Mom it Forward » Dr. Seuss

Read: How to Celebrate Dr. Seuss’ Birthday with Your Kids

Jamie Moesser — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 18:00:23 +0000

I still remember the deep enthrallment I felt when I first read Dr. Seuss’ The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins. I don’t remember why it was so enchanting; I’ve never been that into hats. These days, I have all of Dr. Seuss’ and Theo LeSieg’s books and my children are growing up hearing his stories. I hope to see that look of enchantment in their eyes. Did you know that Dr. Seuss’ birthday, if he were still alive, would have been today, March 2nd? To celebrate his legacy of literacy, here are some of the things we’re going to do, that you may want to try as well.

How to Celebrate Dr. Seuss’ Birthday with Your Kids

Here are four fun ways to throw a Dr. Seuss’ birthday party with your kids:

Watch a Cat in the Hat Marathon

PBS stations nationwide will feature a two-hour marathon of “The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That.” Check here for your local listings. It will feature new episodes about the seasons and problem-solving. My three-year-old and I had the opportunity to preview the marathon, and it doesn’t disappoint. (I was so excited to figure out that the voice of The Cat is Martin Short!)

Have a Family Read-a-thon

On the evening of March 2nd, participate in the national “Read Across America,” sponsored by the National Education Association. Help your kids pick a special spot on the floor of the family room and plop down a bunch of pillows. Provide lots of books, “brainfood,” popcorn, or treats. Challenge them to read for as long as possible, maybe giving prizes for the most pages read. Make sure to log everyone’s minutes.

Have a Seuss party!

There is no shortage of ideas online for decorations and refreshments for a Dr. Seuss themed birthday party for your own kids’ birthdays, but they can easily be adapted to celebrate Dr. Seuss himself. Here are a few posts about games, crafts, and refreshments. We’re going to make birthday cards to Dr. Seuss, thanking him for all of his books.

Display and Discuss a Dr. Seuss Quote

Print or make something that displays one of his great quotes, then read it and talk about it over dinner. For instance, Dr. Seuss once said: “Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is you-er than you!” I love that! Pinterest is plastered with tons of creative ways to present that.

What is your favorite Dr. Seuss book?

Photos courtesy of PBS and Pinterest. Feature photo courtesy of Flickr.

Kids Craft: Monster Art Canvas Paint Project

Craft Monkey — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 12:00:30 +0000

A few years ago, The Boy (as I refer to him) received a Dr. Seuss room room makeover which he loved for about a year until he decided he wasn’t really a baby anymore. Instead, he fell in love with monster trucks, legos, pirates, and all the big boy toys you can imagine. So it was not really a surprise when he wanted his bedroom decorated with anything but our beloved Dr. Seuss room.

Since we aren’t ready for a complete bedroom overhaul, we’ve been taking down the Dr. Seuss accents and replacing them with more “big boy” accents, like art that The Boy created!

I was recently given the opportunity by Plaid to create and share a kid’s craft and I thought this would be the perfect time to let The Boy express his creativity and help decorate his bedroom at the same time!

Plaid sent me a great box full of paint supplies.

So I purchased two packs of these inexpensive 7×14 blank stretched canvases.

Using my plaid paints, I painted three of them, one red, one blue, and one yellow. The only reason I painted them myself was because I wanted to make sure they were fully covered and solid. We live in a rental and his walls are white so I really wanted these to pop off the wall. However, you can always let your kid(s) paint the canvases on their own!

Once they were dry, I asked him to paint a monster on each canvas. He’s been drawing monsters a lot lately when he’s playing, so I knew he would enjoy painting a monster.

Once they were dry, we displayed them on the walls in his room.

Aren’t they just the perfect pop of color? The Boy could not be more proud of his artwork in his room. And let me tell you, that makes this mama very happy!

What craft projects do you enjoy working on with your kids?

A big thanks goes out to Mom It Forward and Plaid for letting me share this Kid’s Craft Project! I would love for you to follow me at The Craft Monkey Blog on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

Disclaimer: This post was sponsored by Mom it Forward and Plaid. I was provided supplies for this post, however, opinions are 100% mine. Full disclosure for this post can be found here.

Summer Reading: Top 10 Book Recommendations for Kids

Jamie Moesser — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 23:00:36 +0000

When I was young, I lived for my libraries summer reading programs. I loved to read, and the fact that we got Duran Duran 45′s (you know, those small vinyl record singles), and read-a-thons at the library, was just so awesome. I know what you’re saying: you’re such a geek and a child of the ’80s! I’m so okay with that. These days, I am just as passionate about getting my kids excited about reading during the summer. The recent #gno Twitter parties we’ve been having with PBS Kids, at which tons of tips and recommendations have been shared about kids’ summer reading have been awesome. Check out this one for tips on motivating. Today’s post contains the top 10 book or author recommendations for kids’ books.

Just so you know, the criteria for making this list is a complex scientific formula taking into account the number of times these books or authors were tweeted or retweeted, the passion with which they were tweeted, the authority of the person recommending them, or just how much I agree with the recommendation. The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss was the most highly-recommended book by all criteria; the others follow in order.

The Carrot Seed. Says Wikipedia: “This is definitely a story of faith, but much of its charm, however, comes from its credibility as a simple story of something that could actually have happened with the added visual humor of the giant carrot.”
Mo Willem’s books, such as Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog and Knufflebunny
Geronimo Stilton series by Elisabetta Darni: @theaumsmama’s kids met the creators of the series and had their books signed. @heatherd13 says her older girls love them. “Clever books,” she says. @angelasanto (creator of SuperWhy! on PBS and Blues Clues) says: “So cool! My 7 year old loves Geronimo Stilton. I like the way they use pics and the colored font.”
Amelia Bedelia by Peggy Parish. Amelia Bedelia is the main character of the book, a maid with a vast collection of hats and a penchant for repeatedly misunderstanding various commands of her employer by always taking figures of speech literally, causing her to perform wrong actions with comical effect.
Hug by Jez Alborough: @peekababy says: “Hug is another great pre-reading book! Cutest ever! Three recurring words in the whole book. Fabulous! Can you tell I have a degree in Elementary Ed & literacy, lol.”
Goodnight Gorilla: @wonderforge says: “It’s precious! One of our household faves.”
Richard Scarry, most well-known for his Busytown series of books. Both @momonashoe and @morajunction say he is their all-time favorite author.
Almanacs, comics, and Guinness world record books, recommended by many for motivating your tween or teen male reader.
National Geographic Kids, available as a printed magazine or on-line.

And of course, Dr. Seuss books were frequently mentioned; they’re always good reading.

As you can see, a book doesn’t have to be a best-seller, published in the last year, or in the fantasy genre to be a hit with parents and kids alike. It just has to be good.

What books will your kids read this summer?

Top photo courtesy of Flickr.

Teaching Children to Give—Reindeer Candy Canes as Thank You’s

Jyl Johnson Pattee — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 06:09:48 +0000

The Grinch Who Stole Christmas is my favorite holiday movie. I love it not only for its whimsical characters and witty rhymes, but also for the lessons it teaches in true Dr. Seuss fashion. The one that stands out to me the most is individual choice.

The Grinch ‘s choice was clear: He wanted to do everything in his power to have a miserable holiday season and to ruin it for everyone else, including an innocent dog and the unsuspecting Whos in Whoville. But, in spite of all of his efforts, the Whos chose holiday cheer and togetherness over reacting negatively to their stolen Christmas.

When you are out in the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, are you a Grinch? Do you focus on the increased traffic, lack of parking places, long lines, or when the person in front of you takes the last toy on the shelf—the only one Tommy really wanted? Or, do you choose holiday cheer? Do you let drivers merge into traffic, turn up the holiday tunes and sing with your children instead of focusing on the frenzied freeways? Do you notice cashiers and servers and postal workers that greet you with a smile? Those that stand in all sorts of weather to collecting donations?

Teaching children to fall in love with giving during the holidays is not only about choosing holiday cheer, it’s about looking for examples of it and showing gratitude for it. A tradition we started last year to do just that was to give out candy cane thank yous to people during the holiday season. Here’s what we did:

Made a goal for how many candy canes we’d like to pass out and purchased them.
Placed stickers on the candy canes that said: “Thank you for spreading holiday cheer!”
Put them in a bag and carried them with us in the car wherever we went.
Took a few into each place we visited.
Took turns handing them out to people who served us, people we felt were examples of spreading holiday cheer, people that looked like they could use a pick-me-up, people who were lonely, and more.
Squealed in delight when we’d get back in the car and talk about our experiences.
At the end of the day, recapped together as a family the holiday cheer we witnessed, people’s reactions to the thank yous, and how awesome it was to give out the candy canes.

I think the last step is one of the most important in helping children fall in love with giving. The act of giving is necessary, but feeling excited and good about it stays with you forever and not only that, it is contagious!!!

What will you do this year to spread holiday cheer?

Click here to see the candy cane making process!