At our 5-star child care center in Raleigh, so many of our favorite books for preschoolers and toddlers have great messages and lessons. To help reinforce the story or provide more opportunities for learning, it’s fun to tie in crafts or other activities to the story. We have shared other crafts inspired by our favorite stories in the past, and we felt it was time to share some more ideas to do at home with your kids.
The Story of Ferdinand
Perfect for children who like to march to the beat of their own drum, The Story of Ferdinand, by Munro Leaf, tells the story of Ferdinand – a bull who is not like other bulls. Rather than fighting and locking horns, Ferdinand would rather lay in the sun and smell flowers. This classic story teaches children how to be true to themselves in order to be happy and a more modern take on the tale was released in 2017 as the movie, “Ferdinand.”
Flowers for Ferdinand
One of Ferdinand the Bull’s favorite activities was taking time to smell the flowers, so we’re sharing a fun, simple way to make flowers for Ferdinand!
You’ll need:
- Pipe cleaners in different colors, keeping some green ones for stems.
- Pencil or chopstick
- Scissors
- Glue gun and glue stick
Instructions:
- Start by twisting green pipe cleaners around your pencil or chopstick to create a “stem.”
- Cut a pipe cleaner in half and curl it into a coil so it looks like a snail. Make 5 of these.
- Create a center of the flower with a different color of pipe cleaner, curling it into a coil.
- Hot glue the 5 coils together, then glue the center on top.
- Once it’s dry, glue the flower to the top of the stem.
Craft from PowerfulMothering.com
Where the Wild Things Are
Beloved for generations, Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak is about more than an adventure and a wild rumpus. It’s a great way to start a conversation with a little one about feelings, loneliness, and even when we’re naughty, we’re still loved.
A No-Sew Crown for Your King (or Queen!) of the Wild Things
If your preschooler is ready to start their own wild rumpus, they need a crown for the occasion, just like Max wears. We love this no-sew felt crown that your child can decorate and embellish however they want (with a little help from a grown-up, of course).
You’ll need:
- 2 squares of felt in different colors.
- Heat & Bond (iron-on adhesive)
- Elastic
- Scissors
- Glue gun
- Decorations – rhinestones, buttons, fake flowers – have fun with it!
- A template to guide your cutout of the crown – this one from Hello Bee is helpful!
Instructions:
- Cut two long strips of felt that are 3.5 inches wide from each square – Felt is usually around 11 inches long, so you should have strips that are 3.5″ x 11″.
- Place two long strips end to end to make a long strip, then trim the Heat & Bond adhesive into strips the same width. (You can also just use a glue gun to adhere the pieces together.)
- Lay the other two long strips over top of the adhesive, and following the instructions on the Heat & Bond, iron them to create one long strip of felt that’s one color on one side, another color on the outside.
- Cut out a crown shape (use your template or just free hand it!).
- Wrap the strip of felt around your child’s head to get the length. If you use elastic, trim the felt about an inch shorter because the elastic will give it a more snug fit. Use a glue gun to hold a piece of elastic in place.
- You and your kids decorate!
Craft from PrettyRealBlog.com
Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus
Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus by Mo Willems is an award winning book that both you and your preschooler will love. A story that puts your child in charge of a very pushy pigeon makes this a fun, engaging read that can also be used to help teach boundaries and understanding the importance of “no” when Mom or Dad say it!
Handprint Pigeon
With their own personal pigeon, your child will be able to tell Pigeon “No!” to driving a school bus and all kinds of other antics. Because it uses your child’s handprint, it will have an extra-special meaning to it without being a difficult craft to make.
You’ll need:
- Card stock or construction paper in light blue, black, and yellow
- White card stock or construction paper
- Black marker
- Pencil
- Scissors
- Glue stick
- 1″ googly eye (optional)
Instructions:
- Trace your child’s hand on the blue paper and cut it out.
- With the thumb up and fingers facing right, draw a V shape to make a wing in the middle of the hand.
- Cut a long, skinny rectangle (about 4″ x .75″) from the blue paper to make Pigeon’s neck, and cut a 1.5″ circle (approximate) out of another piece of blue paper for its head.
- Cut a white rectangle (about .5″x 1.5″) and glue that around Pigeon’s neck and a small yellow triangle to make its beak.
- With black paper, cut out two skinny rectangles (only .25″ x 2″) for its legs.
- Put Pigeon together by gluing the neck behind the handprint, and the head on top of the neck. Glue the beak facing left and the white rectangle just a little bit below Pigeon’s head and cut off excess. Then glue the legs on. Glue the googly eye in the middle of its head or just draw an eye with a marker.
- Now, your child has their very own Pigeon!
Craft from SimpleEveryDayMom.com
Contact Our Raleigh Child Care Center
At our Raleigh preschool and child care center, we believe in creativity and discovery to stimulate learning, which is why we use The Creative Curriculum that blends teacher-planned and child-guided learning. This means we use all types of activities and encourage creativity to inspire learning. If you’re interested in enrolling your child in a 5 star child care center in Raleigh, contact us today at our North Hills Drive location at 919-785-0303 or our Spring Forest Location at 919-790-6888 or schedule a tour!
