We are reading A Loud Winter’s Nap and doing a tortoise craft and activities to go along with the book. It’s so fun! Join in on the fun too!
We have been learning the letter W this week for preschool at home.
One of our favorite things to do when learning a new letter is to gather books that have the letter. Then, we find the letter on the cover and in the pages while we read.
It’s like a game for my son. Plus, he is introduced to new literature. Yay!
If you haven’t noticed yet (tehe), my friend Beth (from Days with Grey) and I have been teaming up each month to provide a book and a craft/activity that you can do with your kiddos to help prepare them for story retelling.
They absolutely don’t have to master the skill now. But, introducing them to the idea is a great way for them to have a great kindergarten year.
You can see a couple of our past Book Box Story Retells here: Room on The Broom, Dragons Love Tacos, The Watermelon Seed.
So, I was really happy when this month’s book box, A Loud Winter’s Nap (aff), had the letter W in it. It goes perfectly for our W week (W is for Winter)! Yippee!
I thought an egg carton tortoise and craft stick sled would be the perfect craft for this book. So, that is what we made!
A Loud Winter’s Nap Tortoise Craft – Materials
- egg carton
- scissors
- paint brush
- green paint
- green cardstock
- wiggly eyes
- tape
- 4 jumbo craft sticks
- brown paint
- hot glue and gun
A Loud Winter’s Nap Tortoise Craft – Instructions
Step One. Cut one egg holder out of the egg carton.
Step Two. Set up your kiddo’s workstation with a paint brush, green paint and egg holder. Have your kiddo paint it green. Let it dry.
Step Three. Cut a tortoise head shape and 4 legs out of the green cardstock. Fold the edges. And have your kiddo tape them to the inside of the egg holder.
Step Four. Tape on the wiggly eyes on the tortoise’s head or use a glue stick to put them on.
Step Five. Cut the edges off of one jumbo craft stick (about two inches long) and hot glue them onto three sticks to resemble a sled.
Step Six. Have your kiddos paint the sled brown. Let it dry.
Step Seven. Hot glue the tortoise to the sled.
We had fun sliding the craft down our plastic slide outside. It acted as the snowy hill in the story.
A Loud Winter’s Nap – Other Activities We Did
My blogger friend Allison from Yoga Pants and Pearls, posted the most fun ice skating activity on her Instagram the other day. We just had to do it too; since, Tortoise ends up ice skating with his friends.
I froze water in a cake pan overnight. The next day, I gathered a toy turtle and some of his friends. Which of course, he is friends with Captain America and Iron Man. LOL. Then, we had fun sliding the toys across the ice and spinning them around. Here is my son playing with the ice skating rink:
My son, somehow, picked up the word Exoskeleton. From where? Probably a cartoon. He asked about it yesterday. So, I explained that a tortoise’s shell is an exoskeleton. His skeleton is on the outside. But, he also has an Endoskeleton – a skeleton on the inside. We looked up other animals and bugs that have exoskeletons. It was pretty neat that we got to incorporate some science with this book.
If you are feeling extra science-y, you can explain how water freezes too. And what hibernation is.
A Loud Winter’s Nap – More Book Box Fun
My friend Beth from Days with Grey did an activity that helps retell the story when you reread it with your child using blocks and pictures.
Michele from Busy Hands and Minds did an indoor ice skating activity to help teach sight words. It looks so fun!
Tag us in a pic on Instagram when you try out the fun activities! @themamaworkshop, @dayswithgrey, and @michele_dillon
Are we connected on Pinterest? Let’s connect and be pinning buddies @themamaworkshop
Leave a Reply