4 Books to Celebrate Earth Day

We can celebrate our Earth all year by teaching our children to take care of it.

Grab a few of these books and try some activities to help your child love our earth.

Being obSEUSSed, I have to mention The Lorax story. A message about saving trees and standing up for our environment comes across to even toddler age listeners. There are newer Step Into Reading Lorax books with more current ways to help the earth.

Another new favorite is The Boy Who Spoke to the Earth. 

The illustrations in this book are so vibrant and captivating. I wouldn't mind having them framed and displayed on my walls at home. We went to a story scavenger hunt activity at the park for this book by Chris Burkard & David McClellan (Dreamling Books). 

My children loved the story of the boy who went in search of happiness. The boy searches each scene and asks to find happiness but the Earth reminded him he needs to "stand still for just a moment." I agree that sometimes we keep our children so busy playing and exploring outside but we may forget to take a moment to soak it all in and talk to our children about the beauty and importance of the earth. 

Dreamling Books, the publisher of The Boy Who Spoke to the Earth" took us on a story scavenger hunt. The kids ran to find clues around the park that led them to a prize. Parents can create their own Story Scavenger Hunt by creating small paper clues that lead to the next location then to a prize or destination (like a waterfall) at the end.

We are so lucky to live near these beautiful mountains. Our kids take it for granted sometimes. I always make a point to tak about them when we drive past them or look out the window at them. 

Our family enjoys the earth by geocaching. We go on hikes around our state or visit our local park to find little hidden treasure boxes. Anyone can join the fun using the Geocaching app. We also use a hiking GPS to find caches in remote areas without cell service. 

As we hike with a purpose, we also take time to notice the scenery, animals, bugs and other hikers. If we find trash along the trail we pick it up to dispose of properly. Our kids love these outdoor adventures. 

Old Turtle by Douglas Wood is another favorite of ours with detailed water color illustrations. The story is a fable of the way our earth was created. Animals play a big part of our earth. 

Look for animals at the park or an anima conservancy near you to learn more. Our children love our local Tracy Aviary. 

The fourth book I recommend is The Water Hole by Graeme Base. Hidden illustrations on pages get children interested in finding out why the water is disappearing on each page. The theme of this book will help you start a conversation with your child about water conservation. 

Talk about ways you can save water around home like taking shorter showers or smaller baths and turning water off while brushing teeth. 

We use leftover water in our dinner cups to water our plants.

What are some of your favorite books or activities to celebrate Earth Day? Leave a comment below.

*Disclosure, I received a free Boy Who Spoke to the Earth book in exchange for my honest review. 

20 Dr. Seuss Activities to Fill Your House with Stacks of Books

March 2, Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss! His books are scattered all over our house.  We will be celebrating by reading several of his books, playing games and munching on Seuss style snacks. I'm excited to share several activities and snacks with my son's kindergarten class in the morning.

"Fill your house with stacks of books...in all the crannies and all the nooks." This quote is from the movie, In Search of Dr. Seuss.  Dr. Seuss knew the average kid would pick up a book and be hooked. It has been the inspiration for my blog.  I really want children to be surrounded by books at home.   We have well over 1,000 books. I am constantly trying to sort through them and share with others. We donate many to the Burmese refugee children we work with in Salt Lake. We've held book drives to collect and donate more books for them. My children love helping pass out the books.

This is one reason I haven't been blogging as much in the last year.  I've been "in the trenches" trying to spread literacy instead of behind my computer blogging as much. I still share quick ideas and activities on Instagram but I don't have the time to share more details on my blog for now.

I'm also our school PTA president this year.  I'm currently helping with our readathon which has been a Dr. Seuss theme the past five years.  This year we have a new mascot so we are doing a fantasy reading theme. I'm helping plan a medieval festival to celebrate all the extra reading our students do.

Image by Kellie Ungritch for D. Elementary

I hope you all are reading more with your children or classroom. Share a Dr. Seuss book today to celebrate his birthday. 

If you're looking for some additional fun ways to celebrate Dr. Seuss' birthday, check out 20 of my favorite obSEUSSed with Dr. Seuss activities, crafts, snacks and party ideas here.

Plus I’ve collected more than 1,500 Dr. Seuss ideas on several Pinterest boards.  Follow these boards for Dr. Seuss parties, classrooms, crafts, Grinchmas, activities and more.


Start filling your house with stacks of books.
We buy books at yard sales, thrift shops, local books stores and online through Amazon and Barnes and Noble. We love to give and receive books as gifts. We've also done a book exchange at church where we have a cupboard we bring a book to leave and take a book to keep. I'm also excited to start working on building my own Dr. Seuss Little Free Library house for my yard this summer.

