March 7 – National Cereal Day

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There's a Lion in My Cornflakes by Michelle Robinson and Jim Field picture book review

About the Holiday

Did you know that breakfast in a bowl actually began with an experiment that went wrong? Or just maybe it was right! John Harvey Kellogg and his brother Will Keith Kellogg were experimenting with boiled wheat in 1877 when they left some out overnight. In the morning the wheat was stale. The brothers decided to roll it out instead of throwing it away, and they found that each wheat berry created a flake. Boiled corn worked the same way, and from this process the Kellogg brothers invented Corn Flakes, the first dry cereal!

Today’s holiday celebrates all the varieties of your favorite cereal—whether it’s made of corn, wheat, bran, rice, or a mixture of flakes, fruit, and nuts. So pour yourself a big bowlful and enjoy!

There’s a Lion in My Cornflakes

Written by Michelle Robinson | Illustrated by Jim Field

 

Who could resist clipping cereal box coupons to receive a free lion? Nobody, that’s who! I mean, it would be so cool, right? A lion to take on walks, ride to school, and open tin cans—awesome! So a boy and his brother, Dan, take a year’s worth of their allowance, make “a million” trips to the grocery store, and start cutting.

But all those boxes of cereal squeeze out the other food on the pantry shelves, so Mom says the boys have to eat cornflakes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner until it’s gone—and, oh yeah, they don’t get an allowance until then either. It’s all worth it, though, because they’re going to get a real live lion.

There’s just one hitch—every other kid in town has the same idea, and while the brothers wait for their lion to arrive, everyone else is out playing with their new pet. Finally, the delivery truck pulls up in front of the house, and out walks…a grizzly bear?! That’s not right, and it’s even delivered to the wrong house. Well, the bear’s not too crazy about the situation either, and shows it. The kids and the bear have to clean up the neighbor’s yard and apologize.

A letter of complaint to the cereal company brings resolution in the form of…a crocodile?! The crocodile spends all its time in the bathroom, and the grizzly bear is still causing havoc. Dad calls the cereal company and to make up their mistake they send…a gorilla?! The gorilla stomps on Dad’s car and rips the door off. Well Dad’s had enough!  The whole crew piles into the car so Dad can “give those cereal people a piece of my mind.”

The cereal people sure are sorry for the mix-up. They make amends by letting the family keep the grizzly bear, the crocodile, and the gorilla, AND the company gives them…a lifetime’s supply of cornflakes! But really, what good are all those boxes? The boys can’t walk them or ride them or even open cans with them.

You know what, though? Mom’s discovered the crocodile has some pretty sharp, can-opening chompers. The grizzly bear can walk forever and even wear a fanny pack. And the gorilla makes a very cool chauffeur. Why bother having a lion when everyone else has one?

Besides, what are the cereal people offering now—a free tiger?! Hmmm….

Michelle Robinson has taken the lure of free stuff to its ridiculous best. There’s a Lion in My Cornflakes serves up the benefits of individuality and drawbacks of consumerism in a silly, over-the-top scenario that will have kids laughing at every page and escalation of the brother’s problem.

Jim Field’s bold, vibrant illustrations are the perfect accompaniment to this boisterous tale. As the boxes of cornflakes and clipped coupons pile higher and higher and the free animals cause more mayhem, the boys’ expressions go from excited to nonplussed to shocked and finally  to acceptance as day after day brings new and unexpected results of their actions. Kids will love the funny details on every page that highlight the story.

Ages 3 – 7

Bloomsbury Children’s, 2015 | ISBN 978-0802738363

National Cereal Day Activity

CPB - Spoon Lion

Spoon Lion Puppet

 

Spoons are just the thing for eating cereal! But with this craft you can make a ROARingly cute lion puppet!

