obSEUSSed

The obSEUSSed with Dr. Seuss Link Collection

2012-02-29T01:32:00.000-07:00

Celebrate Dr. Seuss’ birthday with crafts, snacks, activities, parties and more.

The ObSEUSSed with Dr. Seuss Link Collection!

Take a look or add a link.

I’ve been collecting Dr. Seuss ideas for over a year now. It has been so fun to see this linky party grow with amazing ideas.

This link collection is a place to share ideas for bringing Dr. Seuss books to life. I keep these links as a resource throughout the year on the tab at the top of this blog. You can come back later in the year and add your project or get ideas anytime.

EDUCATIONAL: Dr. Seuss activities, crafts, games, free printables, worksheets, classroom units and readathon ideas.

CELEBRATIONS: Dr. Seuss Parties, Cakes, treats, baby showers, birthday parties, Read Across America Day, Dr. Seuss' Birthday, costumes, recipes.
DECORATING: Dr. Seuss nursery, playroom, child's room, classroom, bulletin boards.

Guidelines: Any, family-friendly, Dr. Seuss related link is welcome. I will add some links that I find while searching the web but bloggers, teachers, crafters and parents are welcome to link-up their projects. I will watch for new ideas and feature some on my blog. (Please do not list commercial items. If you'd like to sponsor this blog or place an ad, please contact Victoria at obSEUSSed (at) live (dot) com.)

If you add a link to your site I'd love if you posted this button on your page to let others come take a look at these links too.

Thanks for stopping by the Dr. Seuss Collection. To enter your link, go under all of these images and enter the title of your project in the name field.

For those of you on Pinterest you can also find more than 1,000 Dr. Seuss crafts, parties and activities on my ObSEUSSed with Dr. Seuss Pinterest board.
Some similar Dr. Seuss Linky Parties to check out:

Dr. Seuss Celebration Linky Party at Happy Birthday Author
SEUSS-per Linky Party at Mrs. Bainbridge's Class blog.
Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss Linky Party - hosted by 15 blogs.

PBS The Cat-in-the-Hat-a-thon and Birthday Planner

2012-02-28T10:00:00.005-07:00

PBS KIDS is celebrating Dr. Seuss’ 108^th birthday on March 2^nd with THE CAT-IN-THE-HAT-A-THON - a two-hour marathon of their popular series THE CAT IN THE HAT KNOWS A LOT ABOUT THAT!, which my kids (and myself) love to watch every day.

During the two hour special we’ll get to see TWO BRAND NEW episodes. You can also see video clips from all four episodes for free online at PBSKIDS.org/video and on the PBS KIDS Video App for iDevices.

Dr. Seuss Birthday Party Planner:
Also, on March 1^st the PBS KIDS Shop will launch a Birthday Party Builder Tool – a one-stop-shop for parents’ every party needs offering customizable recommendations based on number of guests with exclusive, personalized products based on The Cat in the Hat. It will offer tips on everything from tableware and party banners to clothing and gifts.

For years there has been a lack of commercial products available for a Dr. Seuss themed birthday party so we’ve all been crafting, decorating and making our own versions to celebrate. I think it is great to have another resource to pull from to get ideas or order products to make it easier when planning a party. I can’t wait to see what they have lined up.

SALE: Be sure to use the discount code ‘CELEBRATE’ to save 10 percent on any Dr. Seuss items now through Saturday, March 3.

Find out the time for The Cat-in-the-Hat-a-thon in your local area by clicking here.

PBS KIDS KUED- Utah Reading Marathon Party
We attended this fun party in January as a reward for tracking our reading. The kids had fun meeting the characters. Local children's organizations each hosted a booth with a theme from one of the PBS Kids characters.

The kids got to dig for dinosaur eggs (with prizes inside) at the Dinosaur Train booth, do silly science experiments at the Sid the Science Kid booth and read to therapy dogs at the Martha Speaks booth. We had a fabulous time.

Dr. Seuss Activities from Education.com

2012-02-28T00:26:00.002-07:00

If you are looking for more Dr. Seuss, Read Across America, activities I came across this whole series of projects at Education.com.
Look at all these fun crafts and games you can do to celebrate with kids.

Make a Cat in the Hat – inspired hat
Make Your Own Fun in a Box
Yertle the Turtle Stacking Game – with walnuts
One Fish Two Fish Water Game

Hop on Pop Hopscotch
Or this Fox in Socks – Sock Puppet
Hop on Pop inspired Crazy Eights game
Horton the Elephant Trunk and Ears

They also have the 20 page free printable Dr. Seuss Activity Book from Seussville.
Plus many more Seusstastic ideas. Click here to see more at education.com.

Education.com is for parents who want to be involved in the education of their children. From kindergarten to college prep, Education.com provides educational activities and printables to help kids reach their full potential and make learning fun.

Dr. Seuss Crafts Created by obSEUSSed

2012-02-26T23:57:00.010-07:00

I thought I’d share a few of my favorite Dr. Seuss crafts I’ve created and shared on this blog.

Get Creative Celebrating Dr. Seuss!
There are thousands of ways you can celebrate Dr. Seuss and encourage literacy for children. Let your kids pick out one of Dr. Seuss’ books and I’m sure you’ll be inspired to come up with a craft or activity to go along with it. I’m so impressed with all the projects I’ve been seeing online. I’m glad I’m not alone in my obSEUSSion. I’ll share more Dr. Seuss ideas throughout the coming week as we lead up to his birthday on Friday. Here are a few I've created.

Pin It

Just click on a picture below to take you to the project details.

Also remember to check the Dr. Seuss Link Collection here on obSEUSSed with ideas from other crafters, teachers, moms and more.

Along with my collection of 1,000+ ideas on Pinterest for Dr. Seuss crafts, parties, activities and more.

Some great Dr. Seuss Linky Parties to check out:

Dr. Seuss Celebration Linky Party at Happy Birthday Author
SEUSS-per Linky Party at Mrs. Bainbridge's Class blog.
Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss Linky Party - hosted by 15 blogs.

Get Creative Celebrating Dr. Seuss!

The Lorax and Cat in the Hat Pencil Cans {Craft}

2012-02-24T00:49:00.001-07:00

My kids and I made these Lorax and Cat in the Hat pencil holders out of recycled cans to celebrate the upcoming birthday of Dr. Seuss and the new Lorax movie release on March 2.

These are hands-on kid crafts that take 5-10 minutes to make.

