2/27/2014

Parenting Thursday: Celebrating Seuss

In case you didn't know, Sunday is Dr. Seuss' birthday. For the past I-don't'-know-how-many years, that day, or a day close to it,  has been celebrated as "Read Across America Day". While I did cool things with the day back when I was a teacher, as a parent, it's been more, "Oh crap, I totally forgot. Let's read some Dr. Seuss books at bedtime!"

I am pretty sure they took my organizational and planning skills out when they were performing my c-sections. Who knew that those skills were stored in the uterus?

What was I talking about?

Oh right, Dr. Seuss and his birthday. Even though I've always thought it was kinda weird to celebrate the birthdays of people who can no longer enjoy birthday cake, the kids and I are going to celebrate it this year. By more than just reading Dr. Seuss books at bedtime, though we'll probably do that too.

The web is filled with adorable crafts and snacks that celebrate Dr. Seuss. But if you'd like to encourage some thinking, check out the following activity:

Preschool drawing.

  1. Reread your kids' favorite Dr. Seuss books with them. 
  2. As you read, talk about the words in the story: Which ones did Dr. Seuss make up? How can you tell? Can you still figure out what they mean? Which are you favorites?
  3. Encourage your kids to make up their own words. If they struggle, have them come up with nonsense words that rhyme with their names (Jack could come up with vack, for example). This is a great time to talk about rhyming, syllables, the need for vowels, or prefixes and suffixes, depending on your kids' ages and language knowledge. 
  4. Have older kids write down their list of nonsense words, have younger kids help you sound out and write their nonsense words. 
  5. Hugmonkey's word was "snoobits", which I wrote and he copied onto writing paper. 
  6. Have younger kids pick one word to draw. You can have them write the word themselves or you can write it for them. 
  7. Let them draw their word and have them describe it to you as they do. Hugmonkey's "snoobits" is a dog like Snoopy, who is blue and is eating cheese - in case you couldn't get that from his illustration above. :) 
  8. With older kids, have them put their word into a sentence, then make an illustration to match. Or have them use all their nonsense words in a story and have them illustrate that. 
The pictures probably won't turn out as cute as the orange slices turned Cat in the Hat faces I saw on Pinterest, but your kids will learn a lot about language from it. 

53 comments:

Masshole Mommy said...

My kids aren't big Dr. Seuss fans, which is a shame because I love his stories. I am going to read them Green Eggs & Ham tonite at bedtime anyways.....HA!

StephLove said...

Maybe we should read some Dr. Seuss today. J is almost too old for it now, but not quite.

Kristi said...

I really like that Dr. Seuss activity that you are doing with your kids. It sounds like it would spark their creativy! I would be interested to hear what they come up with for silly words.

Anonymous said...

We love For Suess boosk (okay except for that one I believe is The Fox in Sox!). I did not know about the national reading day though we read daily, except lately because we just moved and do not have our books unpacked yet. I will have to start celebrating this and see if we can find some of our Dr. Suess boosk soon.

Ashley B. said...

My son loved Dr. Suess when he was a little boy. I think all the Suess books are great. My favorite as a child was the Circus McGurkis!

mail4rosey said...

I've been seeing the Dr. Suess themed posts, so I figured it had something to do with an upcoming celebration. :) The very first book my daughter read on her own was One Fish Two Fish. We love Dr. Suess at my place.

Aisha Kristine Chong said...

I don't know and have not heard of Dr. Suess but this is a good way to also spend time with the kids - by reading them books of their favorite things.

Nicole A. said...

Too funny, I'm the same way. Now as a parent I forget about Dr. Seuss until about the day before.

Michele @apaceofbalnce said...

I love your tagline, I can totally relate. I thought I had everything under control until my kids were born, ha! Love your activities. I have two boys and unfortunately their nonsense words will inevitably include some version of poop. But we'll break out some Dr. Seuss books tonight!

Unknown said...

I remembered only because it was on my daughter's calendar for school. We do read Dr. Seuss all the time here though!

Amber Nelson said...

Our favorite is Green Eggs and Ham, Sam I am! Such a good story.

Anonymous said...

I love all your suggestions for working on thinking skills with Dr. Seuss! I am going to be watching my Nephew for a bit this weekend and it'll be a perfect time to dust off my favorite stories & share with him!

Pam said...

My kids loved Dr. Seuss books. My daughter could recite Hop On Top word for word.

Amanda Ripsam said...

I loved Dr Seuss Books growing up and I passed that love of Dr seuss books onto my 6 year old daughter. My 6 year old daughter loves story time.

Unknown said...

Ahh, now I know why I have seen so many Dr. Seuss themed posts! Looks like I have to read some Dr. Seuss books to my daughter on Sunday. Thanks for great ideas!

Liz Mays said...

You have the best ideas on where to take the theme. I'm totally impressed! They're so fun, and I love the made up name snoobits!

Annemarie said...

What great ideas. We are preparing some things for Seuss' bday. Thanks for the tips!

Unknown said...

