Early Literacy - Educational Kits! Check Back for Additions!
Borrow without worry! All plush and cloth items are treated in a ThermalStrike Ranger upon return. All plastic items are sanitized upon return. All items are checked prior to checking out and upon return to confirm they are clean.
This list is NOT complete. We're doing our best but it's a work in progress. If you are interested in a specific kit please let Susan know, and we will try to move that kit up on the completion list. Thank you!
Kits in BOLD are available to check out.
Coming Soon - Community Helpers, Beginning Blends 1 & 2.
RHYTHM, RHYME & CUDDLE TIME
Not only are nursery rhymes a pleasure to hear and to share, but they also provide a building block toward literacy. This collection is recommended for ages 0-8 to reinforce or introduce children to the sounds and patterns of our language and give them a repertoire of words they may not hear in everyday conversation. Many are a part of our heritage and some are part of our first memories.
Nursery Rhymes - 1. 4 booklets. Little Miss Muffet, Hickory Dickory Dock, Itsy Bitsy Spider, and Jack and Jill. 3 - finger puppet books. Five Little Monkeys, Itsy Bitsy Spider, This Little Pig. 2 finger Puppet sets. Itsy Bitsy Spider finger puppets (4 pc), Little Miss Muffet (2pc),
Nursery Rhymes - 2. 7 booklets. Mary Had a Little Lamb, Little Boo Peep, Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, Hey, Diddle Diddle, Humpty Dumpty, Baa Baa Black Sheep, Old Macdonald, and Jack and Jill. 6 finger puppet books. Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star, Mary Had a Little Lamb, Old MacDonald Had a Farm. 2 finger Puppet sets. Itsy Bitsy Spider finger puppets (4 pc) Old Macdonald finger puppets. (10pc).
Llama, Llama. 4 books (“Llama, llama Red Pajama”, “Llama Llama Time to Play”, “Mama Loves her Little Llama” & Baby Llama finger puppet book) 1 plush llama. Kit E Gu
Bedtime Stories – A ready-to-go bedtime Kit! Guess How Much I Love You, Bedtime for Batman, Doggies, When Stars Arise, Blinker, Blinker Little Car, Bedtime in the Barnyard.
Snuggly Monster (blue) – 1 book (Snuggle Monster hide & Seek Bedtime), 1 plush snuggle monster.
Snuggly Monster (pink) - 1 book (Snuggle Monster hide & Seek Bedtime), 1 plush snuggle monster.
LETTER RECOGNITION
Most kits have coinciding worksheets you may take with your kit. Please only take worksheets that go with the kit you are checking out. Thank you!
HFW - High-frequency words VC - Vowel-Consonant words CVC - Consonant-Vowel-Consonant words LR - Letter Recognition
All letter recognition kits come with books, teaching tubs, and 1 dry-erase marker. Additional activity worksheets are available. Teaching Tubs let kids identify and sort a variety of adorable miniatures pertaining to the letter. Each tub comes with 6 high-quality, educator-approved objects, plus uppercase and lowercase plastic letters.
CHOKING HAZARD / Small parts. Not intended for unsupervised play.
New HFW: am, at, can go, I, in, is, it, like, me, my, no, on, see, the, to, yes, you
LR-1. VC words, CVC phonemic awareness Aa, Bb. Contains 4 books (A is for Apple, “A”- A Letter Book, B is for Bee, “B” A Letter Book,). 2 Teaching tubs for letters A and B. 1 Activity card. 1 teaching tubs contents card, 1 dry-erase marker. Choking Hazard / Small parts. Not intended for unsupervised play.
LR-2. VC words, CVC phonemic awareness Cc, Dd. Contains 4 books (C is for Cat, “C” A Letter Book, D is for Dog, “D” - A Letter Book). 2 Teaching tubs for letters C, D. 1 Activity card. 1 teaching tubs contents card, 1 dry-erase marker. Choking Hazard / Small parts. Not intended for unsupervised play.
LR-3. VC words, CVC phonemic awareness Ee, Ff. Contains 4 books (E is for Elephant, “E” A Letter Book, F is for Fish, “F” A Letter Book), 2 Teaching tubs for letters E, F. 1 Activity card. 1 teaching tubs contents card, 1 dry-erase marker. Choking Hazard / Small parts. Not intended for unsupervised play.