Supplies

  • Wooden mixing spoon
  • Yellow Fleece
  • Brown felt
  • Colorful Fleece or felt
  • Fabric glue
  • Light brown marker
  • Dark brown marker
  • Hot glue gun or super glue
  • Scissors

CPB - Spoon Lion with stuff

Directions

To make the lion’s face

  1. Draw a nose, mouth, and eyes on the front/bowl of the spoon

To make the mane

  1. Measure the rim of the spoon from one side of the handle to the other
  2. Cut a strip of yellow fleece as long as rim measurement and 4 inches wide
  3. Fold the piece of fleece in half long-ways
  4. Glue the open edges of the fleece together
  5. Along the folded side cut a fringe, leaving the loops intact

To make the ears

  1. Cut round ears from the brown felt

To make the bow

  1. Cut a 3-inch x 1 ½-inch piece of colorful fleece or felt
  2. Cut a long thin strip of fleece or felt
  3. Pinch the bow in the middle and tie with the longer piece of cloth. Trim as necessary

To make the tail

  1. Cut three thin 4-inch-long strips of yellow fleece
  2. With fabric glue, glue the tops of the strips together
  3. Braid the strips
  4. At the bottom, glue the strips together, leaving the ends free

To assemble the lion

  1. Glue the ears to the back of the spoon
  2. Glue the mane to the back of the spoon
  3. Glue the bow to the handle
  4. Fold the top of the tail and push it into the hole in the handle of the spoon

March 6 – Dentist’s Day

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Just Going to the Dentist by Mercer Mayer Picture Book Review

About the Holiday

Most of us visit our dentist twice a year, but amid all the whirring and brushing and spitting do we thank them for keeping our teeth healthy? March 6 is recognized world-wide as a time to remember all the things dentists do to make our teeth stronger and our smile prettier.

Just Going to the Dentist

By Mercer Mayer

 

Little Critter needs to go to the dentist even though he doesn’t think he does. In the office the nurse gives Little Critter a big smile (he thinks she’s showing off her teeth) and asks him and his mom to wait. Little Critter sees a girl with braces and thinks they’re so neat that he wants some. While he waits, he plays with the toys and reads a book.

When the nurse calls Little Critter’s name, he goes off with her somewhat bravely to a room that looks like the inside of a spaceship, with its lights, monitors, tools, and the funny dentist chair. The hygienist cleans his teeth, which leads to the best part of the visit—spitting into the sink. After Little Critter’s X-rays are taken, the dentist examines his teeth. The dentist tells him he has one cavity. Little Critter gets a shot to numb his mouth, and before he knows it the cavity is filled!

Little Critter leaves the office with a free gift and, tuckered out from his adventure. sleeps on the ride home.

Mercer Mayer’s Little Critter books are an excellent way to introduce children to the people and places that may at first seem scary or intimidating. Told from Little Critter’s point of view, this book can be comforting to children who may be wary of visiting the dentist as he voices opinions and questions that most kids probably have themselves. By giving Little Critter and his frog companion humorous comments and facial expressions, Mayer hits just the right tone.

Ages 3 – 7

Random House Books for Young Readers, New York, 2001 | ISBN 978-0307125835

Dentist’s Day Activity

CPB - Dentist's Day Word Search (2)

Smile for the Dentist Word Search

 

Dentists make our smile brighter with regular checkups and good advice. Can you find the words that help our teeth stay healthy? Have fun with this Smile for the Dentist Word Search! Solution included.

March 5 – Expanding Girls’ Horizons in Science and Engineering Day

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celebrate-picture-books-picture-book-review-look-up-henrietta-leavitt-cover

About the Holiday

March has been designated by the Expanding Your Horizons network as a time to increase awareness of and promote programs for girls and young women in the sciences and engineering fields. Giving girls interested in pursuing careers in science and engineering more access to resources and opportunities for education will benefit all.

Look Up! Henrietta Leavitt, Pioneering Woman Astronomer

Written by Robert Burleigh | Illustrated by Raúl Colón       

 

Henrietta Leavitt loves the stars. Every night she sits on the front porch and asks herself what were in the early 1900s unanswerable questions. How high was the sky? How far away are the stars? She traces the form of the Big Dipper to the North Star and feels that the stars are trying to tell her something.

celebrate-picture-books-picture-book-review-look-up-henrietta-leavitt-student

Image copyright Raúl Colón, text copyright Robert Berleigh. Courtesy of simonandschuster.com

As a young woman she takes an astronomy class—one of the few women to do so. She learns about light years, planets, and the vast distances that fascinate her. After graduation she takes a job at an observatory, and while it houses a large telescope to study the sky, Henrietta is not allowed to use it. She and the other woman who work at the observatory are only there to record, measure, and calculate data, not to have new ideas.

celebrate-picture-books-picture-book-review-look-up-henrietta-leavitt-studies-star-map

Image copyright Raúl Colón, courtesy of Simon & Schuster

But in doing her job, Henrietta begins to notice a pattern in the brightness of certain stars. She discovers new “blinking” stars. Taking careful measurements, Henrietta finds that a star with a slower “blink” time—the time it takes for a star to go from dim to bright, or from off to on—contains more light power than stars with faster blink times. But what does this mean? After more study she realizes that the blink time can determine the true brightness of any blinking star, even those far, far away.

celebrate-picture-books-picture-book-review-look-up-henrietta-leavitt-makes-notes

Image copyright Raúl Colón, courtesy of Simon & Schuster

Henrietta has made a breakthrough in astronomy! By knowing the true brightness of a star, astronomers can figure out the star’s distance from Earth. Henrietta publishes her star chart in a magazine, and it helps other astronomers measure first the Milky Way and then galaxies they didn’t even know existed! Henrietta is an astronomer–one who advances her beloved science! Even as she grows older Henrietta continues to look to the sky, to ask questions and dream.

More information about Henrietta Leavitt and her discoveries, Internet and print resources on astronomy and other women astronomers, a glossary, and more are provided on the final pages.

celebrate-picture-books-picture-book-review-look-up-henrietta-leavitt-sees-stars-in-sleep

Instead of first presenting Henrietta Leavitt as an adult already working as an astronomer, Robert Burleigh chooses to introduce her as a child, when all she had were questions and dreams about the sky and the stars. It’s a fitting emphasis for a picture book aimed at children who themselves are only just discovering the questions that will guide their lives.  Burleigh’s style is simple and straightforward, revealing pertinent facts about the working conditions of a woman scientist in the early 1900s, but emphasizing Henrietta’s internal contemplations that led to her important discoveries. It’s good for children to see that one does not always need to be the “astronaut” rocketing to the Space Station; the life of the mind is just as noble and needed a pursuit.

Raúl Colón’s watercolor and ink illustrations echo the theme of dreams and contemplation with soft muted colors and antique, sepia tones. Brightness on the pages comes from the points of light that fill the skies and Henrietta’s mind. As a child and young woman, Henrietta sits and stands in the glow of the stars and, one imagines, her own thoughts.

Ages 4 – 8

Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books | ISBN 978-1416958192

Expanding Girls’ Horizons in Science and Engineering Day Activity

CPB - Star Coloring Page

Be the Star You Want to Be Coloring Page

 

Everyone has “stars in their eyes”—dreams and hopes for what they will accomplish in life. Decorate this printable Be the Star You Want to Be coloring page to show what’s in your imagination and in your heart.

March 4 – It’s Umbrella Month

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celebrate-picture-books-picture-book-review-the-umbrella-queen-cover

About the Holiday

Today I am celebrating a month-long holiday. As spring returns with its rainy weather, walkers everywhere appreciate the protection umbrellas give. The need for umbrellas has been recognized since earliest days, when palmetto fronds were used by ancient civilizations. The Chinese were the first to create waterproof umbrellas by waxing or lacquering their paper parasols. Parasols were a woman’s accessory until Jonas Hanway, a Persian travel writer, used one in public in England in the 1700s. English men took up the practice, calling their version a “Hanway.” The first collapsible umbrella was designed in 1710, and in 1928 the folding pocket umbrella appeared. Since then, umbrellas have become fashionable and necessary accessories

The Umbrella Queen

Written by Shirin Yim Bridges | Illustrated by Taeeun Yoo

The residents of a small village in Thailand are well known for the beautiful paper umbrellas they make and sell in the local shops. The umbrellas are colorful, but always decorated with flowers and butterflies. Every New Year’s Day the villagers hold an Umbrella Parade, and the woman who has painted the most beautiful umbrella is chosen as the Umbrella Queen.

Noot is a little girl who longs to paint her own umbrellas and partake in the parade. One day her mother gives her an umbrella to paint and shows her how to copy her design. Noot is a natural artist, and her finished umbrella is nearly indistinguishable from her mother’s. She is given her own painting spot in the garden and five umbrellas to decorate.

celebrate-picture-books-picture-book-review-the-umbrella-queen-village

Image copyright Taeeun Yoo, courtesy of taeeunyoo.com

Noot paints the familiar butterflies and is about to start on the flowers when she is inspired to draw elephants instead. She covers all five umbrellas with elephants doing handstands, playing and squirting water, walking trunk-to-tail, and just being silly. When her mother sees these umbrellas, she is unhappy. Flowers and butterflies sell in the local shops, not elephants. Noot understands the importance of the money made from the umbrellas to her family. For the next year she paints the large umbrellas with the traditional design. At night, however, using bits and pieces, she fashions tiny umbrellas. These she paints with elephants, and displays them on her windowsill.

celebrate-picture-books-picture-book-review-the-umbrella-queen-emperor-visits

Image copyright Taeeun Yoo, courtesy of taeeunyoo.com

As New Year approaches there is much excitement in the village. It is rumored that the king will be visiting and will choose the Umbrella Queen himself. One day the villagers receive the message that the king will indeed arrive. The villagers spruce up their town and each woman displays her umbrellas in front of her home.

The king walks the length of the street, considering each umbrella until he comes to Noot’s house. He is very impressed with the umbrellas painted by Noot’s mother, but his gaze wanders to Noot’s windowsill, and he asks who painted the “strange” umbrellas.

celebrate-picture-books-picture-book-review-the-umbrella-queen-emperor-judges-umbrellas

Image copyright Taeeun Yoo, courtesy of taeeunyoo.com

A bit embarrassed by the attention, Noot shyly answers the king’s questions about the size of the small umbrellas and the unusual designs. In trying to explain herself, she forgets to look at the ground when talking to the king, and when her eyes meet his she realizes that, instead of judging her, he is charmed. “I like elephants,” she tells him, and he laughs.

The king takes Noot’s hand and names her the Umbrella Queen because “she paints from her heart.”

Shirin Yim Bridges has written a unique story that presents the often conflicting dilemma of responsibility to others while staying true to yourself effectively and engagingly. Noot’s journey from an observer in her family’s business to a valued artist is told straightforwardly and the familial love and support are clearly emphasized. The king’s recognition of Noot’s talent and heart will be highly satisfying for young readers or listeners.

Taeeun Yoo’s delicate illustrations in gold, red, black, and green set the story firmly in Thailand and perfectly demonstrate the close-knit village and relationships as well as the intricate beauty of the umbrellas and the pride the villagers take in them.

The Umbrella Queen is a wonderful story about family, discovering your talents, and self-expression that would find a welcome spot on any child’s bookshelf.

Ages 4 – 8

Greenwillow Books, Harper Collins, New York, 2008 | ISBN 978-0060750404

Learn more about Taeeun Yoo, her books, and her art on her website!

Umbrella Month Activity

CPB - Umbrella Matching Game

Rainy Day Mix Up Matching Game

A sudden storm scattered all the umbrellas and raincoats! Can you put the pairs together again? Draw a line to connect the umbrella and the raincoat that have the same pattern. Print the Rainy Day Mix Up Game here!

 

 

March 3 -World Wildlife Day

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Actual Size by Steve Jenkins Picture Book Review

About the Holiday  

Sponsored by the United Nations, World Wildlife Day celebrates the many varieties of wild animals and plants that make up our earth. It is also a day to raise awareness of the ways in which conservation of natural resources and sustainable development benefits people and all the world’s species. The theme this year is “The future of wildlife is in our hands.” African and Asian elephants are the main focus of the 2016 global campaigns.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says: “On this World Wildlife Day, I call on all citizens, businesses and governments to play their part in protecting the world’s wild animals and plants.  The actions taken by each of us will determine the fate of the world’s wildlife.  The future of wildlife is in our hands!”

For more information on World Wildlife Day 2016 and to see what events are taking place in cities around the world visit wildlifeday.org

Actual Size

By Steve Jenkins

 

We know wildlife is all around us, but apart from our pets and the occasional mosquito we swat or bumble bee we avoid, we tend to see it from a distance. We watch birds flutter at feeders through a window, we see exotic animals at the zoo, aquarium, or wildlife parks, and point out cows and horses while driving. If asked how big the chickadee or elephant is, we’d say small and huge! But how small? How huge?

