Celebrate Earth Day with the Lorax

Dr. Seuss' Lorax has quickly become a classroom favorite of mine. It's silly tone teaches us all about a serious subject,  our environment and pollution. The Lorax and his beautiful Truffula trees are such a colorful inspiration for Earth Day, and they are the perfect inspiration for a sensory bin. We have mentioned the benefits of sensory bin exploration  in previous post. So in case you missed it let me give you a brief description.

A sensory box is a contained area where kids can explore and play through utilizing their 5 senses. Helping them to understand the world around them, and how it works.

Sensory boxes are inexpensive and fun to create, taking very little time to assemble.

It's easiest to pick a theme and colors and start from there. Start off by introducing The Lorax to your little ones by reading the book or watching the movie which is still in theaters.

To Make your sensory bin find a shallow open container that will be easy for your little one to reach into and explore. Add colored rice, you can find out how we make ours (directions for colored rice) . Remember to stick with your color theme. I used the colors from the Truffula trees, orange, yellow and pink. They are vibrant and welcome curiosity and exploration. Add some items like the ones pictured above. Black and white paper striped straws (Truffula tee trunks), you can find these online at The Sugar Divas. I also added glitter pom poms in orange, yellow and pink ( these resemble the tops of the Truffula trees from the story). I also added some soft fuzzy yarn. I found the perfect shade at my local craft store that combined all three inspiration colors. (This soft colorful yarn represents the "Thneeds" from the story.) Fluffy, soft and fun for curious little hands.  I always like to add cups, scoops and small spoons so my little ones can fill them up and practice their fine motor skills, as well as spatial relationships which are skills they will need later on in the classroom. 

Adding words to your Sensory Bin

Activities to introduce beginning reading skills

Another item you can add are plastic or wooden letters, just make sure they are small enough for your little ones to handle, refrigerator magnets work great. Add the letters to spell a few sight words from the book. Have them find the hidden letters from the sensory bin and match them to the cards pictured below. 

You can get your own copy to print at home at our  Teachers Notebook store. Once your child matches all of the letters to the cards have them search for those words in the story of The Lorax. These beginning reading skills will help them learn how words and stories are constructed and how letters have meaning, a critical concept for early reading.

Fun in The Kitchen

Bento-logy is one of my favorite go to sites for fun foods for my little ones. Their Lorax lunch is so creative and fun and is sure to inspire the littlest of Lorax lovers. Who wouldn't want to save the trees after eating this cute lunch.


For dinner try this colorful version of pasta alfredo.

Cook pasta in boiling water as usual separate into 3 bowls keeping the water,  add a  few drops of neon orange, pink and regular yellow food coloring to dye your noodles.
Add a few drops of neon blue food coloring to your favorite alfredo sauce. Add asparagus and broccoli as little trees...serve to your little ones and watch them giggle!
Kids love to explore with food new tastes, smells and textures intrigue their curiosity so go wild and get creative in the kitchen.

Learn with the Lorax

 For some classroom fun please check out our Lorax Primary Pack Complete with suessified grammar activities, writing prompts, and math fun. There are activities for everyone!

Be sure to check back this weekend for some more fun with the Lorax. We are hosting another Lil Sprouts event for our preschool friends this Saturday from 3:30 - 5:00. We will be celebrating Earth Day with the Lorax. Our Lil Sprouts will be creating their own monogrammed canvas painting with recycled objects, they will practice their sorting and color skills with an Earth friendly recycling game, they will even get their own" Truffula seed" to take home and nurture in a custom designed pot. Don't miss this fun event please visit our simply sprout facebook page to signup by this Thursday April 19, 2012. 
Please feel free to invite a friend!

For information on upcoming Lil Sprouts events please contact us at simplysprout@gmail.com

                          

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Birthday Celebrations

Birthdays are so much fun for our lil sprouts. We have a special birthday today in our house. Our little girl is turning 4. Our morning was filled with a breakfast birthday celebration. There were balloons all over Kaitlyn's room and hanging from her door, just waiting for her to wake up. She celebrated with her favorite... pink party pancakes.
They are so simple to make, just make pancakes using your favorite recipe (mine usually includes a box :) ) then add a splash of pink food coloring. Make them smaller by pouring a small amount into your pan using a measuring cup to control portion size. Stack them up, add your favorite fruit and a little syrup then top with powdered sugar.....they are sure to be a yummy treat!

For a little birthday fun change out your items in your sensory bin for some birthday exploration.
We added the number 1, 2, 3 and 4
letters K-A-I-T-L-Y-N
balloons,  ribbon, small boxes, fabric cupcakes, wooded cookies, small bowls and mini spoons, candles, tissue paper
(when looking for birthday related items gather items with various textures, sounds and sizes)

We played games, finding the numbers and placing them in order 1 - 2- 3- 4 and also found all the letters in her name and matched them to an index card with her name on it. We counted cookies, balloons and she named the colors for the different tissue papers andribbons. You can also group items according to function or size. So many learning possibilities!

 How do you celebrate birthdays with your little ones? What traditions do you have? We would love to hear from you. Leave us a comment :)

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