Toddler Art: Dr. Seuss

Today's Toddler Art went well, but I was surprised it wasn't as fitting as Preschool Picasso's session. 

I read Green Eggs and Ham since we had a craft project tied-in with the story. I was worried that the book was a little long for this age group, but we got through it with only a few antsy moments. I had planned to read The Foot Book if the group was especially antsy, but I'm glad I read what I did since the crafts didn't take up as much time as I thought. 

 

As much Dr. Seuss craft options as there are, I found myself struggling to pick two that would both be age appropriate and offer some sort of sensory learning that was unique. I felt that both crafts that were picked fit this best, but that some in the group didn't want to take their time on them. Even still, that was okay because everyone had a good time and I put out some toys to play with at the end of our crafting. 

Next time, I think I will try to incorporate at least one craft that was a bit more challenging to slow down the group a little. 

For our first craft, we made some green eggs to go with our story. I had printed out some egg designs I made on sheets of card stock and had the kids practice their motor skills stamping green dots in the middle of their egg shapes with pom poms attached to clothespins dipped in green paint. One parent joked that her child made scrambled eggs. This craft provided motor skills practice and paint experimentation. 

For our second craft, we made truffula trees using yellow, pink, and orange tissue paper. It allowed the kids to feel the tissue paper, bunch it up, and use their hands to glue their pieces onto their tree. I pre-painted popsicle sticks for the trunks since the pattern would be too complicated for this age group. 

Overall, this program worked out well and I learned that I can always pull out the toys if the crafts go too fast.