Hi folks! Today (April 2nd), we’ll be reading from our March box book selection, “Mister Seahorse” by Eric Carle. Please join us on Facebook live at 2:30 pm Central Time, or watch the video afterwards on your own time!
We have also created an activity to accompany our story time! Although this is geared towards toddlers and preschoolers, it can be modified for babies (suggestions below).
As many of you know, male seahorses carry their baby eggs in their pouch until the seahorse babies are born. In this beautifully illustrated book, Mister Seahorse meets other male fish who also carry their baby’s eggs. In our activity, you and your child will work together to create one of these Rad Dad fish!
Materials needed:
- construction paper
- marker
- dot stickers (we used brown since that’s what we had on hand, but if you can, we suggest using a more vibrant color, such as orange)
- scissors
- glue or gluesticks
- background paper
Instructions:
- Select the fish you’d like to make, and draw its outline on the construction paper.
- Depending on your child’s age and skill level, you may ask them to cut out the fish, or you can cut it out yourself.
- Glue the fish onto the background paper, or ask your child to glue it onto the background paper.
- Instruct your child to place the dot stickers on the fish. These stickers represent the baby eggs.
- Feel free to embellish however you like! (Our son drew water, seaweed, “fish food”, and “crab food”!)
Modifications:
- If you don’t have dot stickers on hand, never fear! You can punch holes in paper with a hole puncher (or assist your child in doing so), and use the circles from the holes as the eggs. Or you can cut out fish eggs from construction paper and ask your child to glue them.
- For babies, you can use non-toxic finger paint or stamp ink for the eggs. Dip baby’s finger in the paint (or press against the stamp pad), and then press along the body of the fish.
Now you have a joint piece of art with your child, celebrating dads!