LR-4. VC words, CVC phonemic awareness Gg, Hh. Contains 4 books (G is for Gift, “G” ” A Letter Book, H is for Hat, “H” ” A Letter Book), 2 Teaching tubs for letters G, H. 1 Activity card. 1 teaching tubs contents card, 1 dry-erase marker. Choking Hazard / Small parts. Not intended for unsupervised play.
LR-5. VC words, CVC phonemic awareness Ii, Jj. Contains 4 books (I is for Igloo, “I” Letter Book, J is for Jelly, “J” A Letter Book, K is for Key, “K” A Letter Book). 4 Teaching tubs for letters I, J. 1 Activity card. 1 teaching tubs contents card, 1 dry-erase marker. Choking Hazard / Small parts. Not intended for unsupervised play.
LR-6. VC words, CVC phonemic awareness Kk, Ll. Contains 4 books ( K is for Key, “K” Letter Book, L is for Lion, “L” A Letter Book). 4 Teaching tubs for letters K, L. 1 Activity card. 1 teaching tubs contents card, 1 dry-erase marker. Choking Hazard / Small parts. Not intended for unsupervised play.
LR-7. VC words, CVC phonemic awareness Mm, Nn. Contains 4 books. (M is for Moon, “M” A Letter Book, N is for Nest, “N” A Letter Book). 2 Teaching tubs for letters M, N. 1 Activity card. 1 teaching tubs contents card, 1 dry-erase marker. Choking Hazard / Small parts. Not intended for unsupervised play.
LR-8. VC words, CVC phonemic awareness Oo, Pp. Contains 4 books. (O is for Octopus, “O” A Letter Book, P is for Penguin, “P” A Letter Book). 2 Teaching tubs for letters O, P. 1 Activity card. 1 teaching tubs contents card, 1 dry-erase marker. Choking Hazard / Small parts. Not intended for unsupervised play.
LR-9. VC words, CVC phonemic awareness Qq, Rr. Contains 4 books. (Q is for Queen, “Q” A Letter Book R is for Rainbow, “R” A Letter Book). 2 Teaching tubs for letters Q, R. 1 Activity card. 1 teaching tubs contents card, 1 dry-erase marker. Choking Hazard / Small parts. Not intended for unsupervised play.
LR-10. VC words, CVC phonemic awareness Ss, Tt. Contains 4 books. (S is for Sun,, “S” Letter Book, T is for Turtle, “T” A Letter Book,). 2 Teaching tubs for letters S, T. 1 Activity card. 1 teaching tubs contents card, 1 dry-erase marker. Choking Hazard / Small parts. Not intended for unsupervised play.
LR-11. VC words, CVC phonemic awareness Uu, Vv. Contains 4 books. (U is for Umbrella, “U” A Letter Book, V is for Volcano, “V” A Letter Book), 2 Teaching tubs for letters U, V. 1 Activity card. 1 teaching tubs contents card, 1 dry-erase marker. Choking Hazard / Small parts. Not intended for unsupervised play.
LR-12. VC words, CVC phonemic awareness Ww, Xx. Contains 4 books. (W is for Watermelon, “W” A Letter Book, X is for Fox, “X” A Letter Book), 2 Teaching tubs for letters W, X. 1 Activity card. 1 teaching tubs contents card, 1 dry-erase marker. Choking Hazard / Small parts. Not intended for unsupervised play.
LR-13. VC words, CVC phonemic awareness Yy, Zz. Contains 4 books. (Y is for Yo-yo, “Y” A Letter Book, Z is for Zebra, “Z” A Letter Book), 2 Teaching tubs for letters Y, Z. 1 Activity card. 1 teaching tubs contents card, 1 dry-erase marker. Choking Hazard / Small parts. Not intended for unsupervised play.