I am probably the only person who has ever said this, but my kids never got into Dr. Seuss! I don't know why but... These are really cute, though! I love Dr. Seuss, maybe I'LL do it! :)

T. Marie said...

My son and I LOVE Dr. Seuss, in fact he is slowly collecting all of the books. He can't pick a favorite and this is a great way for us to celebrate something special to us. Great Idea.

Ria C said...

I learned something new today and I didn't even know there is a Dr. Seuss day being recognized in the US. It's good to know that and it's great to honor someone who had made a lot of children and parents smile through funny poems and stories written in a way that would evoke interests from many.

Lisa said...

My Kids Have Bee All Week Long They Get Excited Every year For Dr Suess's B Day!!1n Making Hats

Taty said...

Thank you for the great tips! I am putting them to use this afternoon. Will totally forget if I don't do it today :)

Pam said...

I have seen quite a few people getting ready to celebrate this birthday in a big way with cute crafts and recipes. Happy Birthday to Dr. Seuss!

Tamara Wilson ~ Mommyland said...

What a fun day. Our whole family loves Dr Seuss. We will probably spend tomorrow his birthday reading someof his books and watching the movies

Chrissy @ the Pearl Blog said...

I love this idea: As you read, talk about the words in the story: Which ones did Dr. Seuss make up? How can you tell? Can you still figure out what they mean? Which are you favorites? and then drawing it. brilliant. I am so going to do this with my homeschool girls!@

APPI said...

What a great idea. I know someone who is a huge Dr. Suess fan and they will love this. I'm going to share the idea with them.

Casa Vilora Interiors said...

My kids used to love Dr Seuss when they were little. I recently sold all their books at a garage sale now that they are older

Theresa Mahoney said...

Our library is doing a big party in honor of Dr. Seuss birthday, otherwise I would give spaced too. I'll teach my dog 100 words was my daughters all time favorite book when she was a toddler.

A Mom's Take said...

My boys would be all for making up nonsense words!! That's right up their alley!

Anonymous said...

I kind of thought it must have been his birthday soon, because I've been seeing Dr. Seuss posts everywhere!!! I wasn't planning anything, but maybe we'll do a craft this weekend.

Angie - Big Bears Wife said...

I think this is wonderful! Happy Early Birthday Dr. Seuss!

Amanda said...

My toddler loves Dr. Seuss books! There are a lot of events celebrating his birthday too. Your ideas are great!

MommyB said...

What a fun awesome list of Seussical things! My girls will totally love this.

Unknown said...

Happy birthday Dr. Seuss. I grew up reading Dr. Seuss books and now my children do too.

jaime said...

My son is TOTALLY into reading at age 2.5. I'll totally embrace this reading day of celebration and hope that he gets into Dr. Seuss as he gets older!

Unknown said...

My son is not a fan of Dr. Seus despite the amount of stories I encourage him to like with my reading. Cute idea!

Sippy Cup Mom said...

These are great ideas! I will be doing some of these activities with my son!

Unknown said...

That's a fun little activity. Will have to try it with my son! I read the "Green eggs and ham" book to my son not too long ago and the whole time he kept asking me why he eggs were green.

Pam H said...

Dr. Seus was always a favorite of my kids and they absolutely loved the TV specials when they were growing up. What a great list of all things "Seus."

Pam H said...

Dr. Seus was always a favorite of my kids and they absolutely loved the TV specials when they were growing up. What a great list of all things "Seus."

Unknown said...

These are great ideas! I will be celebrating with my son but wasn't sure how- I like these prompts!

Unknown said...

I love Read Across America. It has always been my favorite way to introduce literacy to younger kids.

Mom of Two said...

My daughter's school did a Dr. Suess breakfast which they do annually for the end of Read Across America Month

Unknown said...

How exciting that it'd Dr. Seuss's birthday and what a great way to celebrate with your kids. I love Dr. Seuss and can't wait to read his books to my little one when he/she is born.

Candy said...

We will be celebrating Dr. Seuss's birthday all week this week at my son's pre-school. So much fun!

Angel said...

We don't have much Dr. Seuss in our house, but tomorrow will be a good day to bring out some good books! Thank you!

Cheap Is The *New* Classy said...

My daughter used to go to a school where they had Dr. Seuss day every year and everyone would dress up for Dr. Seuss day. It was so much fun!

Eliz Frank said...

I grew up a big Dr Seuss fan and I guess I pass the passion on to my kids. The books are a terrific learning tool. :-)

Unknown said...

The best celebrate Dr. Seuss idea I've seen yet! A great way to encourage learning and fun :-)

Kenda Smith said...

My boys love Dr Seuss. We have a full shelf of the books. My four year old read Hop on Pop by himself last night and he was so proud! (we were too)

Christina Shirley said...

We love Dr. Seuss! I did Seuss for my son's 1st birthday party :-)

Shell said...

It's such a fun way to celebrate reading. I sent one Sneetch and one Fox in Socks to school today.

Cassie Tucker said...

My mom was never really big on Dr. Seuss in our house, she felt his books weren't worth the money that they charged for them back in the day. That being said, I've come to enjoy his books since reading them as an adult :)