple slices into the shape of an A.

Set out playdough, little trees and apples and create a tiny apple orchard for open-ended play.

Grab a suitcase or basket and reenact the story, traveling around the house to collect the ingredients needed for your imaginary pie.

Pull out a globe or map and revisit the places the girl stops along the way. Trace her journey together and wonder about the places she visits.

Cut another apple in half, dip it into paint, and make apple-print art.

Or head into the kitchen together. Chop apples, measure ingredients, follow a recipe and make something delicious to share.

One story has taken you into the kitchen, around the world, outside, into pretend play, through early math and literacy, and back to the story again.

And you never had to sit down and teach a lesson on any of it.

You Don’t Have to Do It All

This part matters.

The goal isn’t to read a picture book, pull out a list of twenty activities and try to complete every one before the week is over.

These are possibilities, not a checklist.

One child may spend the entire week fascinated by apples. Another might keep coming back to the map and want to know more about the places in the story. Another may grab a suitcase and spend the afternoon reenacting the journey through pretend play.

All of these children are learning.

Following a story means leaving enough room to notice which direction your child wants to go and being willing to stay there for a while.

Two Ways We Follow a Story at Acorn to Sprout

This idea, starting with a beautiful story and seeing where it takes you, is at the heart of Acorn to Sprout.

But sometimes you want a collection of stories to carry you through a season, and sometimes one particular story sparks enough curiosity that you want to stay with it a little longer.

That’s why there are two different ways to follow the story.

A Season of Stories

A Season of Stories is our open-and-go picture book curriculum for families who want stories to form the rhythm of their preschool learning.

Each volume brings together a collection of picture books and gives you thoughtfully planned ways to read, play, explore, make and discover alongside them.

How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World is one of the stories featured in Volume Two.

You have a place to begin and plenty of ideas ready when you need them, without turning your child’s week into a checklist.

The Wonder Continues

But sometimes you finish a story and your child isn’t finished with it.

They’re still talking about the apples. Still carrying the suitcase around the house. Still asking where Italy is. Still wondering how wheat becomes flour.

That’s when The Wonder Continues.

These one-story guides are designed to help you stay with a picture book longer and follow the different directions your child’s curiosity might take you.

The Wonder Continues: How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World takes this story beyond the final page with different paths to explore, giving you the ideas and planning without deciding exactly where your child has to go.

Because sometimes the story ends, but their curiosity doesn’t.

Try It With the Next Book You Read

You don’t need a complicated plan to start doing this.

The next time you finish a picture book together, pause before you move on.

What did your child notice?

What did they talk about afterward?

What did they ask about?

What could you read, play, explore or wander into next?

Maybe you find another book. Maybe you make something. Maybe you go outside. Maybe you pull out a map. Maybe the stuffed animals suddenly become characters from the story.

Pick one direction and see what happens.

You don’t need to know where the story will take you before you begin.

Start with a story. See where it takes you.