LR-14. VC words, CVC phonemic awareness short a / e/ o/ u/ and ck. Contains 10 books. (1. Bugs and Tubs, a Short “u” Book; 2. Cabs and Labs, a Short “a” Book; 3. Ducks, Plums, and Nuts, a Book of Short “u” sounds; 4. Foxes and Boxes, a Short “o” Book; 5. Jams, Pans, and Vans, a book of short “a” Words; 6. Pets, Bells, and Tents, a book of short “e” Words; 7. Pigs and Wigs, a short “i” Book; 8. Twins, Gifts and Bins, a Book of Short “I” Words; 9. Vets and Jets, a Short “e” Story; 10. Rocks, Frogs, and Docks, a Book of Short “o” Words). 1 Activity card. 1 dry erase marker. CVC Word builder flip game. Choking Hazard / Small parts. Not intended for unsupervised play.
Teaching Tub Contents
A – Acorn, alligator, anchor, ant, apple, apron. B – Banana, basketball, bat, bell, boat, bottle. C – Camel, camera, car, cat, cookie, corn. D – Dinosaur, dog, dolphin, domino, donut, duck. E – Eagle, egg, eggplant, elephant, envelope, eraser. F – Fan, feather, fish, football, fork, four. G – Game, gift, gorilla, guitar, gum. H – Hat, heart, helmet, horse, hot dog. I – Ice cream, icicle, igloo, insect, invitation, iron. J – Jack, jacket, jeep, jellyfish, jet, juice. K – Kangaroo, kazoo, kettle, key, kite, koala. L – Ladybug, lettuce, lightbulb, lion, lock, log. M – Mailbox, milk, mirror, mop, mouse, mug. N – Necklace, nest, net, newspaper, nose, notebook. O – Octopus, olive, ostrich, otter, oval, overalls. P – Paint, pan, pickle, pig, pizza, pumpkin. Q – Quail, quarter, quartz, queen, question mark, quilt. R – Radio, rainbow, rat, ring, robot, rose. S – Sailboat, sandwich, sea horse, sea lion, sun, sunglasses. T – Teeth, tiger, tomato, towel, turkey, turkey. U – Umbrella, umpire, underwear, unicorn, unicycle, United States. V – Van, vest, vase, video camera, visor, volcano. W – Waffle, walrus, watering can, watermelon, web, window. X – Ax, box, fox, six, X-ray, xylophone. Y – Yak, yarn, yellow, yield, yogurt, yo-yo. Z – Zebra, zero, zigzag, sipper, zee, zucchini.
Teaching Tub ideas
Alphabet Order – Ask children to put upper and lower case letters in ABC order. Once they have completed the task, have them sing the ABD song, touching each letter as they say it.
I Spy – Use the miniatures to play a game of I Spy. For each letter that you have introduced, choose and item for the corresponding tub. Set the objects where the child can see them.
What’s Wrong? – Place one or both plastic letters and two or three items from the tub on a table. Add one “wrong” item from another tub. Ask the child to say the letter and name all the objects. Then ask the child which object doesn’t belong.
Matching Game – Dump the contents of the tubs on a table. Have kids match items with lids.
Challenge them with these ideas:
- Sort by ending sound.
- Sort by how many syllables each item has.
- What word rhymes with the item?
- Categorize by items – animals, things you wear, food etc.
PREREADING SKILLS (Pre-K)
Visual perceptions, cognitive understanding.
Colors - The items and activities in this kit will help your child learn about colors. Included in this kit: Activity sheets (to be picked up by patron from folders), 4 books ( My First Colors, Colors, Lift and Trace Colors, Poke-a-dot colors), an activity kit (pompoms, tweezers, 6 cards), and try at-home ideas.
Shapes & Matching The items and activities in this kit will help your child learn about shapes, how many sides each shape has, and matching skills. Included in this kit: Activity sheets (to be picked up by patron from folders), 3 Books (Circle” Sphere, Shapes, Lift and Trace Shapes), shape bingo cards (8) and pieces (12), wooden tiles for matching and plastic eggs in carton for matching or shapes.
CVC Words (Kindergarten)
What is a CVC word? A CVC word is a word that is made up of a consonant, vowel, and consonant sound. Cat, hot, tip, man, and hut are all CVC words.
New HFW: all, and, are, come, do, for, got, he, into, look, mom, not, put, said, we, will.
CVC-1. Short “a” CVC. Inflect, endings: -s, -es. Double final consonants: -dd, -ss. Contains 6 books (Abs!, Cans, My Map, Rad Max, Pat Cat and Max, Mad at Max, Hams and Yams, Pat Cat and Rat Sat, Ads! Ads! Ads!, Not Laps, ), 1 Activity card.
