*Read to the children in your life every day. You are giving them a gift that will last a lifetime!
The Day the Crayons Quit By: Drew Daywalt Illustrated by: Oliver Jeffers
Ages: Preschool through Second Grade
In our story, Duncan opens his crayon box and finds a stack of letters instead of crayons. The crayons have many concerns and Duncan will need to find a solution to get them back on the job. This absolutely delightful book not only helps children with color and color word recognition, but is great for beginning letter writing. This is a very funny book and children will be able to relate to the story line.
Tips for Reading:
- Before reading the book, ask the child what his favorite color is and why.
- To help develop the child’s comprehension of this story, ask the following questions:
- After reading the story, pick one of the colors and ask the child to tell you why that crayon was unhappy.
- Ask the child to tell you why the yellow and orange crayons were not speaking to each other.
- Ask the child to tell you which crayon was happy. If he/she doesn’t remember, look back through the pages and find the answer.
- Ask the child to tell you how Duncan solved the problems that the crayons were having.
- Help the child write a quick note to a friend or family member.
Additional Books:
- The Crayon Box That Talked By: Shane DeRolf Illustrated by: Michael LetzigBy
- My Crayons Talk By: Patricia Hubbard Illustrated by: G. Brian Karas
- How the Crayons Saved the Rainbow By: Monica Sweeney Illustrated by: Feronia Parker Thomas
- The Day the Crayons Came Home By: Drew Daywalt Illustrated by: Oliver Jeffers
- The Crayons’ Book of Colors By: Drew Daywalt Illustrated by: Oliver Jeffers
- The Crayons’ Book of Numbers By: Drew Daywalt Illustrated by: Oliver Jeffers
Cooking Time:
Colorful Fruit Salad
The fruit in this salad makes it very colorful like the crayons and the extra ingredients add a little sweetness. This is an easy recipe to make and great to double for a larger group. Children can help by adding the ingredients, stirring and kitchen clean-up.
1 can pineapple chunks (keep juice)
1 can mandarin oranges (drained)
1 package instant vanilla pudding (3.2 ounce)
2 tablespoons Tang
1 cup sliced strawberries
1 cup blueberries
2 bananas, sliced
- In a medium bowl, thoroughly mix the pineapple juice, Tang and pudding mix.
- Add the fruit. (If making ahead of time, add the bananas right before serving.)
- Mix until all of the fruit is covered with pudding mixture.
Makes 6 servings.
Colorful Cake Pops
These cake pops are very colorful and fun to make with children. They would be a hit at a birthday party or a special occasion. Children can help by crumbling the cake, helping to roll the cake into balls, adding sprinkles and kitchen clean-up.
1 box cake mix (Choose your favorite flavor. We used Pillsbury’s Funfetti mix with sprinkles.)
1 cup prepared frosting (Choose a flavor that goes well with the cake you have chosen.)
2 cups chocolate melts, white or milk chocolate
Lollipop sticks
Sprinkles
- Prepare the cake mix as instructed on the box.
- Bake at temperature noted on box. Make sure not to overbake.
- After the cake has cooled, in a medium sized bowl, break the cake up into fine crumbs.
- Add the prepared frosting to the cake crumbs.
- Mix until the crumbs and icing hold together. Add additional icing if needed.
- Using a tablespoon, scoop a small amount of the cake mixture and press into a ball, 1 to 2 inches in diameter. (Press tightly.)
- Melt a small portion of the chocolate in the microwave.
- Dip the end of a lollipop stick into the melted chocolate.
- Insert the stick with the chocolate on the end into each ball of cake, about half way through the ball.
- Place the cake balls with the sticks inserted into the freezer for 1 hour.
- Remove the cake balls from the freezer.
- Melt the rest of the chocolate in the microwave.
- Using a teaspoon, take each cake pop and cover with the chocolate coating.
- Immediately over a separate bowl, add the sprinkles to each cake pop.
- Put each completed pop into a styrofoam block to cool.
- Display in the styrofoam block.
Makes 2 to 3 dozen depending on the size of the cake pops.