How to:
Find orange and yellow felt then trace the shape of the Lorax in orange (or light brown) then cut out. Use yellow felt to cut out the mustache and eyebrows. Don’t worry about getting it perfect. Glue the pieces together and glue googly eyes on. I also used a permanent marker to add details.
Cut out scrapbook paper or cardstock to cover the can, then glue the Lorax on.

I just used yellow pencils and drew zigzag lines around them with a black permanent marker. We tried the turquoise fur glued to the top first. It looked great but it didn’t stick well. You could probably try hot glue but I wanted my kids to do this – so we ripped the fur off and I let them wad up wrapping tissue paper. They glued the balls of tissue paper to the top and they worked perfectly. I also tried using it as a vase and it looked cute with flowers.

My inspiration (I combined these two ideas)
I love this felt Lorax by Maggie at Smashed Peas and Carrots. She also has a pattern and a game to go with it. I found this via Pinterest. I like her movie version of the Lorax. Mine above is more based off the book.

I also saw these great Truffula Tree Pencils at the Zakka Life by Jessica.

This is the felt Lorax storyboard I made years ago.

We really needed these pencil holders for our homework table (these would look great in a classroom too). I can never find a pencil when I need one so both these cans will stay at our homework station. My son loved coloring the stripes for the Cat in the Hat can.

How to:
Cut white card stock to cover the can. Draw stripes on with a pencil and tell your child which sections to color red. Then have them trace the lines with black marker. Glue the paper to cover the can.

Now hold the paper to let the glue set for a few minutes. Trace a 1 inch circle around the can on the felt. Cut the felt out. Add glue to the bottom of the can and add the felt to the can. This will be the hat brim (and make it soft to put on tables).

I hope you have fun trying out this quick DIY Dr. Seuss Craft!

LORAX APPS:
With the movie coming out you can check out the two free apps from Universal Studios. Kids will love them. The Official Lorax App lets you hold the screen over your mouth to look like a mustache. The Lorax’s mouth moves when you talk.
The movement is pretty jumpy, even after we adjusted the microphone sensitivity, but my son doesn’t care (and hey, it’s FREE!). This is fun to use while reading the book, or just to talk to each other and pretend you’re the Lorax.

This video is only 5 seconds. See how it works. Get The Lorax Free App here. “I am the Lorax, I Speak for the Trees.”
The newer app is the Lorax Truffula Shuffula. It is similar to Bejeweled Blitz (which I love) but it is more kid friendly with great truffula graphics and fun sounds. I’ve had it a few days and it has frozen up 3 times so far so I hope they fix the glitch, but otherwise a great FREE app.

Check out The Lorax Garden, game app for kids created by Oceanhouse Media. This game is only 99 cents and is another great one to play while you explore the story.
And I can’t wait for The Lorax movie to be released Friday, March 2. Click here to see a helpful review by a mom on Today’s Mama. She says there are five musical numbers in the movie. The trailers look funny and have excellent graphics. I can’t wait to take my kids next week.

Dr. Seuss Baby Shower Party

2012-02-21T12:28:00.003-07:00

I’m excited to share this Dr. Seuss baby shower Deborah created for her granddaughter, who is due to be born on Dr. Seuss’ birthday, March 2. Deborah contacted me to share her pictures to help inspire others looking for ideas to host a Dr. Seuss party.

How about this fabulous Dr. Seuss cake created by Amanda Grooms?
So many wonderful elements from Dr. Seuss books that she incorporated, including a real fish bowl.

Deborah handmade this sign with a Dr. Seuss quote from Horton Hatches the Egg.

Deborah also handmade this colorful Dr. Seuss quilt (for another grand baby) using fabric by Robert Kaufman. Notice the detailed curved stitching including sewing the baby’s name into the quilt.

Dr. Seuss style gifts:
Baby clothes, fleece tied quilt, Six by Seuss book and more of the handmade quilt by grandma Deborah. I also love the idea of making a pillow case to store the quilt in.

Dr. Seuss Party Food ideas:
A popular food choice is deviled Green Eggs and Ham sandwiches.

Dr. Seuss food ideas: The signs had these titles and a quote from the book.

Three Cheese Trees (One Fish Two Fish) cubed cheese
Brown Bar Ba Loots Truffula Fruits (The Lorax) Grapes
Gertrude McFuzzy Berries (Gertrude McFuzz)
Skipper Zips Chips (Oh Say Can You Say?)
Remarkable Foons Sizzling Hot Pebbles (If I Ran the Circus) Jalepeno Poppers
Noodle Eating Poodle Noodles (Fox in Socks) pasta salad
Yink Pink Ink Drink (Fox in Socks) Pink Lemonade
Brown and Blacks Snack (Hop on Pop, Eat a snack with Brown and Black) Peanut Butter sandwiches cut up
Valley of Vungs Chocolate Rocks (I had Trouble Getting to Solla Sollew) Chocolate covered nuts
Katroo Cake (Happy Birthday to You) The Cake
Yot in a Pot (There’s a Wocket in my Pocket) anything you want
Biggle Balls (Dr. Seuss’ Sleep Book) meatballs
Last Can of Who Hash (The Grinch Who Stole Christmas)

Dr. Seuss Party Decorations:
My favorite decorations are the Truffula trees she made with fluffy feathers (hair bows from Hobby Lobby) and long bamboo sticks and plants. She added stripes to the sticks and plants.

The handmade Dr. Seuss sign post is in place by the food at the party. The utensil table is set with a striped table cloth and the kitchen window is surrounded by Dr. Seuss cut out classroom wall décor you can find from teacher supply stores.

Dr. Seuss Table Decorations: She made signs for the food, and book covers in frames for the guest tables. Center pieces were the truffula trees and fish in a dish along with fun polka-dots scattered around.

Storytime Spot for kids: She had a reader that sat in the chair with a cat hat on and read Dr. Seuss stories to the kids at the shower!

Photo Booth Wall: Gather all your Dr. Seuss plush animals, several books and decorate a mantle. Then have decorated frames, a few cat hats, some boas and a silly sign for guests to hold for photo opportunities.

Guessing Game:
They filled a jar with Grinch Hearts (candy hearts) and let the guests guess how many were inside. Whoever was closest got to take the jar home as a prize. The answer: 120- won by a little girl named Audrey!

DIY MAGNET FAVORS: They also made all these magnets from Dr. Seuss stickers as a party favor for guests to take home.

I wish Deborah and her family a life full of joy, especially with the new arrival of her granddaughter. Thank you for sharing your party with us.

Some of these ideas were inspired by other parties Deborah has seen on the web. She pulled all this together along with her own creativity to create this party. It turned out amazing! I hope this gives you some good ideas if you want to host a Dr. Seuss themed party.

Dr. Seuss Book Apps Review and Free Game {Giveaway closed}

2012-02-17T12:50:00.002-07:00

To celebrate the upcoming birthday of Dr. Seuss (March 2) and achieving the status of #1 in the app store for music games, the Dr. Seuss Band app is now FREE for a limited time – so hurry and download it to try out this whimisical instrument on your iDevice.

We’ve had the game for about a month now. Oceanhouse Media, creators of all Dr. Seuss digital book apps and games, has made another entertaining Dr. Seuss game. This one is a little like Rock Band (which my kids love) so they picked up the idea quickly. Watch for the colors streaming down the screen and hit the note that corresponds to make the instrument play a song. Watch this example on YouTube.

So far, my kids have been happy with the free portions of this app (a few basic songs and you can swap parts of the instrument around). As they get older, and for grown-up players, they may want to purchase additional songs and instruments for a more challenging game. Click here for more details about the game or where to get it FREE for your Apple device. (Remember you can turn off the option for in-app purchases on your device if you don’t want the risk of your kids buying anything during play time.)

NEW DR. SEUSS BOOK APP COLLECTION

Oceanhouse Media recently released their first Dr. Seuss Beginner Book Collection #1, which includes:

The Cat in the Hat
One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish
The FOOT Book
Mr. Brown Can MOO! Can You?
Fox in Socks

By buying it as a package you basically get one book free because you’ll get 5 books for $11.99 instead of $15 (normally $2.99 each).

WHAT DID I THINK?
If you haven’t bought any yet this is a great starter set. I have been so impressed with Oceanhouse Media’s commitment to keep literacy it’s top priority. They don’t add over-the-top special effects. They keep it simple for kids to focus on the rhyming stories and they use all of Dr. Seuss’ original illustrations (which are entertaining enough themselves). All of the Dr. Seuss omBooks include features of zooming in or out on pictures as it scans a page, highlighting the words as a narrator reads aloud, and the option to read at your own pace while swiping the page to turn it. I enjoyed the sound effects or background music that randomly pop-up throughout the stories.
Many of Dr. Seuss’ books can get long for little children. I noticed Oceanhouse Media created these apps so if you go away then come back you can resume the story at the place you left off. Perfect for my kindergartner.

GIVEAWAY (contest closed 2/24/12)

I’m giving away a code for the One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish app from Oceanhouse Media (for an Apple device). Plus, one $10 itunes gift card code so you can purchase 3 more books of your choice, from me.

Official Entry: Please take a look at all the Dr. Seuss apps available from Oceanhouse Media ~~{here}~~ ~~and leave a comment below telling me your favorite Dr. Seuss omBook that you’ve tried, or you’d like to try. Leave the name of the app along with your name and email in the comments below.~~
~~This giveaway runs Feb. 17 – Feb. 24, 2012. A winner will be randomly chosen at midnight EST on Feb. 24, 2012. I will email the codes to the winner after confirmation.~~ CONTEST CLOSED.

Additional omBook Reviews
Our family has also been exploring the digital book app of ‘And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street,’ by Dr. Seuss. This was released in the last month as a digital omBook. It is such a classic with wonderful rhyming rhythm. Again, I’m so glad they used Dr. Seuss’ original illustrations because this book has beautiful pictures of the parade going down Mulberry Street. If you have read the book, you'll know what to expect. Again, you can choose Read it to Me, read to myself, or auto play.

Read how Dr. Seuss created his first book ‘And to Think that I Saw It on Mulberry Street’ on NPR.

We previously reviewed the omBook Oh, the Thinks You Can Think! So far it is my favorite because it is a little more interactive than the other books. See our review here.

Disclosure: I received a free copy of four Dr. Seuss omBooks for review. I’ve previously purchased some on my own too (because I love them). All opinions and experiences are my own.

~~Remember to enter the giveaway for the free 1 Fish 2 Fish omBook and $10 itunes gift card by leaving a comment below.~~ Contest closed. A winner has been selected and notified.

Green Eggs and Ham Snack Tray {DIY Craft}

2012-02-15T10:01:00.003-07:00

Today's Craft: Create a fun snack tray with the Green Eggs and Ham book theme to celebrate Read Across America Day or St. Patrick’s Day in March.

TIM TEBOW READS GREEN EGGS & HAM
Starting today you can watch famous football player, Tim Tebow, read Green Eggs and Ham online for 'America's Biggest Storytime' from Book It. Click the title then 'watch now' at the top of the page. Also watch his interview after the story. I was impressed to learn Tebow overcame dislexia as a child. Also check out all the fun printables they have to go with the book.

Now, about the Green Eggs & Ham Snack Tray

My kids love having snacks after school so I made this tray for them to load up to take to the family room then return to the kitchen when finished.
This is our favorite book for St. Patrick’s day. And anytime I want to introduce a new food I remind them of this book. I tell them ‘you have to try it once, then decide.’

I remember when my son cracked 18 eggs all by himself while I was out of the kitchen, so we made green eggs and ham for dinner and breakfast.

SUPPLIES NEEDED:

Wooden craft tray, craft paints, paint sponge brushes, clear sealer craft paint, smaller paint brush, permanent marker, book page image, stickers.

I had a wooden tray from a craft store sitting in my closet for years and didn’t know what to do with it. I also had an extra copy of the book ‘Green Eggs and Ham’ by Dr. Seuss that was falling apart so I cut out an image to use for this craft. My kids helped paint the over all orange and green color.

HOW TO:

Use craft paint to paint inside and outside of tray – choose bright colors
Use a pencil to trace the bottom of a cup and a plate in the spots you choose. Click on the image to make it larger to see the drawing.
Also draw utensils and a napkin if you’d like them.
Glue the image from the book on so it will have time to dry.

Paint the images on the tray with different colored craft paint.
Let dry at least 30 minutes. Outline the images with a sharpie permanent marker.

Let the paint and marker completely dry then seal with a clear coat of craft paint. Let it dry before using.
I found green fuzzy stickers in the clearance bin and they matched perfectly for this craft. I stuck them on the side of the tray. If you have a vinyl cutting machine you could print out words or some of these images with vinyl to stick on the tray.

I found the figurine of Sam I Am at a yard sale in the box for $8. It is a retired piece from Halmark. I added him for display only.

‘Do You Like Green Eggs and Ham?’

'Try them and you may I say.’

I've shared this project at Tatertots and Jello's Weekend Wrap-Up Party

Guess How Much I Love You Flash Cards

2012-02-06T18:09:00.002-07:00

I created some simple heart-shaped flash cards of high frequency words for one of my favorite valentine children's books; ‘Guess How Much I Love You’ by Sam McBratney.

We have the story time or classroom size version that is about 18 inches tall. We also own the board book. This is a classic that you’ll want in your home library or classroom. The pictures are simple and relaxing and the text is memorable.

As I read books with my kindergartner I like to have him read the high frequency words while I read the more challenging words. It works best if I review the words before we read the book. Then he is familiar with them and doesn’t struggle so much during the story.

For this book we reviewed the words, then I had him find the matching word in the book the second time we read it.

FREE PRINTABLE FLASH CARDS (for non-commercial use only)
I printed mine on pink paper.
Guess How Much Love Cards Obseussed

You can download the free flashcards by clicking the lower left corner of the box ‘Scribd’. Or click here.

You could also let your child use the hearts to create a valentine by using a glue-stick and construction paper.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Check out more great blog-land Valentine ideas:

Dr. Seuss Style Outfit on Polyvore

2012-02-01T17:49:00.000-07:00

I’ve seen so many fabulous outfits on Pinterest that were created on Polyvore’s inspiration boards. I decided to try it out myself. This is the outfit I would put together to celebrate Dr. Seuss’ birthday.

I enjoyed searching through their database of clothing and accessories. The scarf, shoes and sunglasses were the most expensive ($100’s of dollars). The bag is surprisingly only $45. You can click on individual pieces in Polyvore to find out where to get it, or try to find similar items in stores near you or online.
Here is an outfit created by Kristen-344 that I spotted on Pinterest. She didn’t make it to be Dr. Seuss style but I think it would work perfectly.

There are some fancy boards on Polyvore. The set I made is very simple but I went with the idea of a making a comfy and stylish outfit for a mom or teacher to celebrate Dr. Seuss’ birthday. What do you think?

Dr. Seuss Thing 1 Thing 2 Paper Bag Puppet Printable

2012-01-27T05:30:00.009-07:00

I'm so excited for Nicole to share this Dr. Seuss craft today. I can't believe she free-handed the Thing 1 and Thing 2 heads to create these amazing puppets. Remember to check out the Dr. Seuss party she hosted, also featured on obSEUSSed.

We are swapping blogs today, each sharing kid crafts. Visit her blog, My Everything Else, to see the activity I created to go with the Berenstain Bear book 'Inside Outside Upside Down' and look around at her other fun posts while you are there.

---------------------------

Thanks Victoria for having me! I'm Nicole with My Everything Else. I have four kids, including identical twins, and stay busy writing, blogging and working from home, (in addition to everything else).

Today I am so excited to share with you Thing 1 and Thing 2 Paper Bag Puppets!

When I was planning my twins first birthday party, I combed the internet for Thing 1/Thing 2 crafts and party activities. When I couldn't find what I was looking for, I decided to make my own.

I thought I'd share them with you!

Gather your supplies:

Paper bags (I found RED ones at Hobby Lobby)
Crayons or Markers
Scissors
Glue
Thing 1/Thing 2 Printable. (Download and print.)

Thing 1 Thing 2 Puppet (Free Printable for non-commercial use only)

TO PRINT: Click on the word 'Scribd' in the lower left corner to download. Or click on the first box at the bottom to view fullscreen then copy and paste each page into your document program to print.

Assemble your puppets:

First, print out both pages of the printable. You will need to print both pages for EACH puppet you want to make. Color your pages and cut them out.

Next, Glue the "half face" under the bag flap as shown below.

Then glue the "entire face" on top of the paper bag flap, making sure to line up both chins.

Glue the arms (there is no right or left, you can choose) inside the side fold of the bag.

Finally, choose if you want your Thing to be Thing 1 or Thing 2 and glue the circle on the front of the bag. Tip: if you want to change which Thing your puppet is, tape it instead of gluing it.

Twin Thing 1 Thing 2 Dr. Seuss Birthday Party

2012-01-24T22:47:00.001-07:00

A perfect theme party idea for twins is Dr. Seuss’ Thing one and Thing two, from the book 'The Cat in the Hat'. There are so many fabulous things you can do.

Nicole has twins so she naturally wanted to host a Thing 1 and Thing 2 Birthday party for them. Today I’m featuring a few ideas from her party that I noticed online a few months ago. You can see more details on her blog, My Everything Else. Thanks to Nicole for sharing her party with us!

Let’s start with these whimsical smash cakes. They look like the Thing’s hair and I love the base wrapped in polka-dot paper.

She also made these striped Dr. Seuss Cat in the Hat Cake Pops to look like the cat’s hat.

She printed Thing 1, Thing 2 labels from obSEUSSed. The picture cupcake toppers and invitations were ordered from Photodesignz on Etsy.

Try making some Sweet Seuss treats like turquoise popcorn balls or swedish fish in a bowl. You could also have a contest to guess how many fish are in the bowl and the winner takes home the bowl as their prize.

Dr. Seuss Party Favors: Make your own labels for bubbles. I love all the red and white polka-dots, stripes and turquoise or blue mixed in with all the decorations and accents for this party.

Nicole also guest posted on ObSEUSSed how to make these adorable Thing 1 and Thing 2 puppets with free printable faces.

Teacher Appreciation Ideas {Memory Box and Plant}

2012-01-20T16:27:00.000-07:00

Teacher appreciation week is often held in the spring at grade schools. Here are some ideas I put together to thank my children’s teachers. These would be great class gifts if you can gather the kids to sign their names.

TRY IT:

MEMORY BOX: Buy a memory or photo storage box. Have the kids sign their names. Add a treat or another present inside, or letters from the kids. If I had a vinyl cutter I would have added the words “Thank you” on top.

PLANT: Buy a plant with a plastic pot that you can write on. Use permanent markers to write “Thank You” in larger print then have the kids sign all around it.

These have received wonderful response and the kids liked participating to show their appreciation.

Here are a few teacher appreciation ideas I created last year:

Tutu Hanging Flower Basket for a dance teacher.

Pencil vase with flower topped pens (pen holder), I’d seen this floating around Pinterest in 2011.

Apple basket with apple slicer to refill for class snacks during the year.

More Gratitude Gift ideas can be seen on my Pinterest board:

We appreciate our teachers!

Dr. Seuss Book Clock, Blocks and Baby Room

2012-01-09T23:42:00.001-07:00

We are counting down, less than 3 months until Dr. Seuss’ Birthday. I’ve already noticed people planning parties, crafts, activities and more to celebrate. I will start featuring more ideas from the Dr. Seuss Link Collection here on ObSEUSSed for the next few months.