CVC-2. Short “i” CVC. Double final consonants: -ll, -zz. Contains 10 books (I Call Dibs, Tag, Not a Pig, The Bag, Tiz the Pig, The Big Sip, the Big Hill, I Do It, Win It, Will Tim Quit?), 1 Activity card.
CVC-3. Short “o’ CVC. Double final consonants: -ff. Contains 9 books (Boxes, Fox on Top, Hot Rod, Pop, Ross the Boss. No Mops!, Pop Its, Hot Socks, Mom on a Jog), 1 Activity card.
CVC-4. Short “u” CVC. Contains 9 books (Fun the Tug, Hugs for Liv, Pop Rocks!, The Gum Hut, The Big Cut, Putt – Putt Jud, No Luck, Duck?, Gus and Jud, Bud the Bulldog), 1 Activity card.
CVC-5. Short “e” CVC. Contains 5 books (Get Wet, Hats!, PJ Fun, Up We Go, The Sniffles, To D.C., Zen Ben, A Bed for Bug, No Red for Ben, Ted and Tess T-Rex, The Jet Pack), 1 Activity card.
Digraphs (First Grade)
New HFW: away, day, comes, looking, play, she, so, this, went, when, with, what, where, your.
D-1. Digraph & trigraph. “Kn”, “qu”, “wr”, “squ”,”-ed”, “sh”, “th”, “wh”,. Contains 5 books (Queen Can Write, Little Ninja and Thor, The Treasure Map, Shep and Whale, Huck’s Epic Trip). 1 activity card.
D-2. Digraph & Trigraph. Digraph “ch” & “ch”. Trigraph “tch”. Contains 4 books (Snow Day for Enzo, Check on the Chickens, My Pet Chad, Chips, Phil and Chad), 1 activity card.
D-3. Digraph “ph” & “ch”., Sound of “y”. Contains 4 books (Phil and Chad, Sophia’s Birthday, Puppy Gets a Name, The Reporter, The Travel Vlog,). 1 Activity card.
D-4. Diagraph “ng” & mixed review. Contains 6 books (The Video Game, The Missing Ring, Spring!, King is the Man!, Ing and Bing, The Pop-up Shop), 1 activity card.
What is the difference between a blend and a digraph? A blend is two consonants together that each make a sound. For example, in the word "s to p" the /s/ and the /t/ each makes a sound. A blend is different than a digraph, which has two letters but only one sound. In the word "shop" - the /sh/ makes only one sound.
Beginning Blends (First Grade)
New HFW: be. came, down, from, have, help, her, love, next, of, over, says, too, want, who.
BB-1. Beginning blends, br, cr, dr, fr, gr, pr, tr, bl, cl, fl, gl, pl, sl. Contains 17 books (Blake and Clem, Slade Sloth, Prim Takes a Trip, The Brave Crab, Grace and Fred, Where is Little Ninja?, The Missing Tooth, The Track, Fix It!, The Grill, In the Shed, The Bug Trap, Bill and Todd’s Jog, Playing Tag, Pat Cat, Max, and the Bug, Little Ninja and the Hamster, Brad’s Dog), 1 blend flips, 3 dry-erase worksheets, 2 dry-erase markers.
BB-2. Beginning blends, sn, sp, st, sw, tw, sc, sk, sm. Contains 12 books (Sid’s Dog Chip, Little Ninja on the Spot, Kat’s Dog Friends, Flash, Jen and Spud, The Pelicans, Snail and Snake, The Swan Twins, Skip and Scot), 2 dry-erase markers, 4 dry-erase worksheets
What is an ending blend? An ending blend consists of two adjoining consonants at the end of a word that each make their own sound. So, for example, ck would NOT be an ending blend since it makes a single sound: /k/. Rather, it would be an ending digraph – since a digraph consists of two letters that make ONE sound.
Ending Blends (First Grade)
New HFW: give, now, one, saw, some, they.
EB-1. -nd, -nk, -nt, -st, -ft, -ct, -pt. Contains 8 books (Fair at the Fair, The Drip in the Sink, Jen’s Vest, Just Like Me, Mittens at the Vet, Matching, The Fast Crab, The Sled Path) 1 Activity card.
