Seuss-tastic!

 

Every year on March 2 (this year the 3^rd) schools across America celebrate the famed Dr. Seuss by reading his stories, dressing up as favorite characters, and doing activities galore to celebrate his birthday. When I was teaching, especially 1^st grade, I spent the entire week exposing my students to his wonderful works while crafting, playing, and learning along the way. I’m super excited to continue the tradition at home this year with Sean and Olivia! We will share a story a day, or more, with a few activities to extend the fun. Grab yourself a few Seuss classics and join in on the fun.

A few Facts about the Author:

·         His full name is Theodor Seuss Geisel.

·         He took on the pseudonym “Seuss” after being kicked off his college’s magazine for drinking.

·         His first children’s book And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, was rejected 27 times before it was finally published in 1937.

·         “The Cat in the Hat, published in 1957, was written by Seuss in response to a 1954 LIFE magazine article that criticized children's reading levels, Houghton Mifflin and Random House asked him to write a children's primer using 220 vocabulary words.”

·         Before his death in 1991 Dr. Seuss published 60 children’s books.

A few activities we will be doing this week in honor of Dr. Seuss…(Click red links to be directed to activities throughout!)

The Cat in the Hat…the book that sparked the craze!

Sean is working on beginning sounds so he will complete a matching activity sheet created on a word document with a simple table. He will look at the –at word picture and find/match the correct beginning sound.

Hat pattern activity- Use various strips of colored paper to make patterns on the Cat’s Hat.

Thing 1 & 2 Handprint art with Sean and Olivia

 

And to Think that I Saw it on Mulberry St… Perfect since that street is in our neighborhood!

Sean will make and decorate toilet paper roll binoculars and take a walk on Mulberry Street in our neighborhood noting things he sees and practice using descriptive language!

 

Mcelligot’s Pool

Sean and Olivia will make water color paintings of a pool and make fish collages to add to the pool.  For the water color paintings, tape a large sheet of white paper to an easel or wall and dilute some blue tempera paint with water. Provide large brushes to coat the paper. Then provide several fish shaped templates and a ton of random art scraps (construction paper, foil, material, buttons, string, etc.) and collage away!

Sean will play a magnetic fishing game where he will fish for paper fish with paper clips attached, practicing his colors, shapes, and numbers. To make the fishing pole simply attach a magnet to the end of a pencil or stick.

 

Green Eggs and Ham… One of my favorites!

We will of course have a good ol' fashion green eggs (spinach scramble) and ham (bacon) breakfast.

Both kiddos will explore in a Green Eggs and Ham themed bath.

Sean will play a matching game (upper and lower case letter) and a counting game. For the letter match I folded a paper into 8 rectangles and free handed 8 egg shapes then made 8 small green circles. I wrote uppercase letters on the paper and lower case letters on the circles. On the back I repeated the same 8 egg shapes and covered it with contact paper. He will place 8 dollops of green play dough as the yolk and stick a dry spaghetti stick in the center. He will place a magnetic number on each egg and count out and place the correct number of buttons on the spaghetti. This is great practice for counting and fine motor skills.

If I Ran the Zoo

Of course a zoo outing is in order to end the week!

Sean will also play an online animal mix up game!

I’m beyond excited for this week’s Seuss-tastic activities! I hope you grab a few of your favorites and join in on the fun!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DR. SEUSS!!!!!