I found these fabulous Dr. Seuss crafts separately then realized they were all by the same person. Brandi from the blog ‘Daily Ramblings’ created this functional clock out of Dr. Seuss’ ABC book. Click the book to see step-by-step how she made it.

Then she cut up Dr. Seuss book pages to create these playful blocks for her baby. See how she did it here.

Then she created this whimsical mural for her baby’s nursery.

More pictures of how she made the Dr. Seuss mural and baby nursery can be seen on Flickr.

She also features a DIY Cat in the Hat ceramic piggy bank a Dr. Seuss Birthday Party and Dr. Seuss Baby Shower on her blog.

That is one lucky baby!

These projects are part of the Dr. Seuss Link Collection with more than 150 ideas on ObSEUSSed.

You can also see more than 500 Dr. Seuss projects on my Pinterest board if you are a member. If you need an invite, leave me a message below and I’ll invite you to the wonderful world of Pinterest.

Handmade Christmas Gifts from Pinterest

2011-12-31T13:11:00.002-07:00

I was amazed by the handmade Christmas gifts our family made for each other this year. I’ve spotted many of these ideas on Pinterest so it was surreal seeing crafts from my pin-boards in real life. You may want to save some of these ideas to make for Christmas next year.

FELT OWLS
One of my favorite gifts was from my sister-in-law; felt owls hanging on a branch for my son’s nursery room.

Aren’t they adorable? I have a whole Owl pin-board with samples of these that I wanted to make but never have time – and she made me eight of them, all hand stitched!
She also made me this custom menu board for our kitchen Diner.

We can change the menu as needed. I’ve been eyeing these but have never gotten around to making one. Now it looks perfect in our diner. See more of our diner here.

EVEN MY MOTHER-IN-LAW USES PINTEREST
I love that my mother-in-law uses Pinterest. I get to see what she likes and in return she sees my interests. She made me this cute ‘camera attention getter.’

She cut up a small stuffed animal she got at a thrift store and used the extra fabric from the body to make the elastic scrunchy to fit around my camera lens. Much more fun for my kids to look at than just a black hole.

I had pinned this Elmo version from Etsy earlier in the year. It is only $10.

She also gave me a bokeh camera filter which I just discovered on Pinterest in December.

You can see DIY bokeh filters by The Friendly Fox (pictured on left) or on I Heart Faces. Both are on my pin boards and I plan to make more shapes. I took the picture on the right with my bokeh star filter. I can’t wait to use it more.

CROCHET and KNIT GIFTS
My 2nd sister-in-law makes amazing crochet blankets & hats.

She created this special blanket for my in-laws who are a split-sport family. One side likes BYU (Brigham Young University), the other likes the University of Utah. So she combined them together “BYUTAH” into one blanket so they can still sit by each other while watching games. So creative!

R2-D2 Crochet Hat
Here is the R2-D2 hat she made my son. (I did send her a picture from Pinterest a few months ago for an idea.) She created her own pattern. See the original pattern with ear flaps at Nesting Sticks.

Matching Girl and Doll Hats and Headbands
Then she made these cute matching knit headbands and hats for my daughter and her American Girl doll. The ribbons and pom poms are perfect accents.

She also made the ‘J’ initial hat for my son and a “U” hat for my toddler son and matched it with a T-shirt. And made another U hat for my husband. She has been a busy crafter this season.
My sister made me the turquoise hat last year and my daughter steals it from me all the time.

Crochet Stuffed Animals
My 3rd sister-in-law made this adorable crochet lamb for my son. Can you believe the detail?

BEARDED BEANIE and FINGER-STACHE’S
I pinned this bearded beanie a few months ago from Etsy and wanted one for my husband.

I went to a blogger’s “White Elephant Party” hosted by Kathy @ Danish Mama earlier in December and I happened to score this bearded beanie made by Ashlee of I’m Topsy Turvy. She also made the finger-stache’s that my kids love.

See pattern for knit Bearded Beanie and knit finger-stache’s.

Funny Story: I got them the first week of December and hid them to save as presents. My husband actually emailed me the 2nd week of December with the same pic as above from Etsy and asked if we knew anyone who could make these. I was laughing because I already had this hidden in the closet for him. He got it Christmas Eve and loves it.

DIY JEDI ROBE
I started pinning patterns for a Jedi Robe in November. I have a lot on my board. One of my friends commented saying “I used this one at Halloween and it turned out great.”
See pattern at Degraeve.

So I took her advice and whipped this one up while my kids went to a movie with Dad.

SILVERWARE WIND CHIME

Okay, I wanted to share this cute picture of my husband and son under the mistletoe – but look closely at the silverware wind chime in the background. My sister made that for my mom.

STOCKING SHELF
We don’t have a fireplace so I’ve never known where to hang our stockings until I saw this idea on Pinterest from Alayna’s Creations.

I had this shelf in my laundry room and it was perfect to pull out and hang our stockings for the month.

I got the stockings at the Downeast Home Outlet. They all had other monogrammed names on them from being returned so I covered them with ribbon, except the one I found that says “Victoria.” Just right for $1 each. We also have the matching tree skirt for $8 that is monogrammed with “The Kwans” name but we cover that with the train track and no one else knows about it (except you now).

Holiday Paperwhite Flower Planter
I also made these paperwhite planters out of food cans after seeing ideas around pinterest. See this version from Tauni at It’s a Tradition.

I bought ribbon and the fake berries at the dollar store to dress up the cans. I attached a card that said “I’m dreaming of a white Christmas” with instructions for taking care of the flower.

MERRY PINTEREST!
It was a Pinterest filled Christmas! I am still in awe of all these wonderful homemade gifts we will forever cherish.

I’m going to keep pinning ideas on Pinterest and maybe more dreams will come true next year.
What homemade gifts did you give or receive this year?

Grinch Christmas Craft Round-up

2011-12-19T16:00:00.001-07:00

Merry Grinchmas!
I’ve seen a variety of great Grinch ideas online lately so I am sharing a few of my favorites today.

GRINCH PILLS
Once I saw these Grinch Pills on Pinterest I had to make them.
I’m not positive where the poem or idea originated. It does take some work formatting things to print your own so I found someone who sells them on Etsy if that would help you be a little less Grinchy during the holidays.
I found the Big Pack of Tic Tacs on sale so I could make 5 of them.

GRINCH COOKIES
I made theseGrinch cookies and took them to a cookie exchange last week at Jen’s house (from the fabulous blog Tatertots and Jello) See recipe below.
I made this record stand for our diner to display party food. Here are a few Grinch Cookies.

