Craft Ideas: Crafting with a Dr Seuss Classic

Dr Seuss books have been a classic for generations. Parents and teachers continue to pass down these whimsical stories to their little ones as they begin to read and rhyme! Now we can enhance these stories with the help of crafts that match the well known Dr Seuss themes.

This is another craft idea from our friend Nickki at Apple Tree Academy. It is quick, easy and super cute! All you need is white paper, red and blue paint, and a marker.

Begin by painting your student’s right palm red. Then have them stamp there hand down firmly onto the paper with their fingers pointing toward the right side.

Next paint the left palm blue. This time have them stamp down with their fingers pointing towards the left side of the paper.

Be sure not to use too much paint or it will prolong the drying process. You can give the paint a moment a to dry while students wash the paint off their hands.

When the paint is dry, it is time to add an eye and mouth for each of the fish along with the words “1 Fish… 2 Fish… Red Fish… Blue Fish…”. If you have little ones, feel free to add the words in for them. Now you have a simple craft to follow story time.

Be sure to come back and visit us at http://purefunsupply.blogspot.com for more Craft Ideas!

Freckle Juice

It is always exciting to find a book you can do interactive activities with. The most popular example is Dr.Seuss’s Green Eggs and Ham. It has become somewhat of a tradition among teachers to accompany this book with the cooking of green eggs and ham to share with their students. While Green Eggs and Ham is perfect for younger readers, the reading level of the story is typically not high enough for the more advanced readers. Thankfully, we now have another book for grades second and third that has its own fun, food related activity.

Freckle Juice is written by the well known children’s author Judy Blume. The book is about a boy named Andrew who is on the search for his own freckles. While Andrew is searching, a classmate offers him a secret freckle recipe that leads him to create freckle juice. This book would be an excellent choice for the beginning of the year! It reminds students that they are perfect just the way they are and that everyone is special in their own way. Freckle Juice would also be great in daycares during the summertime as a way to calm students back down after playing outside. The interactive activity for this book allows students to create their very own Freckle Juice Popsicles! Continue reading to find out how!

Materials needed: *Please note this activity does take time and would work best if started early in the day.

• 3.5 oz Plastic Cups or 5 oz Plastic Cups: The size of the cup will depend on how big you want their popsicles to be.
• People Shaped Wood Craft Sticks: Using the People Sticks will give children a special version of their person. It can also be used as a tool to support the idea that everyone is special no matter how they look.
• 100% Juice: We offer many flavors of juice by the bottle such as Apple, Grape, Fruit Punch, Very Berry, Orange Citrus, Blue Raspberry and more!

     

• Magic Marker: The Marker will be used to write each child’s name on their cup.
• Aluminum Foil: The Foil will help prevent spills and speed up the freezing process.

  

Have each child put their name on their cup and choose which flavors they want to mix to create their own freckle juice. In the story, Andrew uses some interesting ingredients but the 100% juice will make a sweet substitute. Cover each cup with aluminum foil in order to prevent spills, speed up the freezing process and hold their stick in place. After placing a person stick in each cup, place the covered cups in the freezer for 2-5 hrs. Once the juice has completely frozen, take off the foil and carefully remove it from the cup. Now let your students enjoy this yummy treat on a nice summer’s day. We suggest eating these during outside time in order to avoid a drippy mess in the classroom. Once everyone has finished, come back together to discuss how everyone’s Popsicle Person looks different but, in the end, are all still sweet.

Around the World in 180 Days

Children always dream of traveling to exotic places around the world. The excitement of the unknown sparks their sense of adventure and leads them to discovering new places and information. The subject of Social Studies allows them to do just that. Social Studies curriculum requires you to study different locations or major times in history. In order to get your students excited about what they are going to be studying, introduce them to the trip of their lifetime with their very own Passports!

Begin by allowing your students to personalize their own passport with stickers. The passport will be brought out at the start of any new topic for them to enter information. Examples of this would be having them draw a picture of the location or writing 5 facts that they learn about it. Information can be gathered from movies or books. If you are presenting information with a movie, try having your students set up their chairs in rows like an airplane. This will help to provide them with the full travel experience. Be sure to have a stamp on hand to approve their passports as they get on board the learning plane.

Another fun activity to help students get excited about Social Studies is to have them pack a suitcase. To do this you can use assorted colors or regular manila drawing paper folded in half to make the suitcase. Don’t forget to cut out your handle! Just like the passports each student can personalize the front of his or her suitcase. As they travel from place to place the inside of the suitcase will be filled with pictures or facts about all the places they’ve been. The suitcase gives you a little more room for creativity and allows students to paste printed pictures that you provide them in their bag.

Help your students to learn about locations all around the world with one of these fun ideas! You can take them to places such as China, Australia, Mexico, Japan, Africa and more! You can even help them to learn about the Native Americans or time period’s such as medieval times. These activities are sure to keep your students well cultured as they soar through 180 days of fun, adventurous social studies material.

“Broaden your horizons, the more you see the more you understand”

-Anonymous

Busy Bee Craft

 

Need a quick and easy craft for the spring and summer seasons? Here is a fun idea sent to us by Nikkie at Apple Tree Academy that your students will buzz over!

This cute, little bee craft is as easy as 1, 2, 3! Here is what you will need:

Yellow, Black and White Construction Paper; Glue or Glue Sticks; Markers; Scissors

Depending on the age of your students, you can either let them prepare their own bee pieces or you can have them ready to go before they start. You will need a yellow oval, 4 or 5 black rectangles and 1 white heart. The yellow oval will be the body, the black rectangles will represent the black stripes and the white heart will be the wing.

Begin by having the students write their name on the back of the oval. Next, they can begin gluing on the pieces. First the stripes and then the wing. We encourage you to allow students to place the stripes however they would like. It allows for a look that will be a little different with each child’s imagination.

Now it’s time to add on the other details. Have students take a marker and give their bee an eye, a happy smile, and six legs. 

Now you have a fun and friendly bee for a quick spring or summertime craft!

Looking for other quick and easy craft ideas? Check out our arts and crafts blog page: http://purefunsupply.blogspot.com/search/label/Arts%20and%20Crafts