I hope you were able to join us for Elmer's Special Day by David McKee. This is such a fun book to read and look at! It was very nice of Elmer to invite the other animals to join the Elephant Parade. It helped all of the animals become friends with each other! Elmer showed us that a great way to make new friends is to ask others to play with you. 

I hope you enjoyed A Family is a Family is a Family by Sara O'Leary with art by Qin Leng. I loved getting to learn about all the different kinds of families! I thought that since we read a book about families this month's craft should be doing a family activity!

This month's activity is Making Art with Nature! You and your family can go for a nature walk and gather supplies to use for your art project! Remember to only grab leaves, twigs, flowers, pinecones, acorns, and other objects that have fallen off their tree or plant. 

For my next nature art piece I used glue and my nature items to create a picture! Since I had a bunch of nature items I decided to make a BIG TREE with little trees, bushes, and some flowers in front of it! 

After you and your family go on your nature walk will you come back and tell me everything you found? Can you show me pictures of YOUR ARTWORK? I'm SO EXCITED to see what you create!

Did you enjoy The Tea Party in the Woods by Akiko Miyakoshi? I love how all of the animals were so happy to see Kikko and that they helped her when her pie was crushed. 

Alternatively I have also come up with this great quiet time activity inspired by 'What Miss Mitchell Saw' and the popular 'I Spy' series. I had a left over jar (thanks Bread Hive!) though I recommend plastic in case we drop them. I filled mine with glitter, star sequins, and foam space stickers I stuck together, black beans, and dyed rice. The stars, black beans, dyed rice, and glitter were meant to give it the feel of the night sky! Before assembling the 'hidden' objects, my space foam pieces, I made a list, can you find: Two orange planets, a planet with three rings, four astronauts, etc.

But you can make your jar any theme, with any 'hidden' objects. Small toys, Dollar Tree items, Marbles, etc. filled with beans, rice, glitter, or Styrofoam pellets! What will you make?

Ps, to dye my rice for my jar (or sensory bins!) I use this great recipe below: