Cat in the Hat - Balancing Game

Today's activity for Seuss Week was based on Cat in the Hat, a big favorite at our house.  I came up with a Cat in the Hat balancing game idea a couple days ago in the middle of the night when Baby H was having a hard time sleeping, and I'm so glad I didn't forget it in my sleep-deprived haze.  We have a version of the book that has both French and English, so I even integrated a bit of French terminology in the game.

I picked six objects from the book (cup, hat, fish, ship, ball, book) and five body parts (hand, foot, chin, head, elbows, legs) and put the names of the objects (in French) into two photo-cubes:

Then I gathered the appropriate objects.  We took turns choosing who would be the Balancer.  Then the other girl rolled the dice and helped put the correct object on the correct bodypart of the Balancer.  We kept rolling the dice until the Balancer couldn't balance the objects any longer:

It was a real challenge, and the girls laughed and laughed as the objects kept slipping.  We also played a variation where you only roll the dice once and then have to carry the object using the correct body part across the room.  You could also add a third die with actions (like jump, stand on one leg, etc..) for more challenge.

Once the girls had enough of the balancing game, we played "What's in the Hat" by hiding different objects in the Dr. Seuss hat and then trying to guess what's inside or putting multiple objects inside and trying to find something specific using sense of touch (this is a variation of a Montessori Mystery Bag game):

When we read The Cat in the Hat after playing the game, the girls had a new appreciation for the amazing balancing act the cat performs.  They also could recognize some of the objects by their French names.

Other Seuss activities we've done this week include:

• Yertle the Turtle Number Craft
• Green Eggs and Ham: Try New Food Challenge
• The Shape of Me and Other Stuff

Now I need to come up with some ideas for the rest of our week...

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