Because Read Across America is a re-occuring event, every year, I feel like I am searching and scouring Pinterest for something new to do! This year in particular, I was searching for activities that could double as decorations for Read Across America week.
So two weeks before Read Across America, I started engaging my younger students in Dr. Seuss craftivities that would also brighten the library. At first, I had planned to read a different Dr. Seuss book to all 24 of my classes and do 24 different activities to represent as many books as I can; but I quickly found that to be a task that I just did not have enough time for!
So I did choose some popular and some not as popular books to read, with some great craftivities that I will link to in this post! My plan to decorate with crafts worked, but I did have to break out the paint in the library, which I almost NEVER do. There’s something about painting in a library with 40 minutes that sort of scares me, but I pushed myself out of my comfort zone for this one!
Green Eggs and Ham
I definitely wanted to include this Dr. Seuss classic in my decorations. This craft did take some prep, but below I link to all of other templates I used.
Materials:
- Paper Plates
- Gray Paint and paintbrushes
- Egg template; printed on white paper
- Green yolk template; printed on green paper
- Pan handle Template
- First, have the students paint the gray paint and handle. This why it can dry while they are cutting out the other materials
- Then give students 2 eggs and 2 egg yolk templates to cut out.
- Have students assemble eggs with glue
- Staple handle to the pan.
- Have students paste eggs onto pan
- Use it as a great display!
The Lorax
- Materials
- Toilet Paper Tubes
- Paint and Paint Brushes
- Truffula Tree Top Template (Printed on different color paper)
This activity is definitely for older students as it involves more detailed painting! I did this activity with third graders, but I am sure 2nd-5th graders would enjoy it!
I collect a lot of recyclable materials for STEM activities and makerspace, so I decided to use paper towel rolls to create Truffula Trees! It was simple in that students only need to use two colors to stripe their trees; and then I provided a print out of different color Truffula Tree tops for students to cut out.
I let the trees to dry, and then I hot glue gunned the tops onto the trees. I was able to use masking tape to tape the trees to the wall and it was a great decoration! *Note: If you only have one class period to do this, I would not suggest also reading The Lorax during this time. I was lucky in that the students had just read the book with their classroom teacher.
A Great Day for Up!
- Materials
- Great Day for Up Template
- Crayons
- Scissors
- Glue
- Colored Construction Paper
With having only about 30 minutes for a lesson, I really tried to pick a shorter book for our Kindergarten and first grade students. While not overly involved, it was a perfect length for the students.
After reading A Great Day for Up!, with the class on the Smartboard, we created a list of our favorite things in the sky. Using that list or something found in the sky, students completed their sentences. After they wrote their sentences, I traced over their words with a black sharpie.
Students then colored their balloons, cut them out and pasted them on colored paper. I cut them out and hung them up to decorate the tops of our library walls! These really made a great decoration for Read Across America day!
The Cat in the Hat
Thing 1 And Thing 2 Craft
- Materials
- Thing 1 and 2 arms and legs (Printed on red paper)
- Things Hair (Printed on blue paper)
- Things face and body (printed on white paper)
- Scissors
- Glue
***Thing 1 and Thing 2 Template is from www.momsandcrafters.com.
With this Bulletin Board in mind, I had first grade students create Thing 1 and Thing 2 crafts. The Cat in the Hat is one of my favorite books to read. I just love the rhythm and the students never tire of hearing it.
It did take a little bit of time to prepare this activity so that I knew students could complete it during one class period. Colored printer paper will be your best friend!
By printing everything on colored paper, I was able to give the students the papers. They were able to cut out each piece of the craft and then assemble them with glue!
I hope you found it useful having the templates for all of these projects in one place! I feel like I spend so much time trolling the internet piecing together different activities, so my goals was to make sure you had a place to get a few different activities all in one place!
Happy Read Across America Day!
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