If you don't like books taking up a lot of space at your home long term, make sure to rotate books from your local library.  Sometimes owning too many books can be overwhelming and my kids get used to seeing them and aren't as interested in reading them.  A new stack of books borrowed from the library gets them excited.  Whatever method you choose, just make sure to keep books accessible for children.  Help them find books they are interested in and get them excited about reading!  

I'd love to know how you're celebrating Dr. Seuss' birthday. Leave a comment below or leave a link to your blog if you've shared ideas online.

Follow me on Instagram (@reading_refuge) and Facebook: obSEUSSed.

Dr. Seuss Crafts, Activities and Party ideas by obSEUSSed

I’ve been busy the past few years celebrating Dr. Seuss’ birthday and Read Across America Day (March 2).  We actually celebrate all year long by making Dr. Seuss crafts, snacks, printable worksheets, activities and more. This may be why people call me obSEUSSed.

These are a few of my favorite projects I've created.  You can see more details when clicking the links below each collage.

• Thing 1 Thing 2 Cupcake printable signs (free printable)
• Truffula Tree elastic bookmark
• Truffula Tree and Cat in the Hat pencil holder cans
• Lorax Truffula Tree Cupcakes
• Dr. Seuss School Carnival with Cat in the Hat from PBS Kids {KBYU-local station} and fun signs for the party.

• Our Dr. Seuss reading nook in our playroom.
• Our Dr. Seuss {free printable} library card and how we display books.
• The {free printable} Dr. Seuss book mark with the ‘Fill your house’ quote.
• Tips on reading with your children.
• Again, the Dr. Seuss carnival photo booth.

ONE FISH TWO FISH and GREEN EGGS and HAM IDEAS:
One Fish Two Fish {free printable} fishing game for letter recognition.
1 Fish 2 Fish placemat {free printable} to practice counting.
1 Fish 2 Fish bathroom and dresser.
Green Eggs and Ham Egg Hunt and Rhyming Game
Green Eggs and Ham puzzle/cutting practice {free printable}.
Green Eggs and Ham snack tray.

HOP ON POP
We love having Hop on Popcorn at our school Dr. Seuss carnival.
Try this fun Hop on Popcorn sight word game.
Really Hop on Pop when you draw him on a yellow bed sheet.
The Cat in the Hat storage container also makes a great Valentine box.
Take a look around this sight and you’ll find more Dr. Seuss and more regular children’s book crafts and activities.

I have a list of 350+ Dr. Seuss activities on this page:

Plus I’ve collected more than 1,500 ideas on several Pinterest boards.  Check out boards for Dr. Seuss parties, classrooms, crafts, Grinchmas, activities and more.
Visit Victoria Saley @obSEUSSed's profile on Pinterest.

Dr. Seuss Classroom Decorations

Dr. Seuss themed classroom decorations are a popular sight in schools, especially during Dr. Seuss week/month celebrating Read Across America Day.
Here are some cute ideas I found from Ms. Cobleigh’s preschool class.  She shared her photos on Instagram (follow her @PreschoolPlace) and offered to share them with us online.

She had her kids create the craft art, then used them to decorate the walls. The Thing One Thing 2 handprint art is adorable. She used paper plates, yarn and construction paper to make the hot air balloons. Kids can stamp their feet in paint, then on paper, or just trace feet on paper and cut out to create the foot wall.

These simplistic doors make a huge statement.  The fish curtains were made using a plastic table cloth and she said it looks beautiful when the light shines in. Truffula trees always help set the tone of a whimsical Dr. Seuss themed room and the children in the window look perfect on the wall.
There are so many Dr. Seuss classroom decorating and activity ideas online. I have an entire Pinterest board to gather the ideas. Click here to see more.

Follow Victoria Saley @obSEUSSed's board Dr. Seuss Activities and Classroom on Pinterest.
To follow all my Dr. Seuss Boards click here.
I also wanted to share her darling Preschool 50’s Sock Hop. She did this to celebrate the 50th day of school.

They wore poodle skirts.  The Drive-In sign really lights up using battery operated tea-lights from the dollar store. The checkered floor was made from cardstock paper and taped over and lasted through the party.
I need that sign in my kitchen diner. See my 50’s Sock Hop Party and home diner here.

Remember to follow along on Instagram for current Dr. Seuss or classroom ideas from @PreschoolPlace and @victoria_obSEUSSed.

