Thursday, February 23, 2017

Get Ready for Seuss-a-pallooza

Dr. Seuss was born on March 2, 1904. That means in a week readers all over the world will be celebrating Dr. Seuss's great contribution to the world. Here are a couple ideas for celebrating Dr. Seuss...

Ten Apples Up on Top 
"Ten Apples Up on Top" is one of the books that Dr. Seuss wrote using one of his other pen names: Theo LeSieg and someone else illustrated it (gasp!). I like the boardbook version for preschoolers...



After reading it, you might want to try balancing apples on your heads and otherwise stacking apple-like objects. Try any of these ideas:


Balloons (5")
Static Electricity
- Blow up the balloons.
- Rub a balloon all over your head, which will give it static cling.
- Stick it to your head!

Balloon Tower
- Blow up the balloons.
- Use loops of tape (or other ingenuity) to make a stack of balloons.

Paper
Perfect Posture (Think Walking with a Book on Your Head)
- Cut Paper Circles
- Place one paper circle flat on your head and walk across the room.
- Place more paper circles flat on your head and walk across the room.


Green Eggs and Ham
"Green Eggs and Ham" is a classic for a reason. The skepticism of not wanting to try a new weird food and the insistence by another person that "no, really! You'll love it!" is something that I think most people can appreciate...especially young children.



Why not make a tasting game out of it?! [Alert: I guess food allergies is a good reason. But surely, you can think of some safe foods to try...] After reading the book, offer new foods to try like star fruit, pomegranate seeds, or even a new combination like celery with peanut butter.

Tip: Something I learned from food therapy: tasting involves many senses. If they don't want to try it then they shouldn't have to. But there are smaller steps that just taking a bite. Maybe just smell the food, or lick it. Then if they are up for it they can take a bite!


The Cat in the Hat 
At some point, every young reader should get their hands on Dr. Seuss's revolutionary book "The Cat in the Hat." However, I am well-aware that the story sometimes inspires mischief. So if you want to read "The Cat in the Hat" and have an activity to go with it, consider having Hide and Seek, Fort Building, or some other childhood favorite.





If you want to kick it up a notch, then consider getting a Cat Hat for Adults or a Cat Hat for Kids for the leader of the activity to wear.



Or if everyone needs a Cat Hat, then you can get a whole bunch of Paper Hats.









The Great Doodler
I love learning biographical stuff from picture books. This book, Dr. Seuss the Great Doodler, provided us (ok, me) with as much info as we cared to know about the great man.


One of my favorite parts of his story is that he wrote and re-wrote, sketched and re-sketched. This is the part that I would use as a jumping off point for an activity with older preschoolers (or anyone for that matter). All you need is a timer, a pencil, some paper, and a simple drawing prompt. Then explore how creativity manifests differently given 10 seconds to draw versus 10 minutes to draw.

Still not sure? Watch this video to see what I mean...



For more ideas for celebrating Dr. Seuss, surf over to http://www.seussville.com/.

And I found this complete list of the books he wrote: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Seuss_bibliography

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