Storytime - The Lorax/Tree Hugging

I wanted to do something to celebrate Dr. Seuss's birthday, but I was out of town the first weekend in March.  I decided to plan a belated tribute to Dr. Seuss and also celebrate the opening of The Lorax movie. And, of course, I love to incorporate a lesson into my storytimes when possible, and The Lorax is a great way to discuss the environment.

For introductions, I had the kids tell me their names and their favorite things about trees (most mentioned birds and flowers).  I try to be as adaptable as possible during my storytimes, and I always stop to ask the kids questions about the books (I think reading comprehension is the most valuable skill to teach!) and let them make comments or ask questions about the book.  However, this made The Lorax, which is already a fairly lengthy book, very long.  The kids enjoyed the story and were pretty animated about it, but they were ready to do the craft by the end of the story.  Though I planned to read 1-2 more books, I gave that idea up and introduced the craft.

The craft this week was similar to the trash themed craft.  I gave the kids tree coloring pages. I had cut out pictures of many of the wonderful things that trees contain:  birds, nests, monkeys, flowers, fruit, hammocks, etc.  The kids enjoyed the craft and were very proud of their trees.

Here's how my boy's picture turned out...he wasn't particularly motivated. 

 My little buddy Landyn made this one and gave it to me. So sweet!

The kids hard at work...