Opposites

 

Reading

What’s Opposite by Stephen Swinburne

Opposite Things by Anna Kovecses

Singing

Little Spider, Big Spider

(use with a felt board, 5 felt leaves, and 2 spiders)

Little spider, Big spider,
Playing hide and seek!
Are you behind the (color) leaf?

Let’s take a peek!

I know, I know... I need some new spiders. I would prefer some more realistic looking ones!

Extension Activity (email for parents/caregivers)

I asked this question at storytime today: Why do we teach opposites? If you think about it, you may be stumped for a moment. I know I was! When I started thinking more deeply about it, I realized there are so many ways in which learning about opposites can enrich children’s language development! 

Not only do opposites introduce all sorts of new descriptive vocabulary words (adjectives) to your child, but they also increase their higher order thinking skills, which build their intelligence.

So, how can you incorporate talking about opposites at home? There are so many ways in which we interact with opposites in ordinary life! Here are some ideas to get you started:

• During laundry, with socks: Big/little, striped/not striped, short/tall
  
• Getting up in the morning and going to bed at night: day/night, bright/dark
  
• Turning the light switch: on/off, light/dark
  
• Playing music: Loud/quiet, on/off
  
• Taking a walk: There are so many opportunities! 
  
• Start by asking your child to find 3 pairs of objects with opposite features (for example: rough and smooth, warm and cold, etc).  
  
• Ask your child to describe the physical properties and what makes the things they chose opposites of each other.
  
  
  
  
  
• Indoor game: Play an opposite scavenger hunt!
  
• Put a basket together with several different items from around the house (for example, a smooth stone, a light feather, a soft cotton ball).  
  
• Let your child hold each item in their hands. Sit and talk with your child about the different physical properties of each item.  
  
• Ask your child to go on a hunt around the house for items that have opposite features! 
• For example: "how does the cotton ball feel? soft? yes, the cotton ball is soft. what is the opposite of soft? hard? that's right, hard! can you find something that's hard?"