Click here for more info and pictures of Mount Crumpit Melt-a-way Grinch Cookies.

GRINCH QUOTE
I’ve been crushing this Grinch quote by Laura of Announced Design.
You can order the digital print from her site.

GRINCH TREE
I found this Whoville Tree by Stevie over at Garden Therapy.
I love how tall it is and how the top arches over. This adds a whimsical feeling to a natural tree.

GRINCH CRAFT BEADS
My kids love working with perler beads. They will sit down for 30-45 minutes filling up their boards with patterns. I have a whole stack waiting to be ironed. I’m going to show them this and see if they can duplicate it.
A Grinch out of perler beads, by April Hanna as seen on Pinterest.

GRINCH HAT
I also spotted this cute Grinch crochet hat on Pinterest and found out they sell the pattern on Etsy if you’d like to try to make your own.

GRINCH WREATH
This vibrant Grinch Christmas Wreath is incredible with so many details. You can find it on Etsy as well.

GRINCH GINGERBREAD HOUSE
This Whoville gingerbread house village can been seen at Sweetopia.

GRINCH YARD
I’d love a set of these Grinch yard display “who” characters. Can you believe they were stolen last year? They put up a sign that says “Lost Child, Have you seen Cindy Lou who is no more than 2?” I hope someone returns them.
I wonder if I could get my husband to make a set for our yard?

GRINCH SANTA BAGS
I bought these Santa Bags ($4-8) at our local DownEast Outlet (located about 3500 S. 3500 West in West Valley City, Utah) that sells Pottery Barn returns. Some had monogrammed names on them so I bought Grinch fabric on eBay by Kaufman and am sewing it on the bags this week.

GRINCH VISIT
The Grinch visited my daughter’s school reading night at Barnes and Noble so I had to get my picture with him. The kids did too but they were a little scared of him. This mask is a little freaky.

MERRY GRINCHMAS!

Polar Express Ticket Bookmark and Bell

2011-12-08T13:58:00.003-07:00

The Polar Express, by Chris Van Allsburg, is a Christmas classic we read each holiday. My kids love the story book and movie.

"TICKETS PLEASE"
Everyone needs a ticket to ride on the Polar Express. Let kids pretend to be the conductor and punch holes in these tickets to use as bookmarks.

We just used red construction paper but laminated it at the end to make it stronger and more durable. You could also use gold paper if you have it to be more like the movie. Card stock would be best.

I marked the word “BELIEVE” with x’s on the bookmark. Tell kids to try to punch out the x’s. I used a black permanent marker to draw a quick border and some words. Then I laminated the ticket and added one hole punch on one end so I could tie the bell on the side.
I found this 9-pack of bells for $1.00 at the Dollar Tree. I easily tied them to the bookmark.

Make one for every child in your family so they all have a ticket and a bell to hold while reading the book. This would also be a great classroom project for schools during the holidays.

Add a link in the comments below if you want to share other activities that go with this book.
Happy Holidays! Thanks for stopping by ObSEUSSed!

Sharing this project here:

Turkey Pinecone Craft and Thanksgiving Books

2011-11-24T00:01:00.015-07:00

Happy Thanksgiving!
I am so grateful for books and crafts in my family's life. This little pinecone turkey is one of our favorite Thanksgiving crafts we use as a table decoration.

To make these you’ll need:

Pinecones (we grabbed ours from our backyard)
Craft feathers
Yellow, 1 inch pom poms (for the head)
Google Eyes (2)
Red construction paper (cut little squiggle to attach to beak)
Orange Pipe Cleaner, we used about 1 inch for the beak then folded in half
Orange foam mat ( really makes 1 huge foot for stability but cut it to look like 2)

I used a hot glue gun to make it last longer. The kids can set the feathers in place without touching the glue area. The same with the pop pom head and placing the pinecone onto the foam feet. You can always let the kids use craft glue and let them try to put it together themselves – depending on their age.

We made these a few years ago and they’ve held up nicely. You can stick little name cards in the pinecones for a place marker at the Thanksgiving table.

Here are a few of our favorite Thanksgiving picture books:
I love the colorful graphics and the easy to understand text in Thanksgiving Day by Gail Gibbons.

Thanksgiving Is for Giving Thanks, by Margaret Sutherland, reminds kids about the simple things they can be grateful for.

And this was the first year we read 'Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving, by Dav Pilkey.
I’ll admit I don’t think I was ready to introduce vegetarianism to my kids the night before Thanksgiving. My daughter said “Oh, that’s the turkey we eat at Thanksgiving?” Great, now I’m going to have her picturing a live turkey on the table gobbling (groveling) for its life. A little like the Simpson episode where Lisa Simpson pictures the lamb on the table bleating “Don’t eat me.” Nothing against vegetarians. My sister-in-law pulls out her tofurkey every year. Everyone can eat what they want but I just didn’t want to introduce that concept to my kids at this stage.

Anyway the book was still cute and had fun illustrations and a silly rhyme to tell the story of saving turkeys for Thanksgiving.

Happy Thanksgiving! Enjoy some turkey! And some books!
I'd love to know what you are thankful for this year. Leave a comment below.

Dr. Seuss Cat in the Hat Game Review and Giveaway

2011-11-17T01:33:00.003-07:00

---Contest Ended--- The Winner was #14, Coupon Person, for their comment about following Wonderforge on Facebook. They said they would hide "lincoln logs, duplo blocks, trios, cars, and a tinkerbell" inside the hat. Have fun playing the game! Thanks to Wonder Forge for giving it away. They'll send the game to Coupon Person.

Our family has played several of the Dr. Seuss games by Wonder Forge geared for preschool and grade school ages. We just tried “What’s in the Cat’s Hat” this month and my kids have had a blast finding things around our house to hide inside the hat.

The hat is about 12 inches tall. We hide small toys, crayons, silverwear and more inside.

When I first saw this game on the shelf at ToysRus I thought it was just like our mystery bag we used in preschool. We had a simple drawstring bag the kids would hide a secret item. Then we played twenty questions and sometimes it would take forever for the kids to guess what was inside.

What’s in the Cat’s Hat game really gets the kids more involved and prompts them to ask more helpful questions by using a deck of question cards. It has a specially designed hat, with a flap on top, to hide objects from view and other secret flaps toward the bottom used for special purposes in the game (peeking, smelling and feeling).

I really loved the combination of using the unique question cards (Does it have a face? Would it float in a bathtub?) along with the action cards (smell it, feel the hat with your elbows). This stepped the mystery bag game up to a whole new level, plus it is Dr. Seuss themed and the kids are drawn to that. Who wouldn’t want to guess what is in the Cat’s hat?

