{Virtual Book Club For Kids} Lois Ehlert: Oodles of Animals Inspired Paper Collage Activity

Independence Building Boredom Busters

In our house there are a few “bad” words that the kids are absolutely and completely forbidden to say, like “I hate,” “I can’t,” and “I’m bored.” But that doesn’t mean they don’t ever say say it - in other creative ways - or feel that way when we don’t have scheduled activities. How do […]

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Planning for Disneyland with Preschoolers

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September 17, 2012 in All Posts, Play, Preschool, Toddler Activities

Welcome to September’s Virtual Book Club For Kids blog hop!

This month we are featuring book reviews, activities, crafts, and recipes inspired by the works of children’s author and illustrator Lois Ehlert. (All book links, including images, are Amazon Affiliate links).

We are very fortunate to have a dedicated Children’s Library nearby, so we were able to browse through Ehlert’s extensive collection of children’s books and took home a few to read:

The kids and I weren’t as keen on Top Cat or Nuts to You!, but the fun collage-style illustrations of Oodles of Animals caught our eyes and imagination.

Oodles of Animals is a colorful book full of simple paper illustrations of animals constructed from basic shapes (squares, circles, triangles, etc.). Each animal portrait is accompanied by a short rhyme about the animal.

From a parents’ perspective, I wasn’t impressed by the writing and found each of the three books we read, including Oodles of Animals, to be a little too “old” for a toddler and preschooler in terms of the language used. As an adult, I could see where Ehlert was coming from, but I think the language is a little too sarcastic and hard - for my taste - to introduce to my own young children.

Regardless, we loved the animals constructed out of shapes and decided to do our own simple Paper Collage Activity inspired by Ehlert’s Oodles of Animals.

My preschooler loved the concept and got busy right away, while my toddler (as usual) tired quickly after a few glue drops onto the paper.

I really liked using all of the shapes to create my own collage, too!

This is my preschooler’s masterpiece:

Is it just me or is this ultra-spooky or what?! I never asked my daughter what it was since she was so proud of it, so am still wondering what this haunting animal could be…

Did you read any books by Lois Ehlert this month and come up with your own craft, activity, or recipe inspired by one of her books? Please link up your post here!

LEARN! Literacy, scissor-cutting, fine motor skills

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Chrissy – who has written 426 posts on The Outlaw Mom® Blog - Creative Living in a Conventional World.