Play Theme // Eric Carle

We tried something a little different for our play theme this time and focused on an author! In collaboration with Mudpuppy, I thought it would be fun to dive into the world of Eric Carle and use some of their puzzles and games to add to our activities! 

Lit Loves

A lot of these books were gifts, some are well-loved from the library, and the rest are borrowed from my MIL who taught early childhood!  I will list out the titles and would suggest looking at your local library for these (unless it is the same library as ours because we have them ALL)

Papa, Please Get the Moon For Me / Draw Me a Star / The Bumblebee and the Robber / How Things Grow / The Very Lonely Firefly / Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? / My Very First Book of Animal Homes / The Very Hungry Caterpillar / The Very Quiet Cricket / Animals / Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? / 10 Little Rubber Ducks / The Mixed-Up Chameleon / From Head To Toe / Does Kangaroo Have a Mother Too? / My Very First Book of Colors / 1,2,3 To The Zoo / Will You Be My Friend? 

 

 

Eric Carle & Friends

This mini memory match game from Mudpuppy was so much for Emma and I to play together! It includes characters from multiple Eric Carle books and Emma was able to identify them all. She caught on all really quickly to the game and it was great practice at taking turns as well!

 

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

My mother-in-law lent us this giant book and it was perfect for our outdoor caterpillar feeding activity. We cut the caterpillar face out of poster board and as we read, Emma 'fed' the caterpillar with our plastic play food.

For an easy snack I used grapes, strawberries, cheese and veggie straws to make our own caterpillars! We also watched The Very Hungry Caterpillar on Netflix!

Our new travel puzzle from Mudpuppy was perfect for Emma! She loved seeing the caterpillar from her books and was able to complete it all on her own!

The Mixed-Up Chameleon

We pulled out our DIY light table to make chameleons to hang in the playroom window. I used clear, adhesive paper and traced the cover of the book. I gave the kids tissue paper to decorate and work on fine motor skills.

Mister Seahorse

I printed out a seahorse picture on cardstock for the kids to do a mess-free painting project. I stuck the paper in gallon bags and added paint that matched the cover of the book. The kids were able to smoosh the paint around to mimic the art in the book!

Brown Bear, Brown Bear

We used these beautiful Brown Bear puzzle pairs from Mudpuppy in a fun sensory bin! Emma dug for the character pieces and matched them to the name pieces.

To dye beans: Add one cup light-colored, dry beans, 1/2 teaspoon vinegar and fifteen drops of food coloring to a tupperware container. Shake and dump to let dry for several hours.

For another easy snack, I made a brown bear on toast using almond butter, bananas, blueberries and chocolate chips!

These touch and feel Brown Bear puzzles from Mudpuppy were so perfect for Henry. Each character only had three pieces and were easy for him to match.

Our favorite puzzle in this theme was our Brown Bear Block Puzzle. Emma loved to find the character in her book and then spin each block to find the right side and fit it into her box.

Finally, I created this Brown Bear activity pack that includes a pre-writing trace, two counting puzzles and a story sequencing activity! You can click the picture above to download it.

We had such a good time reading through our books and completing the activities that I think we will keep everything out for awhile longer. I loved being able to teach Emma what an author was and she was able to see the similar illustrations throughout each story.