Hi Moms!
My daughter is in first grade. Her school has parents sign up to be mystery readers. None of the kids know who is coming, they just know that there will be a mystery reader today. Oh, we have 30 mins for the mystery reading.
I have done it one time before in October. I read Spookley the square pumpkin, and then I brought materials for the entire class to be able to make their own "special" pumpkin. They all had a blast and so far, I was the only person to do a book and craft project.
I am signed up to do it again in a week on her birthday. I was thinking of reading the book "Moira's Birthday" by Robert Munsch. It is a cute book. But I don't know what type of craft or activity or a different book to do afterwards.
ANY IDEAS? She is turning 7. I can't do the cupcakes at this time, due to FISD rules. So, I either need another book (fun or cute) or a craft to coordinate, but has to be easy.
TIA! You guys have always had wonderful advice!
Edited to add:
The book is about a little girl named Moira who wants to invite grades K-6 to her b-day party. Her parents say NO! She ends up doing it and there are obviously problems, but she figures out how to fix each one of them. At the end, she realizes that not even she needs 200 presents, so she tells each child to take a present home with them.
We can't have any food at the mystery reading time. I can bring cupcakes,cookies, or doughnuts for the end of the day, but FISD won't allow "non-nutrious food" at this time of the day. Plus, like another poster said, we have 30 mins then they have to get right to the rest of their schedule.
Thank you for all the responses! Keep them coming!
What a fun idea to have a mystery reader! For a craft to match the birthday theme you could cut out preformed birthday cakes and then bring in craft accessories to decorate them with. Just a thought... Good luck!
"Duck for President" is also a wonderful book and you can bring in a ballot box with ballots for the kids to learn to vote. Very fun if done correctly - would be great too if they were able to wear a button and then a tidbit about our very own president. We love this book and our school also did a coloring contest for it.
Good luck and have fun.
Also, I have "Going to the Ark" and if you let me know ahead of time, I would be happy to send you pipe cleaners and directions for mouse pencils. It is a religious book so not sure if okay in public schools but is fun.
Love books! C.
Bring construction paper and some string and let the kids make their own birthday hat while you're reading the story. Or, as you read the story they can draw/color the picture they create from the story.
Hi A.,
How about bringing a plain Tshirt for your daughter's classmates to paint as a birthday gift? oversized one and they can either use markers and write her a note or paint something (their hand)...A birthday autograph book would work too...
Too bad you can not just buy the plain cupcakes, tub of frosting, and sprinkles...Have fun whatever you do!
You could do a glyph craft where the children decorate their own paper craft cupcake to the particular specifications that resemble them....for example:
Chocolate for boys
Vanilla for girls
Color of icing could represent their favorite color
Number of sprinkles could represent the number of people in their family
Number of candles could represent their age
If this does not make sense let me know.....
I am SAHM but was a kinder. teacher maybe I can help. What specifically is the book about? What happens in the story etc?
Will FISD let you bring in wrapped (bought that way) rice krispie treats or something to decorate? Otherwise yeah, signing the shirt would be pretty cool.. or some "card making".
S.
what about having them all make birthday /party hats w/ stickers/ foam shapes glitter glue sticks/ markers
With Valentines day coming soon, you could any Valentines day book and there are a ton of V-day crafts to do!
How about taking a group picture of your daughter with her classmates and teacher, if you would like to make it 'birthday themed' you could purchase party hats for each child to wear and purchase a matte ahead of time and after the photo, have each child sign his/her name on the matte. You can even quietly leave after the picture and see if the teacher would be okay with having the children do it at the end of the day when they get packed up or see about having a few come out in the hallway at a time. That will be something relatively inexpensive and quick... I know when I was a teacher, we LOVED having Mystery Readers, but we also had to get back to business shortly after... It is always a treat to have parents come in, especially as a surprise, but it can also get the students hyped up if it is too much of an activity to handle. With a group photo, it is a great keepsake with your daughter for her birthday and you can also get copies printed for her classmates and have her write a message on the back like "Thank you for celebrating my ___th birthday with me" and one for the teacher as well.... Just a thought! :-)
why don't you consider making fun party hats or buy the cookies you can color, if the school allows you to do that since they are store bought.
Have fun.
What about "making" cupcakes with playdough? Or, make & decorate birthday party invitations (with fill in the blanks for location, time, etc.) Encourage them to think about a cool birthday location, like the planet Mars or inside a volcano or other weird places. Then they can decorate the invitation to match the "theme"
You could cut out circles out of construction paper and have them "decorate" cakes out of them.
I don't know if this suggestion would be ok with the teacher but maybe you could play birthday games like pin the tail on the donkey. Just a thought. For a craft maybe you could have them decorate their own cake (on paper of course). Have fun!
C.