What makes Steve Jenkins’ book Actual Size so fascinating is that he shows readers on the page exactly how big or how tiny with scale drawings of each creature. The Atlas Moth on page 1 is so large part of one wing dips into page 2, where you hardly notice the dwarf goby—at a minuscule 1/3 inch long—in the bottom corner. As you turn the page you almost catch your breath to find the enormous 12-inch-wide eye of a giant squid staring back at you.

An ostrich with its egg and the whip-like tongue of the giant anteater are also here. And if you’re at all squeamish about spiders, you might want to avoid pages 12 and 13! The snout of the saltwater crocodile and the Goliath frog are both so long that they require a fold-out page! Kids will love putting their tiny hand against the gorilla’s and their foot on the African elephant’s.

Actual Size features 18 of the world’s well-known and unusual creatures, each described in more detail, including weight, habitat, diet, behavior, defenses, and more, at the end of the book.

Steve Jenkins’ striking collages, created from cut and torn paper, beckon readers to look closer at these awesome creatures.

Ages 4 – 9

Houghton Mifflin Books, 2004 | ISBN 978-0547512914

World Wildlife Day Activity

CPB - Wildlife Day Elephant Print (2)

Hands Down Best Elephant Print

 

A way to make the cutest elephant print ever is right in your hands! With a little paint and paper, you can create a wildlife print that’s as unique as you are. This is a fun activity to do with a child and parent or two siblings. Working with different size hands can make your print more interesting.

Supplies

  • Paper, any color
  • Paint, any color you would like your elephants to be
  • Paint brush
  • Black marker

Directions

In this print your palm creates the body of the elephant, your four fingers create the legs, and your thumb becomes the trunk.

1. Make the right-facing elephant:

  • Paint your left hand. Make sure to fill in all the creases on your palm and fingers.
  • Press your hand onto the left side of the piece of paper

 2. Make the left-facing elephant:

  • Paint your right hand. Make sure to fill in all the creases on your palm and fingers.
  • Place your hand on the right side of the paper so that your thumb touches the end of the thumb on the left hand print. Press your hand onto the right side of the piece of paper

3. You can fill in any thin or open spaces with the paintbrush if you like

4. Let the handprints dry

5. Turn the page so that the four fingers that create the legs of the elephant are facing down.

6. Draw a dot for an eye at the base of the thumb, an ear in the palm, and a tail at the back of the hand.

7.  To make the sun, dip your thumb in yellow paint and press it into the corner of the paper. Make little rays with the edge of the paintbrush.

8. Hang your print with or without a frame.

March 2 – Dr. Seuss’s Birthday | Read Across America Day

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The Sneetches and Other Stories Picture Book Review

About the Holiday

Read Across America was designed by the National Education Association as a day to raise awareness of the importance of reading and to motivate people to read more. What better day could they have chosen to celebrate the joys books can bring than March 2—Theodor Seuss Geisel’s birthday! With 46 children’s books to his name, Dr. Seuss is one of the world’s most beloved authors, and one whose imagination has entertained generations of readers.

For more information on the Read Across America program visit www.nea.org/grants/read-across-background.html

The Sneetches and Other Stories

By Dr. Seuss

 

If you love reading chances are Dr. Seuss has something to do with it! He wrote so many stories that there are fantastic and fantastical creations to fit everyone’s fancy! Today I’m reviewing my favorite collection of Dr. Seuss tales—I hope you’ll like it too!

The four stories in this collection touch on such topics as individualism, prejudice, stubbornness, fear, and just the ridiculous. Perhaps the best-known tale is The Sneetches, in which a community of Sneetches, some of whom sport stars on their bellies and some who do not, fall prey to a slick salesman and his star-on and star-off machines. The Sneetches run themselves ragged trying to be popular and keep up with the fad of the moment. In the end, Sylvester McMonkey McBean has made monkeys of them all and drives away with a smile and all their cash. He thinks they’ll never learn, but he’s wrong—the Sneetches are actually richer for McBean’s visit and become a closer-knit community.

In The Zax, a North-going Zax and a South-going Zax are strolling along on their individual tracks when they meet face to face in the middle of nowhere. Neither one will move the slightest inch to the left or the right to let the other pass. They stand “toe-to-toe” in unbreakable stalemate, even if it means the whole world must halt along with them. “Of course the world didn’t stand still,” Dr. Seuss tells us. The middle of nowhere became somewhere. Buildings went up, people moved in, and a highway was built right over the Zax, who are probably standing there still.

