HUG Theme Read Aloud Activities and FREEBIE

National Hug Day is right around the corner PLUS February is near! Those are 2 great reasons to stock up on stories filled with love, kindness, friendship and of course H U G S!

Here are a few charming stories featuring… you guessed it, HUGS plus some activity ideas (including a free craft).

The first activity supports a cutie pie dinosaur story, Tiny T-Rex and the Impossible Hug by Jonathan Stutzman & Jay Fleck. (A charming series for littles, I might add)

If the title didn’t give it away, I will! Tiny T-Rex wants to help a sad friend (Pointy) by sharing a hug… the only problem, he doesn’t know to with his tiny Rex arms. He seeks advice from his family but nothing seems to work until… You can find this adorable T-Rex retelling craft and printables here in my TpT shop to pair with your read aloud.

If you haven’t read Bird Hugs by Ged Adamson yet… YOU MUST. It’s so precious and embraces self love, acknowledging your gifts/differences and putting them to great use! The illustration colors are also a dream. I mean who doesn’t love a great pastel, candy color vibe. You can find this retelling bird activity here on my TpT to support the read aloud story.

Here’s a FREE ACTIVITY (grab it here) for Hug Machine by Scott Campbell! In the story, we see a little boy who LOVES to hug ALL THE THINGS, I mean he IS the Hug Machine. Trust me when I say it, little readers really get a kick out of the illustrations and they spark great *after reading* conversations about opinions of hugs and memorable hugs!

Another fun idea after reading is some list making! Have your kiddos work with a partner or alone to come up with different people in their lives they like to HUG!

To give the extra layer of sturdiness, back the craft and 1/2 sheet writing paper onto a “background” paper!

Nobody Hugs a Cactus by Carter Goodrich, we meet a very PRICKLY cactus, Hank! Hank likes to be alone until one day he realizes… maybe he doesn’t after discovering nobody wants to hug him. Poor Hank! In the end, Hank really learns the value of HUGS and kindness!

This text is also packed the the brim with educational value for little learners. I really like it for digging deep with character changes and having my kiddos help identify Hank from the beginning to end using the illustrations/text.

I love offering my kiddos fun writing crafts for text interactions or letting them making connections. You can grab this Hank writing craft by clicking here!

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