GAME GIVEAWAY:
Wonder Forge will send a copy of this game to one lucky reader. Just in time for Christmas! This would be a fun gift under the tree.
Official entry: To enter this giveaway please leave a comment below telling me what you would hide in the hat.
This giveaway runs Nov. 17 – Nov. 27. A winner will be randomly chosen at midnight MST on Nov. 27, 2011. If you do not have an email linked to your comment account, please leave your email address in your comment. Open to valid U.S. addresses only.
For extra entries, pick any of the following to do and leave a separate comment for each one below:

Follow ObSEUSSed on Google Friend Connect found in the right column.
Follow ObSEUSSed on Facebook
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Follow Wonder Forge on Twitter
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See more about the Dr. Seuss What's in the Cat's Hat? Game part of a series of ‘I Can Do That” Dr. Seuss games by the Wonder Forge.
Here are some of the other Dr. Seuss games we’ve owned for a few years now that the kids love to play:

“Cat in the Hat, I Can Do That!” game. We’ve had ours a few years and the original “Trick-a-ma-stick” was very tricky to set up and fell over easily. Wonder Forge has amazing customer service. See how they responded when they saw the negative reviews about the stick on Amazon. If you have this game and want the new-improved stick, click here to find out how to get a free replacement. They sent us a replacement and the kids easily set it up.

My son loves skipping around the trick-a-ma-stick with the Seuss toy man in his shirt. In this game they pick an action card, an item card and a how-to hold item card. Below my daughter has to crawl under the trick-a-ma-stick with the Dr. Seuss cake on her back.

Disclosure: I received a free copy of the 'What's in the Cat's Hat' game from Wonder Forge for review. All opinions and experiences are my own.

GIVEAWAY: Remember to enter the giveaway for a chance to win a copy of "What's in the Cat's Hat." (See rules above)

Thanks for visiting ObSEUSSed!

The Lorax Movie, Free App and Book Ideas

2011-11-07T22:17:00.004-07:00

Great News: The Lorax has been made into a computer animated film coming to theaters March 2012. With voices from Danny DeVito, Zac Efron and Betty White, I’m curious to see how it will turn out.
Here are some additional ways to explore the story of The Lorax:

We love reading The Lorax book by Dr. Seuss at our house. I made this felt board for the kids to play with while I read to them. I cut out different colors of felt, glued on googley eyes, put an 8x10 piece of felt in a fun frame for the background and let them play.

I came across the Free App for the Lorax movie this past week. My 5 year old son has been loving it. You hold up your Apple device sideways and talk then the mouth and mustache move as you talk. It is pretty silly and makes my son laugh. The movement is pretty jumpy, even after we adjusted the microphone sensitivity, but my son doesn’t care (and hey, it’s FREE!). This is fun to use while reading the book, or just to talk to each other and pretend you’re the Lorax.

This video is only 5 seconds. See how it works. Get The Lorax Free App here.

“I am the Lorax, I Speak for the Trees.”

Check out The Lorax Garden, game app for kids created by Oceanhouse Media. This game is only 99 cents and is another great one to play while you explore the story.

I’ve always loved the original cartoon of The Lorax. You can find it on the Seuss Celebration DVD that has a great compilation of Dr. Seuss cartoons on it.

Do any of you remember what special word the Onceler said was most important? I’ll give you a clue, it starts with an ‘U’.

Leave your comment below and share your ideas of how you like to explore this story.

Thanks for visiting,

Book Inspired Halloween Pumpkins: Cat in the Hat

2011-10-27T22:14:00.003-06:00

If you love children’s books characters, why not turn your pumpkin into one?
I’ve heard of classes doing this at school but you can try this at home too. Ask your child who their favorite character is and find a way to decorate a pumpkin that way. You can carve, paint, add accessories and more.
Of course, being obSEUSSed, I had to make a Cat in the Hat pumpkin.
First I free hand drew this with a pen, after looking at the Dr. Seuss book. Then I traced it with black marker once I knew which areas were okay to cut and which ones I should leave so it wouldn’t fall apart. I used a small pumpkin carving knife, then lit it up with fake tea candles.

We grew nine pumpkins in our garden this year. I helped my daughter carve this Minnie Mouse pumpkin using the Disney carving template found here. My husband turned the half green pumpkin into a dinosaur. My son turned his into a Frankenstein, skeleton eating pumpkin. I also turned another pumpkin into a haunted house where you paint the house on with acrylic craft paint then cut out the windows to show candle light through. I found this and many other great Halloween ideas on Pinterest. Originally found on Parents.com.
I found more book character pumpkins and pinned them to my Book Character board on Pinterest. If you aren’t on Pinterest, you can do a Google search for “Book Character Pumpkins” to find more great ideas. I love the David Shannon “Stripes” and “No David" pumpkins below. As well as the Arthur and Junie B. Jones pumpkins.

To follow my Pinterest Boards, click here.
We turned the Nightmare Before Christmas character, Jack Skellington, into a life size figure. Click here to see more.

If you’ve made a book character pumpkin I’d love to see it. You can leave a link to your blog in the comments below or upload your picture to the ObSEUSSed Facebook page to share with others.
Thanks,

I linked this project to:
The Play Academy at the Nurture Store - visit for more great ideas
Tatertots & Jello Weekend Wrap Up Craft Party

Glowing Halloween Crafts – What Was I Scared Of?

2011-10-13T13:07:00.001-06:00

Our favorite book by Dr. Seuss this month is “What Was I Scared Of? ” A perfect spooky story for Halloween. Originally published as a short story in “The Sneetches” book back in 1961, this year we got to try out 2 new versions of the book.

I picked up a copy of the Glow-in-the Dark Encounter version at Sam’s Club for $7. My kids loved it! They sat by their reading lamp in their bed and would read a page then turn off their light to see the pants glow on every page. They’ve requested it several nights in a row now. I love the moral to the story: the pants are just as afraid of him, but he doesn’t know this until he confronts the pants. This is a great book to have a discussion about fear.

What Was I Scared Of? App Review:
We tried the Dr. Seuss app by Oceanhouse Media. What Was I Scared Of? is only 99 cents right now. I love how the kids can touch the pictures and the app tells you the words. I also love the inflection the narrator uses to keep the kids’ attention. It was a little fast paced for my 5-year-old to keep up with watching the highlighted words as it read to you but you can use the ‘Read it Yourself’ mode to go at your own pace and work on the words with your child.