EB-2. -lt, -lk, -lp, -ld, -lf. Contains 4 books (Sidewalk Chalk, The Trash Truck, Helping, Where is the Milk?) 1 Activity card.
EB-3. -sk, -mp. Contains 9 books (At Camp, Bev’s Trek, Go, Bots! Go!, The Shopping Trip, The Big Frog, Kat’s Camping Trip, Bugs, Bugs, Bugs!, Camping, Fluff’s limp) 1 Activity card.
Final e Long Vowel Words (First Grade)
New HFW: eat, fly, good, out, their, were.
FeLV-1. A-e, i-e, e-u, o-e, u-e, i-e, e-e pattern, & mixed review. Contains 15 books (The Brave Save, The Big Escape, Sid and Kim Play a Game, Running Late, Cake Lane, Kayla Skates, Let’s Bake a Cake, My Slime is Alive!, Kat’s Fun Day, Bath Time, All Gummed Up, The Silver Skates, Parkour, Icarus and the Robot, The Class Race, Isabel’s Kite, The Commute, The Talent Show Mistakes, Band Rules, Where is the Bus?, Fishing Day, A Vote for Hope, Time to Pose, The Best Pet, Finding Fossils, S’mores, Online-A Call the Copycat Story, Being Kind, Rope Zone, Stone Cove). Match and Learn Long Vowel Dominoes.
R-Controlled Vowels (First Grade)
New HFW: again, because, could, does, every, why
R-CV-1. –er, -or, -ir, -ur, -ar, Contains 16 books (Cam’s Cars, Enzo and the Tank at the Park, The Crow, Little Ninja, the Star, Gia’s Homework, Honor Roll, The Corn Maze, 3D Printer Panic, Disaster, Down the River, A Letter from Camp, Born to Surf, Glitter Bird’s Chirp, The Trapeze Artists, Puppy gets a Name, Sophia’s Birthday, The Reporter, Kat, and Flamingo at the Park, The Unicorn Horse) 4 activity cards
Vowel Teams, Diphthongs & Trigraphs (First Grade)
New HFW: been, laugh, new, night, though, would; Sounds of wr- and kn- know, knee, knew.
VTDT 1. -ee and –oa Contains 6 books (Beep-Beep, Let’s Plant a Seed, Mac and Cheese, The Weeds, The Sweet Hoax, The Boat Ride) 1 Activity card.
VTDT 2. -ea, -igh Contains 9 books ( A Feast with Kat!, Candy, Mighty Jean, Sharks, Sharks, Sharks!, Spike the Firefighter. Kat and Flamingo at the Beach, the Baby Seal, The Lights, Xiola and the Sunflower Seeds) 1 Activity card.
VTDT 3. -ai, -ay Contains 8 books (By the Sea, Gia Goes to the Fair, I Love my Hair, Hair, the Abstract Artist, Tea for Jug and Jayla, Plop’s New Look!, Max’s New Car) 1 Activity card.
VTDT 4. –ew –aw. Contains 5 books (Chasing a Newt, Happy Birthday, Enzo!, The Missing Things, A Perfect Home, Super Skate Crew) 1 Activity card.
VTDT 5. -oo, -au. Contains 6 books (Kat’s Book, One Day, Owls, What to do with a Dinosaur, Moonlight, Tyler is an Author) 1 Activity card.
VTDT 6. -oy, oi. Contains 1 book (The Noisy Toy) 1 Activity card.
VTDT 7. -ow, -ou. Contains 311 books ( Gia Goes to the Zoo, The Fort, We Can’t Sleep, Sir Richard and the Dragon, Our New House, Lost and Found, Kat and Flamingo Have a Snow Day, A Doctor in the House, The Iron Lady, The Power of Eight, The Museum) 1 Activity card.
VTDT 8. –eigh, oe. Contains 5 books (Gia’s Garden, Market Day, Too Much Snow, The Riding Lesson, the hike, The Doe) 1 Activity card.
