Well well we have made it to March and the countdown to spring. Of course with it being slightly warmer I had to take advantage and photograph the kids! I have been lax in doing this of the whole group.

It was nice enough that we were able to photograph a couple of my completed crochet projects outside! Again check out Kristen’s Kords HERE!! She rocks!!!

Tinker Bell!

We had the Schwartz kids over again to watch while their folks were busy. Visits with them with parents or not have become a highlight of our weeks!

Miss Echo has totally embraced all sorts of creative imaginative play. Tea parties are so exciting for the stuffed critters and dolls in this house!

We finally opened our Chinese New Year lucky candy holders. That yummy strawberry candy is a family favourite.

We also have a new family member… Hugo Bear Dog generally known as Bear Dog… he joined us thanks to Amy Sue, the amazingly talented seamstress who is creating dresses for Shandai’s wedding! He is an instant hit and has become Echo’s new favourite snuggle buddy. I have to share her page HERE. I absolutely cannot wait to see how Shandai’s dress and my own turn out! They are going to be spectacular.

School has continued on swimmingly. I am so proud of the kids for trying their best to expand their knowledge and try to face the hard stuff with less and less whining and complaining.

Don’t forget about Dr. Seuss’ birthday! We had a added experience for the girls – Dr. Seuss themed activities at Lakeshore.

And food that suited our theme… red and white fruit to represent the Cat in the Hat’s hat… One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish jello with gummy fish… and eggs and ham (trust me… GREEN eggs does NOT go over well). I also had each of the kids write their own RHYMING book. Ken, Karyn and I worked out our own book. Talk about fun. Though the kids struggled a bit. You can find our resource post HERE.

Snow…

The igloo

Home Depot…

Lakeshore Saturday crafts…

A brief foray into pet ownership with the short lived TRIOP!

Movie night with popcorn at the YMCA! (101 Dalmations!!)

Don’t forget St. Patrick’s Day lunch (we did a minor unit this time… previous years have burned us out a little on that theme) but any chance to have a themed meal! You can find our resource page HERE.

Leprechaun escaped our trap once again!

Themed craft

End the month with… EASTER EGG HUNT!

And it was a well rounded month. March is always that little bit more packed when Easter is early April… Let’s see… Dr. Seuss, Home Depot fun, St. Patrick’s Day, early Easter activity… I think we can say we kept good and busy!

March 2nd marks the birth of the author Dr. Seuss… this is our second year celebrating that day. Last year we lucked out with a library program, but this year I was on my own for the most part. So we did what we do best… searched the internet, picked friends and family’s brains and of course requested books and movies from the library! Like with Chinese New Year and the Platypus I am collecting all my links, books, etc into one entry for easy searching! So here goes!

Day 1: The Lorax

• We were most interested in the colouring pages but HERE is a page with multiple resources directed to focus specifically on the Lorax.
• We had the maze for Trinity and Emanuel focused on recycling HERE.
• Our other very important exercise was to write a letter to Mother Nature telling her how we would preserve her… each of the kids wrote a letter (Emanuel and Trinity had me write it for them). We talked about options and the importance of simply CARING! It was a fun and helpful conversation for us all. You can find the letter HERE.
• A Lorax themed Word Search HERE.
• In fact, Activity Village has a whole section devoted just to the book The Lorax with how to draws and everything. We just wanted to keep it somewhat briefer than their content. HERE is the link for that.

Day 2: Green Eggs and Ham

• Colouring page straight out of the book HERE.
• Word search for the bigger kids (though not overly difficult) HERE.
• A simpler word search for your younger child HERE.
• A themed tic tac toe board HERE.

Day 3: The Cat in the Hat and One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish

• Simple math for the little ones HERE.
• Dot to Dot of the Cat himself HERE.
• Crafty handprint Thing 1 and Thing 2 HERE.
• Hat Craft Template HERE.
• Make your own Cat in the Hat hat. We are using ours as a table centrepiece HERE.
• In fact you can pick your own colouring page from the list HERE. Mostly Cat in the Hat.
• Come up with a word that starts with a letter in the title Cat In The Hat HERE.
• Rhyming fun with a list of words HERE. (One Fish Two Fish… theme)
• Our chosen One Fish Two Fish colouring page HERE. I love the ones that are right out of the book.
• An exercise in opposites HERE.

Tv and Movies

• The Cat and the Hat Knows A Lot About That thanks to PBS kids. They have the show on pretty much all week AND the website with games HERE. You can watch whole episodes there.
• The Lorax the movie (2012). I love the ending to this one, it shows that there ARE people who care.
• The Grinch Who Stole Christmas. We got the newer movie. Not exactly by the book but with additional back history on the Grinch that was rather unique. A little scary for Trinity but the boys loved it.
• Horton Hears a Who! (2008)
• Horton Hears a Who! Tv Special (1970)
• Dr. Seuss On the Loose… Green Eggs and Ham and Other Stories (1973)

General Crafts

• Well, with a party in the making for the 2nd what more can we ask for than some simple decorations! Well since we didn’t have any blue cardstock we made a white and red paper chain and combined it with a blue table cloth! RED WHITE AND BLUE are the colours for Dr. Seuss after all!
• Dr. Seuss themed crafts and activities HERE.
• 14 Dr. Seuss Craft and Treat Ideas HERE.
• A Cat In The Hat inspired food HERE.

Additional books, Echo friendly

• Dr. Seuss’s Wet Pet, Dry Pet, Your Pet, My Pet! (based on and inspired by One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish)
• Hop on Pop
• The Foot Book (Zander read this to Emanuel as part of his daily reading challenge), while this comes in board book form, ours was a hardcover.
• Dr. Seuss’s ABC (Though Echo didn’t enjoy this one as much as Trinity and Emanuel did!)
• Fox in Socks (I read this tongue twister gem while everyone laughed at me)

Family Crafts has a page with all the links separated by book. I did not do all the books listed and actually only had Echo listen to Hop on Pop instead of doing any sort of work sheet. You can find their link HERE. Many of the above links are off this page, I figured I would share as we used and as we found.

If you are interested in planning a full out birthday party here is a great link with the food ideas, games, crafts, etc to go to. I got a lot of the ideas for our party HERE. Or check out this general Pinterest Dr. Seuss party themed page HERE.

Want to make something to represent the Cat in the Hat’s hat? We didn’t have skewers so I laid them out in a pattern on the plate… worked well! Instructions HERE. We did not use grapes.

Want some food labels? HERE is the link specific to those.

Our extra reading! Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss