Dr. Seuss has been a beloved fixture on children’s bookshelves for decades. His colorful illustrations, zany characters, and imaginative stories have long inspired a love of reading in kids all over the world, so what better way to celebrate his legacy than with a fun-filled Dr. Seuss-themed week?
Although his birthday is March 2nd, there’s too much silliness to be had to try and fit it all in just one day. Rediscover the magical world of Dr. Seuss alongside your little ones with a week-long itinerary chockful of imaginative games, hands-on crafts, and, of course, lots and lots of reading.
Oh, the places you and your kids will go!
Dr. Seuss Week Activities
Themed Crafts
Dr. Seuss books are colorful and creative—and the crafts are the same! Have your kids make the most of paint, glitter, colored pencils, and construction paper to recreate some of Dr. Seuss’s most iconic images and characters. The messes can be cleaned up, but the memories will last!
Cat in the Hat Plate Face
Using paper plates, construction paper, glue sticks, and crayons, have your kids make their own version of The Cat in the Hat’s face. They can make the hat out of the paper and glue it to the top of the plate, then draw the face in the middle.
The Lorax Mustache
Have your kids cut out and color mustaches that look just like the Lorax’s! They can either make their own mustache from scratch, or you can use this printout. Punch holes on either side and add some elastic so that they can be worn. Your little ones will have a blast running around in these, speaking for the trees!
Truffula Tree Forest
Who doesn’t want a truffula tree? For your kids make their own, have them paint popsicle sticks as colorful as they’d like, then cut circles out of paper plates and attach them to the tops of the popsicle sticks—this will be the base of the tree. To add the “leaves”, crumple bits of tissue paper and then glue them to the paper circle.
If you’d like, buy a rectangle of styrofoam to stick your trees into to have a standing forest when all the trees are done.
Play Fun Games
Your kids will feel like the main character in a Dr. Seuss book with the help of these imaginative and interactive games.
Stack the Cat’s Hat
In order to play this game, all you need is red paper cups and some white index cards! Have your kids then stack them in a cup, card, cup, card pattern. By the end, it should look like a towering Cat’s hat! See how high they can make their hat before it falls over.
Freeze Rhyme
Have your kids moving around the room while you read aloud from The Cat in the Hat. Whenever you say a word that rhymes with either “cat” or “hat” they have to freeze in place! This can be done with any Dr. Seuss book—just pick a word they have to listen to rhymes for.
Wacky Scavenger Hunt
Have your kids use their detective and critical thinking skills with a wacky scavenger hunt! Have your kids close their eyes while you go around the room and make things “wacky”. For example, you can turn posters upside down or put chairs on top of tables instead of under them. Then, have the kids open their eyes and point out all the things that are out of place.
Rhyme Time
Print out this sheet for a fun rhyming activity! It involves the kids cutting out the words listed and gluing them into the column that they rhyme with. So the word “sat” would be glued under the word “hat”, and so on! Turn it into a competition by seeing who can accurately complete theirs the fastest.
Red Fish, Blue Fish
Cut out a bunch of red and blue fish from construction paper. After you attach paper clips to them, scatter them on the floor or in a big bucket. Then, take sticks and attach strings with magnets at the end—these will be the fishing poles. Then, you can have the kids “fish” for either a red fish or a blue fish depending on what you call out! (You can also call out for them to either grab one fish or two fish.)
Get Cooking
The Dr. Seuss universe is full of fun food! And while we unfortunately can’t go to the store and buy truffula fruit or who-hash, there are other ways to tantalize your children’s taste buds (and imagination) with Dr. Seuss-themed recipes.
Green Eggs & Ham Breakfast
It’s not easy to dye eggs or ham green, so try this instead: have a Green Eggs and Ham-inspired pancake breakfast! Split your pancake batter into two bowls, and in one, add a few drops of green food coloring. Make big pancakes with the green batter (these will be your egg base) and small pancakes with the plain batter (these will be your yolks). Then, layer the plain pancake in the center of the green pancake.
Serve them alongside some slices of ham, and voila—you have green (pancake) eggs and ham! It’s a fun and tasty way to start the day.
Hop on Pop(corn)
This recipe isn’t too complicated: make some popcorn in honor of Hop on Pop. It may be fun to make each kid their own brown paper bag full and then let them add in whatever seasonings or sprinkles they desire. If you’re feeling extra creative, have them try and draw a picture of Pop on their bag before they put popcorn in.
The Lorax Cookies
When it’s time for a sweet treat, let your little ones indulge in some Lorax cookies! Take nutter butters and add candy eyes and a yellow frosting mustache. You can either have your kids help you with these (Embrace the chaos!) or you can make them on your own and hand them out. Either way, they’re sure to be a hit!
Read, Read, Read!
It wouldn’t be Dr. Seuss week without reading some of his books! You know how his famous saying goes: “The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go!” Here are some of his iconic classics we recommend you read aloud with the kids.
The Cat in the Hat
You kids will laugh aloud at the silly (and sometimes stressful) antics of the Cat in the Hat in one of Dr. Seuss’s most well-known books.
Horton Hears a Who
Follow the journey of a tender-hearted elephant who is determined to protect a speck of dust sitting on a clover! Give your kids their own “clover” to hold as you read.
The Sneetches (And Other Stories)
Promote empathy, understanding, and acceptance in your children by teaching them about the plight of the Sneetches.
Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You?
Have your kids shout out the different noises alongside Mr. Brown as he goes buzz buzz like a bee, moo moo like a cow, and more!
Dr. Seuss’s Sleep Book
This one is especially great around nap time! After a few pages, kids will be yawning just like the book’s characters as they prepare for slumber.
Contact Us Today
We hope you have a fun Dr. Seuss week! If you’re interested in more ideas or want to hear about how we are going to be celebrating Dr. Seuss week, then feel free to contact us today!