Glowing Halloween Crafts:
Make your own glow-in-the-dark pants to go with this story.

I found a small scarecrow for $1.00 at Wal-mart. It is hooked to a stick but the body is about 7 inches tall. I grabbed a round box of 15 glow bracelets for $1.00 at Target. I used 2 glow sticks for this project.

ADULTS ONLY: Do this in the bathroom. I double checked to make sure the glow fluid inside was not toxic, but I also tried not to touch it at all.
I had Clorox wipes handy and cracked the bracelets. Then I cut off the end of one and dripped the fluid onto the scarecrow pants.
I needed more so I cut the other end, then I got some splatter on my counter. I wiped it up quickly with the wipes. It came off easily. I ended up using 2 sticks. The glow lasted several hours so we could enjoy it with our book experience.

If you are using Pinterest, here are a few other fun glowing crafts to try:
Try making Glow-in-the-dark play-dough. Or put glow sticks in balloons or in the bathtub or make an outdoor sign with them.

Disclosure: I received a free version of the OMbook “What Was I Scared Of?” from Oceanhouse Media for review. We love all their apps we’ve tried so far. I have several others I’ve purchased. I purchased the glow-in-the-dark encounter book version at Sam’s Club. Check this book out at your library then decide if you’d like a version to keep.
Hope you have a spooky, GLOWing Halloween!

Linking this project at:

Halloween BOOks and Printable Label

2011-10-06T07:00:00.015-06:00

We pulled out our Halloween BOOks this past week. I decided to put them in my 12 inch plastic cauldron. They fit perfectly. Then I made this spooky Ghost sign to tape to the bin as a BOOk label.

FREE PRINTABLE BOOK LABEL – For personal, non-commercial use only.
Right click, copy and paste into your ‘Word’ processing program then adjust the size and print. I made my ghost about 9 inches high. If you’d like a PDF I can email you one. Just leave me a comment or email me by clicking the button in my right side bar.

Here are a few of my kids’ favorite Halloween Books:

Halloween BOOks: Click on book picture for more info.
Dem Bones (Bob Barner), Skeleton Hiccups (Margery Cuyler), The Hallo-wiener (Dav Pilkey), Go Away, Big Green Monster! (Ed Emberley), Popcorn (Frank Asch), Groggy’s Halloween (Jonathan London), The NIghtmare Before Christmas (Tim Burton), There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly (Simms Taback)

We’re planning to add this new release: Pinkalicious and the Pink Pumpkin (Victoria Kann)

See my Life Size Jack Skellington from the Nightmare Before Christmas.

Also visit the Old Lady puppet I made to go with the book.

Go read some Halloween BOOks with your kids!

I've linked this project at the following blogs with more great ideas:

Bookshelves Under Stairs

2011-09-29T22:58:00.004-06:00

I’ve been addicted to pictures of bookshelves on Pinterest lately.
I think it might be due to these bookshelves that I designed and asked my husband and father-in-law to build for me four years ago. After I had them for a year we moved and I’ve been craving them ever since.

I loved how I could display my Dr. Seuss Books and golden books grouped together.

They built the whole stair railing and shelves into the supporting wall. We painted the walls terra cotta color to match the stain.

They also built the entire built-in entertainment center, with gliding drawers for DVDs and my office desk tucked into the corner behind doors so I could be downstairs near the kids when they played.
Okay, I can’t talk about it too long or look at these pictures too often because I really miss this whole area and wish we could duplicate it but it just won’t work in our new house.
I hope everyone has the opportunity to take Dr. Seuss' advice to “pile your house with stacks of books, in all the crannies and all the nooks.” My wish is for every child to have more than one book in their home. We have been blessed to have a home library. There are bookshelves in every room of our house and I just filled our hall closet entirely with kid books too.

Follow me on Pinterest for more Dr. Seuss activities and ideas and creative book storage ideas.
SHOW ME HOW YOU STORE BOOKS AT YOUR HOUSE:
I’d love to see your pictures so leave a link in the comments if you have pictures posted online somewhere so I can pin it to my HOME LIBRARY pinterest board.

Today's Creative Blog: Get Your Craft On Link Party

Lost Stories of Dr. Seuss: Bippolo Seed Book and Seed Activities

2011-09-22T06:00:00.004-06:00

Have you heard about the seven lost stories of Dr. Seuss to be published in a book next week? “The Bippolo Seed and Other Lost Stories” is a collection of short stories written by Dr. Seuss long ago and published in magazines. Now the collection will be in this book. I can’t wait to read these stories and share them with my kids.
Watch for it on store shelves Tues. Sept. 27, 2011 or pre-order it . I preordered mine on Amazon for $9.00. (I have Prime membership because I have a monthly subscription buying diapers so I get free 2-day shipping and great discounts on Amazon store products. Their prices change often.)

This video by Random House shows how the stories were found and compiled by Seussologist, Charles D. Cohen. (I love that title and think he deserves it, he is far beyond obSEUSSed).

The seven stories all sound Seussical with a few morals thrown in as typical Seuss style would have it. If you want to see a quick overview of what the stories are about, check out the publisher’s description on Mr. Schu’s blog, Watch, Connect, Read.

THE BIPPOLO SEED:
I’m not positive what the Bippolo Seed story is about, other than a feline persuading a duck to do something wrong. So I thought I’d just share some ideas for seed activities to try with your kids to get them thinking about seeds.

SEED SCAVENGER HUNT:
My daughter’s 2nd grade homework this past week was to go on a SEED SCAVENGER HUNT to collect a variety of seeds in an egg carton. Our house is filled with produce from local Farmer’s Markets and our own garden right now. Some examples we found:

peach pits
strawberry seeds
pumpkin seeds
dandelion seeds
sunflower seeds
Watermelon seeds
cantaloupe seeds
green pepper seeds
tomato seeds
popcorn kernal
Mustard seeds
Celery Seeds

I added the Donut seed to her carton as a joke. Show your child a Cheerio and ask them if they think it is a real seed that could grow a donut / doughnut (I’m never sure which spelling to use). Talk to them about the difference between baked goods vs. what seeds produce.

Jelly Bean Seeds?
Here is another fun idea that I saw at Easter time on Meet the Dubiens blog that would be fun to try while discussing seeds. Have your child plant jelly beans in a pot, then the next morning lollipops appear. Depending on their age you will probably want to explain the reality of the magic trick.

Keep your eyes open for the new Dr. Seuss book The Bippolo Seed and Other Lost Stories at your local bookstore or library. And have fun with some seeds this week.

Linking this idea to the Play Academy