Bloggers Inspired by Dr. Seuss

Look no further, if you need an idea to celebrate Dr. Seuss’ birthday you can find something simple or elaborate on one of these bloggers’ lists.


There are so many fabulous ideas from bloggers, teachers, parents and more online now. I can’t keep up with it all.  I have loved gathering ideas in my Dr. Seuss Link Collection and Pinterest Board with 1,500+ ideas (see links on the right side bar).  But, I wanted to share more resource lists with you to help you prep for Read Across America Day, celebrated this Friday. I love that you can refer to these lists each year to find new ways to celebrate.

The site I see referred to most on Pinterest for Dr. Seuss activities is I Can Teach My Child.  Jenae has been one of my favorite bloggers I’ve watched over the years. She has a variety of simple activities you can do at home or school to connect to Dr. Seuss books.

Jenae is also an excellent literacy resource. She wrote this e-book, I Can Teach My Child to Read!, which is on sale through Friday (but always a great price). I’ve been browsing through it and really wish I had a hard copy to refer to more often. I love all her tips.

Mom Endeavors rounded up 75+ Dr. Seuss Activity Ideas.


Angie at The Country Chic Cottage blog created a list of 40+ Dr. Seuss activities.


She created this free printable Dr. Seuss Cootie Catcher. This is my favorite quick craft I’ve seen this year. I printed one out and my kids played with it today.


The Teaching Blog Addict has over 30+ Dr. Seuss activity ideas, including tons of printable worksheets and great classroom ideas.


The Educator’s Spin on It gathered 30+ Lorax ideas.


They also have a virtual book club which is a collection of 100+ links with Dr. Seuss book activity ideas.


Jamerrill from Free Home School Deals has over 100 ideas on this post.


Jill gathered 50+ great Dr. Seuss snack ideas.


Motherhood on a Dime collected 30 great Dr. Seuss ideas.


Learn with Play at Home features several of their favorite Dr. Seuss activities and has a great Link list of 100+ ideas.


Amy, from Some of the Best Things in Life are Mistakes, shares her favorite Dr. Seuss finds on Pinterest.


Parent Teach Play has 60+ ideas on their link list.


J Daniel 4’s Mom has 20+ ideas to celebrate Dr. Seuss’ birthday.


Deborah at TEACH PRESCHOOL has 40+ links of Dr. Seuss activities.

Deb at PreK and K Sharing has a great Montessori Dr. Seuss activity

This post shares 27 of my personal Dr. Seuss activities.


And, don’t forget my Pinterest boards with 1,500+ Dr. Seuss ideas collected.


And you’re sure to find something that catches your eye at my Dr. Seuss Link Collection with 300+ ideas.

Add these all up (sure there is bound to be some overlap) and you’ll find thousands of ideas to pull from to celebrate reading with Dr. Seuss. Leave a message below if you have links for other Dr. Seuss ideas.

Dr. Seuss Crafts by obSEUSSed

Dr. Seuss’ birthday is just a few weeks away.  March 2 falls on a Saturday this year so it will be a great day to celebrate by doing crafts and activities at home with my kids. I’m sure we will be celebrating for several weeks. I’m helping plan a big Dr. Seuss style carnival for our school read-a-thon mid March and will share more about that soon.

When I started this blog, I wanted it to be a place to share craft ideas and activities inspired by Dr. Seuss. I also wanted to share other children’s book crafts and activities to keep kids excited about reading.

I created the Dr. Seuss Link Collection as a place for bloggers to share those Seuss inspired ideas.  Make sure you take a look at nearly 300 fabulous ideas that bloggers have shared. I’ll be featuring a few of them in the next few weeks.


Dr. Seuss Ideas on Pinterest
Then Pinterest came along and it has become the place I’ve gathered more than 1,500 Dr. Seuss crafts, activities, snacks, party ideas and more.  I’m blown away by the creative ideas I’ve seen.  I’ve loved to see other people just as obSEUSSed or even more obSEUSSed than I am. This love of Dr. Seuss connects us all.
If you have access to Pinterest you must browse through some of these ideas I’ve been gathering.  They are overflowing on one board so I am in the process of splitting the pins onto more distinct boards.  This is the best place to find all your Dr. Seuss inspiration.


I hope you’ll pick up a book and read to a child and plan an activity to go along with it. It doesn’t have to be complicated. Reading is the most important part.

Here are a few of the projects I’ve created and shared on obSEUSSed. I hope you find some ideas to help you get started.

Click on a picture below for more details about the projects.