I hope all of you are safe and well during this difficult time. The Coronavirus has affected the lives of every single person around the globe, and I know our wonderful teachers, librarians, and parents are doing everything possible to make sure that the children are calm, busy, and protected.
Here are a whole bunch of activities, projects, and movies based on many of my books. Please feel free to download and print whatever you like. I hope you’ll find them useful, but most of all fun!
Click each link to download printable PDF’s.
Scroll down for more projects, movies, etc.
Please check back regularly for more fun projects.
All my love to all of you. Please stay safe!
WHY pdf (click to download pdf)
Just like the rabbit, everyone has lots of “why” questions swirling around in their mind, especially right now. Here are some fun writing and drawing activities to help you explore your own “why” questions.
Click here to see the making of WHY.
Click here to watch me talk about why I made WHY for you!
TEACHER’S GUIDE pdf (click to download pdf)
Here are many writing activities based on “First the Egg”, “I Used to Be Afraid”, “Lemons Are Not Red”, “Black? White! Day? Night!”, “What If?”, “Bully”, “Green”, and “Dog and Bear”.
Now more than ever, “I Used to Be Afraid” activities may be especially appropriate.
BULLY pdf (click to download pdf)
Here are some helpful activities based on “Bully”, along with stickers that you can print out.
DOG AND BEAR pdf (click to download pdf)
Included here are instructions for how to draw Dog and Bear, as well as coloring book sheets.
Click here to watch the DOG AND BEAR movie (created by my son, Dylan when he was 12 years old, and our dog, Copper, too!)
PROJECTS pdf (click to download pdf)
Create your own die-cut booklets based on the alphabet, opposites, transformation, colors, and more.
WALTER WAS WORRIED pdf (click to download pdf)
Here are printable masks of the characters from “Walter Was Worried”. You can make your own self portrait, too, and for your facial features, use a word that describes how you are feeling right now.
Express your feelings through art! Using paint (or any other medium) and paper, create a self-portraits using the letters of your name or an emotion you’re feeling right now to illustrate your facial features. Use the letters artistically and graphically to convey the emotion. You may also write an alliterative sentence, for example: “Timothy was terrified when his lizard was lost.” And don’t forget to feel free to discuss your reasons for selecting each emotion and to speak further about your feelings.
Make your own die-cut booklet! (recommended for grades 1 and up)
Cut a large piece of paper 8” x 16” and fold in half. Then, cut a square hole in the center of the top flap.
Suggested art supplies: Pencils, crayons, markers, paint, collage (glue/glue sticks, scissors, craft paper, magazines, newspapers)
“THE COLOR OF POETRY” (recommended for grades 3 and up):
GREEN appears on its surface to be a poem about the color green while in reality, and in a very subtle way, it is about appreciating and taking care of our environment. BLUE is a book about the color blue in terms of loyalty, loss, and sadness. In both books, the many shades of color are explored - at first specific greens or blues, then descriptive, then abstract, until finally, the color in a philosophical sense. Each art spread is connected through die-cuts so that every picture is a part of the picture before it and the picture after. As in our environment, our loved ones, and our world, everything is connected.
PROJECT: Write a poem about your favorite color, with each of four stanzas following the “specific, descriptive, abstract, philosophical” outline. Then plan and sketch 2 double art spreads using the concept of interconnectivity through die-cuts.
“IF THIS, THEN THAT” (recommended for grades 2 and up):
I USED TO BE AFRAID shows us that it’s all about the way you look at things, if you just change your perspective. FIRST THE EGG explores transformation by showing things that begin in one form and become something else in a format of “first/then”. LEMONS ARE NOT RED explores color and the concept of “not”. What is not red? What is never red? This concept can be further explored - What is not fun or easy or difficult? What is not soft or rough or furry? What is not loud or quiet or silent? Finding the answers to these questions can be a challenge for children and adults alike. ONE BOY explores the concept of words within words and counting.
PROJECT: Explore the worlds of transformation, color, counting, and words within words, or the concepts of “first/then” and “not.” Create a 2-page booklet with a die-cut hole in the top page (see above photo and instructions). Challenge yourself to illustrate objects whose colors are at first shown incorrectly through the die-cut hole, and then correctly when the page is turned or illustrate an object which appears to be one thing through the die-cut hole and becomes another when the page is turned.
“NOW YOU SEE IT, NOW YOU DON’T” (recommended for grades 1 and up):
BLACK? WHITE! DAY? NIGHT! and THE HIDDEN ALPHABET challenge readers to have a look at the space most people ignore. Background space. Negative space. There is so much to be seen in the negative space created by objects within our environment. Sometimes this feast for the eyes is far more interesting than the positive space of the objects themselves. The juxtaposition of positive and negative space and the challenge of changing one’s viewpoint back and forth between the two can often be most interesting of all.
PROJECT: Explore the negative space surrounding everyday objects. Create your own opposite pair or alphabet letter. Create a 2-page booklet with a die-cut hole in the top page (see above photo and instructions). Make a painting, drawing, or collage on the paper that lies under the flap. Then select an opposite pair; one opposite illustrated on the page beneath the flap, the other visible through the hole in the flap. Or create a letter on the page beneath the flap and a corresponding object created by the letter’s negative space viewed through the hole in the flap. (Perhaps use the first letter of your name and an object that symbolizes your interests, talents, or personality.)
Click here to see the amazing Hidden Alphabet projects that the fabulous Singapore students made when I visited there a few years ago!
HAVE FUN!!
