March is such a fun month around our house because both Read Across America Day and Dr. Seuss’ birthday (March 2) take place in March. As a child I grew up in a household where the love of reading (especially Dr. Seuss) was fostered, cultivated, and encouraged. I grew up watching my parent and grandparents reading in their leisure time and being encouraged to do the same. There were no limits put on my choice of books (within reason) and encouraged my voracious literature appetite. In my opinion my love of reading was one of the greatest gifts my family gave me and is a gift my husband and I are cultivating in our own children. When March rolls in like a lion we break out all the Seuss stories in our home and set off on a new discovery of Seuss and life-long love of reading.
With such an abundance of Seuss (and Seuss-inspired) stories out there, we never run out of new stories to share. A few of our favorites include, “Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You?”, “The Foot Book”, “Green Eggs & Ham”, and my personal favorite “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!”…I never get tired of reading them. Thankfully, I can say the same of my girls. During the month of March we clean our library out of any Dr. Seuss (or similar) books we don’t already own.
In honor of Dr. Seuss’ birthday, our elementary school sponsors “Soup with Seuss”,
a chance for the students to eat dinner with various Seuss characters,
hear “The Cat & the Hat” read aloud for the by The Cat himself, and participate in various Seuss themed crafts and activities.
We also enjoy a special breakfast of green eggs and ham every year on March 2nd in celebration of Dr. Seuss’ birthday. I started doing this when my eldest daughter was 3 and it has become a staple of celebration for us. It’s always fun to see the girl’s reaction to green eggs for breakfast.
There are so many different ways to celebrate reading and Dr. Seuss’ birthday in the month of March. For more ideas on how to celebrate Dr. Seuss’ birthday with your family or students stop by these great sites:
Seuss focused family crafts on About.com.
Discover the World of Seussville.
The Dr. Seuss National Memorial offers a fantastic biography for Dr. Seuss.
Fun Dr. Seuss Lesson Plans to share with your students or children.
The important thing to remember is your children, and students, learn best when you, yourself, are enjoying what you’re teaching. Another thing to remember, your children will put the same value on ideas, experiences, people, and objects as you do. If you value and enjoy reading so, too, will your children. I’d love to hear about how you are encouraging a love for reading in your child’s, or student’s, life. Do you celebrate Dr. Seuss’ birthday in a special way? Share it with us if so!
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Amanda Henson is Parentella’s Community Manager and owner of High Impact Mom, a socially aware mom-blog.
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Tags: kid's books
[...] Dr. Seuss can foster a life long love for reading. [...]