Ah, the poor mother in Too Many Daves! If only she’d had a little more imagination and forethought in the name department she may have saved herself a lot of trouble. One after one, however, she named her sons Dave—all 23 of them! Too late she thinks of all the other names she could have used, and here is presented a list of names that far outshines any baby naming book on the market. Be ready for giggles when you get to “Stinky.”

My very favorite story is What Was I Scared Of?. It has just the right combination of spookiness and humor to satisfy any budding mystery buff. One night while picking berries the hero of the story spies a “pair of pale green pants with nobody inside them.” The pants begin to show up in the oddest of places, no matter how hard the storyteller tries to escape them. The pants are rowing on the river, riding a bicycle, and walking the same path. When the pants and the narrator peek around the same bush, however, they’re both in for a surprise. “Why, the pants were just as scared as I,” the narrator reveals. Instead of gloating or running away, our intrepid hero learns that feelings are often shared and he becomes a friend to the pants that once so frightened him.

Of course these stories are all told with Dr. Seuss’s inimitable word choice, rhymes, names, and rhythm accompanied by his whimsical characters and landscapes.

Ages 4 – 9

Random House, New York, 1961 | ISBN 978-0394800899

Dr. Seuss’s Birthday/Read Across America Day Activity

CPB - Reading Bug Book Plate (2)

I Have the Reading Bug Bookplate

 

There’s no better feeling than leafing through the pages of your own book! Now, to keep precious books from getting lost, you can dress them up with this printable I Have the Reading Bug Bookplate!

Supplies

Directions

  1. Print the I Have the Reading Bug Bookplate
  2. Cut out the bookplate
  3. Write your name on the line at the top
  4. Using glue dots or removable mounting squares attach the bookplate to the inside front or back cover

March 1 – National Pig Day

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The Three Ninja Pigs Picture Book Review

About the Holiday

Pigs inspire us! Whether we see them on a farm, have them as pets, or enjoy them as part of our entertainment—who can forget Wilbur or Babe or even the little piggie who went wee, wee, wee, all the way home, after all?—pigs are part of our lives almost from the time we are born. How did they reach this lofty state? By being smart! Pigs are one of the most intellectual animals, capable of high-level learning. In 1972 sisters Ellen Stanley and Mary Lynne Rave decided pigs needed more acclaim, and so National Pig Day was established. On this day pigs are celebrated with special events, parades, and parties at zoos, farms, and schools.

The Three Ninja Pigs

Written by Corey Rosen Schwartz | Illustrated by Dan Santat

 

The Big Bad Wolf has never encountered Three Little Pigs like these! When the sibling trio (two brothers and a sister) in this fractured fairy tale have had enough of the wolf’s bullying they take matters into their own trotters. Enrolling at the new Ninja school, Pig One begins to learn aikido, but with a “straw-house” attitude, he drops out before he acquires any useful skills. Pig Two has little more “stick”-to-itiveness with his Jujitsu training and quickly says “Sayonara” to his teacher. Thankfully, Pig Three has the steadfastness of a brick. She earns her black belt in Karate and is ready to rumble.

When the wolf comes huffing and puffing to the doors of Pig One and Pig Two, things go…well…you know…. The wolf chases the two brothers to their sister’s house, where this “certified weapon” stands prepared. She demonstrates her kicks and flips, which don’t scare the wolf. When he witnesses her mighty ability to split bricks with one chop, however, the wolf scrams.

How do these intrepid pigs top that? The brothers learn their lesson and—finally—their ninja moves. After graduation this fearless family makes sure that wolf will never return by opening a dojo of their own!

Corey Rosen Schwartz has created a rowdy, rambunctious triple-pig threat in this uproarious rendering of the three little pigs tale. With perfect rhythmic limericks that are a joy to read aloud, Schwartz cleverly uses puns, funny dialogue, and one feisty piglet to chop the wolf down to size. Dan Santat’s illustrations are full of angst, action, and attitude. Legs kick, hands chop, boards and bamboo fly as the three pigs and their nemesis wolf nearly leap from the page in their battle.

Ages 4 – 8

G. P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers, 2012 | ISBN978-0399255144

National Pig Day Activity

CPB - