A Dr. Seuss party is a great way to bring families into the library. We break our event into two parts–a 30 minute story time, and a one hour playtime with crafts and games. And cake…people will always come if there’s cake.
But first…
The Story Time
Dr. Seuss stories are amazing…but they are SUPER long. So when doing a story time, it’s important to do stories that are short and engaging. I’ve always done three stories for this part of the program. Here’s a list of the best ones to do for a story time.
“Green Eggs and Ham”
This one is a hit every time. And it’s great for a two person story time.
The way to make it really entertaining is by making it kinda slap sticky. Like, when I ask Mr. Mark if he’ll eat green eggs and ham in the rain, I spray him with squirt guns. Kids lose it EVERY TIME!! Or when I ask him if he’ll eat them on a boat, I put a giant inner tube on him.
“Mr. Brown Can Moo Can You??”
Really simple to do, and it’s interactive so kids can help out. Also goes pretty quick.
“I Am Not Going to Get up Today”
We recently discovered this one–great to do live. Jess made the headboard and we just added an air mattress between stories; Mr. Mark just read the story laying down. Then I would do the actions in the story to try and get him out of bed. Really slapsticky again, which the kids always love.
Those would be my Top 3 suggestions, but we’ve done a few others. At my old library we tried out “Yertle the Turtle.” We probably should have shortened the story because I could tell kids were getting antsy, but they did like us stacking the turtles and having them all fall down at the end. Thanks to Jess for making these for me.
A few years ago, we did “Sneetches” which was fun to do but it REALLY went over the kids’ heads, even though we shortened it.
But our Sneetch machine turned out amazing, thanks to our circ assistant Joel.
And we’ve also done “The Zax,” which went okay but again kids didn’t really get it. But our bridge turned out amazing, thanks to Joel again.
After that, we clean up really quick and move on to the party.
Activities
While Mr. Mark cuts the cake, I go around and explain the different stations that we have set up.
“One Fish, Two Fish” Fish Pond
Easy to set up and make. All I did was trace out a fish, cut out both sides, and glue it together with a large paperclip by the nose. Add some white for the eye and use a black marker around the edges and you got some fishies.
You can give out prizes if they catch one, but kids just like playing with it regardless. I always tell my kids it’s catch and release. Here’s my template:
I’ve also added a new element where kids can catch a boot in the pond as well. Catching the boot is obviously bad and something to avoid, and just something to make it into more of a game. Here’s my template for that:
“What Pet Should I Get?” Fortune Teller
I made the fish and stuck it into a fish bowl. Then I made a bunch of fortunes that kiddos could pull from and see what kind of Seuss pet they should get. Here’s my sheets if you want to borrow them:
“Green Eggs and Ham” Tic-Tac-Toe
Found this one on Pinterest here, and it was really easy to whip together.
“Yertle the Turtle” Stacking Game
Found this on Pinterest here and it was a GREAT idea. Found some cheap blue bowls at Target and made a quick template for the bottom. Then I just glued the paper to the bowl.
“Cat in the Hat” Ball Toss
I painted some oatmeal containers, using painters tape to make some crisp straight lines, to make hats. Then I put some cardstock on top for the brim of the hat. EASY! Lots of fun! I put up a sign only do underhand tosses to try and deter balls going everywhere.
Pin the Heart on the Grinch
This was surprisingly easy to make! I found a Grinch picture online and blew it up. Then I used that as a stencil and cut each individual part. Then I pasted it all together and detailed it. Finally I laminated it to make it last longer. Make sure to have a volunteer stationed here to help kids get blindfolded and to make sure they don’t run into anything.
Crafts with Old Books (Great for Buttons, Coasters, or just Decorations!)
First save all of your old copies Seuss discards and razor out the pages. There’s SO many things you can do with them. If you have a button maker, it works great for that. You can get some bathroom tiles and make them into coasters, though that craft is a bit more complicated. I explain that craft a little bit better here. But kids also just like sticking it on the back of some cardstock and taking it home.
BUT I ALWAYS tell my kids that we should NEVER cut out pages from books, but since these were well-loved, it’s okay and we are recycling.
Make Your Own Hat or Lorax Mustache
Kids can cut these out and color them any way they want. Here’s my templates:
Great for photo ops!!
“Wocket in my Pocket”
Print this out on green paper or cardstock. These didn’t go as fast as the other items but it’s still great to have.
Extra Stuff
There’s plenty of great craft ideas on Pinterest, so you should have no shortage of funderful ideas. Check out Target or Party City, since they usually have Seuss stickers, pencils, and bookmarks to give away.
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If I say so myself, happy birthday to ME!”
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