Green, Spring, & Flowers

Read-Aloud Books

Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert
And Then It's Spring by Julie Fogliano
Bear Wants More by Karma Wilson
Little Blue and Little Yellow by Leo Lionni
Nibbles: A Green Tale by Charlotte Middleton

Craft

Shamrocks

Flowers

Combine them both to make a
Spring Scene

• tissue paper
• chenille stems
• die-cut shamrocks
• construction paper
• various decorations
  
  • stickers
  • jewels
  • sequins
  • foam & paper shapes
  • feathers

• crayons
• scissors
• glue
• tape

Dr. Seuss' birthday & The Lorax

Read-Aloud Books

The Lorax by Dr. Seuss

When I read The Lorax, I make it interactive for the kids to engage them in the story. Pictured below are the props I use:

• Fifteen cents
• a nail (I could only find a screw today)
• a plastic snail toy
• a craft fluff
• a fluffy scarf
• a handful of beans

Before I begin reading the story I distribute the coins, nail, and snail to three or four volunteers in my audience. When the Once-ler demands payment, I hold out a pail and have the children place the payment into it. The craft fluff is my sample truffula tuft. If I have extras, I sometimes pass them out to the kids when they are described in the story. The kids will inevitably sniff them for the smell of fresh butterfly milk. The fluffy scarf becomes my Thneed which is great for gesturing with and demonstrating its uses as a hat, etc when it is described. The beans are handed out to the audience at the end of the story when the Once-ler gives "you" the last truffula seed and the responsibility of planting it.

Craft

Truffula Tree Forests

• colored craft fluffs
• construction paper
• Lorax character printouts: Barbaloots and The Lorax
  

• crayons
• scissors
• glue

Cowboys & Rodeo

Read-Aloud Books

Cowboy Rodeo by James Rice
If I Were A Cowboy by Eric Braun
Tex by Dorie McCullough Lawson
Armadilly Chili by Helen Ketteman

Craft

Stick Horses

• template: Horse head outline
• googly eyes
• yarn
• newspaper rolled into sticks
• various decorations
  
  • stickers
  • jewels
  • sequins
  • paper shapes
  • feathers

• crayons
• scissors
• glue
• hole puncher
• tape
• stapler

Being Silly

Read-Aloud Books

Silly Sally by Audrey Wood
Bedtime for Mommy by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
Silly Tilly by Eileen Spinelli

Craft

Silly Glasses, Silly Mustache, & Silly Tie

Presidents

Read-Aloud Books

If I Were The President by Thomas Kingsley Troupe
Madam President by Lane Smith
Max for President by Jarrett J. Krosoczka
Duck for President by Doreen Cronin
First Pooch by Carole Boston Weatherford

Crafts

Mount Rushmore

Cherry Tree

Log Cabin

Love & Valentines

Read-Aloud Books

Woof: A Love Story by Sarah Weeks
My Heart is Like a Zoo by Michael Hall
How do Dinosaurs Say I Love You by Jane Yolen
Hug Time by Patrick McDonnell

Craft

Valentine cards

• paper
• doilies
• various decorations
  
  • stickers
  • jewels
  • sequins
  • paper shapes
  • feathers

Groundhog Day

Read-Aloud Books

Substitute Groundhog by Pat Miller
Brownie Groundhog and the February Fox by Susan Blackaby
My Shadow by Robert Louis Stevenson illustrated by Penny Dale
Guess Whose Shadow? by Stephen R. Swinburne

Craft

groundhog pop-up puppets

• groundhog printouts
• craft sticks
• drinking cups
• green bulletin board border
• googly eyes