Fairy Tale Rebus

What You Need:

• Large sheets of paper
• Marker
• Index cards, cut in half
• Scissors
• Tape
• Crayons

What You Do:

1. Use the marker to write out a favorite fairy tale on several large sheets of paper. Be sure to write nice and big (capital letters approximately 1 inch tall) so that your kid has plenty of space to work.
2. When you're all done, it's time to engage creativity! Explain to your kid that she is going to replace words in the story with pictures. This will be easiest with nouns but they might also want to try adjectives or verbs.
3. As you read through the story, have her stop you when you reach a word she wants to draw. If you have retold the Three Little Pigs, she might want to draw the pigs. Encourage her to try drawing some of the more abstract ideas such as time in "once upon a time." (A clock or hour glass could work well.) Make sure the drawings are small enough that they don't obscure any other words.
4. After she chooses what to draw, let her get to work with the cut index cards and the crayons.  
5. Continue to read the story, taking breaks while she's drawing.
6. As the drawings are finished, tape them over the appropriate words in the story.  
7. When she's done, read through the story once again, pausing to let her fill in the blanks as she uses her drawings to help the story along.
8. If your kid enjoyed this activity, use a sketch book to help her create a book of rebus puzzle stories. The heavy paper in a sketch book is perfect for writing on with a marker but will also hold up to frequent reading as she shares her rebus puzzle stories with others.