I chose to read Whoever You Are by Mem Fox because it was the simplest picture book I could find on cultures and was short enough to read to little ones. We are different, but the same.
I tried to make the theme I had planned as simple as I could for toddlers and this worked out great.
For our first craft, we made a smiling Earth using paper plates, paint, green tissue paper,and white strips of paper.
For our second craft, we made Earth using coffee filters, markers, and spray bottles for a bleeding/blending color effect. They glued their Earths onto black construction paper and added die-cut stars.
I was anticipating the group to finish both of these crafts quickly, but I was happy to see they took their time on them and enjoyed the experience of using paint and spray bottles.
Even though both of this month's Toddler Art and Preschool Picasso had the summer reading theme, I think I was successfully able to take the theme and make it a little more difficult for Preschoolers with the cultural direction and a little more easier for the Toddlers with a world direction.
I'm really enjoying these cultural themes.
