It’s easy to enjoy a kiddie book even after you’re done with your read-alouds — and no, worksheets aren’t required. Here are five book-inspired play ideas to get you started. Objective? Total fun, nothing more!

1: Gingerbread House (from Hansel & Gretel)

We don’t like fairytales generally, but the kids on my floor love this game! All you need are magnets. Lots of them. Better if they’re in different shapes and sizes and colours. To play the game, place your magnets in Ziploc bags. Then round up some kids and let them have a go at decorating the “Gingerbread House,” which can be your front gate or anywhere the magnets will stick. The front gate works best for us, because there’ll be a witch (usually me, unfortunately) with a mask or a scary expression waiting to pop up and catch fresh little humans for her oven!

2: Human Pizzas (from Pete’s A Pizza)

The kids are the dough, and for toppings you can use powder, paper, gaming chips or anything around the house that’s colourful and easy to scatter around! Here’s how the little ones at Literacy Launchpad did it.

3: Giant Cookie Cutters (from This Little Bunny Can Bake)

Mommy Jayne got her kids to lie on paper (i.e. “the dough”) so they could make life-size “cookies.” Click here to see them in action!

4: Who’s Your Mama? (from Are You My Mother?)

This was actually done as an awfully cool Mother’s Day tribute, but if you have this book and you happen to be at the beach or a sand pit, try it with your kid as well!

5: DIY Princess Play Set (from Princess And The Pea)

OK so this one’s not so easy to pull off, unless you’re SouleMama or someone equally “crafty.” But it sure is pretty and it’d probably make a little girl very happy!

Photo courtesy Photos8.com.