VTDT 9. -ue, -ie. Contains 8 books (A Moonlit Lark, Charlie and his Hoodie, The Pie, The Quest for the Missing Statue, A Trip to the Movies, A Mural of Hope, The Missing Locket, Grandmother’s Wish, ) 1 Activity card
Multi-sound consonants (Second Grade)
MSC-1. Soft g, c Contains 8 books (A New Job for Geoff, Fancy Giant Tea Party, The Race, Shamika Loves Saturdays, Ginny’s Escape, Coconut Cake, Cecilia’s Success, Welcome to the City of Mages) 1 Activity card
MSC-2. Complex compound words Contain 3 books (Baseball with Grandpa, Out of this World, Kat’s Rainbow) 1 Activity card.
MSC-3. -ble, -fle, -ple (suffix -less) Contains 5 books (Ballet Class, More Snacks, Puffles, Escaping the Temple, Lizzie’s Waddle) 1 Activity card.
MSC-4. -dle, -tle, -gle (suffix -ness) Contains 8 books (The Slime Monster, Noodle and Bugle, Penny’s Toys, Fiddler in the Puddle, The Giggle Club, Not Just Lunch, The Piano Problem) 1 Activity card.
MSC-5. -cle, -kle, -sle, (suffix -ly) Contains 5 books (At the Gym, Mr. Pickle, Not Just Painting, The Miracle Chef, No Power, Kat Likes to Play, Izzie’s Bubble Trouble) 1 Activity card.
MATH Fundamentals
Adding & Numbers
M-1. Math Fundamentals. Contains 1 book (Just Enough Carrots), 10 plastic carrots, 5 plastic worms, 5 plastic peanuts, and a guide sheet. (Call# Kit J 513.2 Mu)
M-2. Math Fundamentals. Contains 5 books (Mouse Count, Pocket Piggies Numbers!, Lift and Trace Numbers, Numbers, The Last Marshmallow, 10 small plush mice, one plush snake, and 1 activity card. (Call# Kit E Wa)
Measurement
Call # "Kit E Li" Math Fundamentals. Contains 1 book (Inch by Inch), 1 large plastic tape measure, 4 plush inchworms, and a guide sheet.
Telling Time
Call # "Kit E Wi" Math Fundamentals / telling time. Contains 1 book (Tuesday), 1 frog puppet, plastic clock.
ADAPTIVE SKILLS KITS - Social communication / emergent literacy
Call # “Kit E Li Swimmy” Teamwork / working together. Contains 2 books (“Swimmy”, “Where Are Swimmy’s Friends?”). 3 red fish, 1 black fish, 1 Activity card.
AS-2. Accepting differences. Contains 1 book (I wish I were a butterfly), 1 plush cricket, and a guide sheet. 1 Activity card.
AS-3 Social communication / emergent literacy. Contains 1 book (An extraordinary egg), 1 alligator finger puppet, 3 frog finger puppets, guide sheet. (Cal# Kit E Li)
AS-4 Community Helpers. Contains 20 books. Chefs, construction workers, delivery workers, dentists, farmers, fitness instructors, doctors, firefighters, librarians, mayors, police officers, pilots, musicians, military workers, mechanics, sanitation workers, scientists, teachers, veterinarians, waiters and waitresses, Happy helper finger puppet set (12 pc)
SCIENCE
Life Cycles - Get an intriguing view of life cycles with a sequencing kit that puts science concepts right at your fingertips! Our kit contains cards and figurines of the life cycles of a chicken, frog, butterfly, plants, honey bee, & mantis. Each figurine shows a different stage in the animal’s life cycle from egg to adult, so children can put them in sequential order or compare one animal’s life cycle to another!
Lifecycles-1. Life cycle 1 kit – Plants, Mantis, and Frog (contains 13 animal-plant figurines & 16 guide cards, and 3 books). 3 Booklets – "Life Cycle the sunflower”. “Life Cycle the frog",", "Life Cycle the ladybug". Books – How does a seed sprout? (Life cycles with the very hungry caterpillar), Frog – Little Life Cycles.
Lifecycles-2. Life cycle 2 kit – Butterfly, Chicken, Bee (contains 13 animal-plant figurines & 14 guide cards, 8 books). Booklets - "Life Cycle the Pumpkin, "Life Cycle the Butterfly", "Life Cycle the Chicken". Books – How does an egg hatch? How does a caterpillar change? Frog – Little Life Cycles, Becoming a Butterfly – National Geographic Kids.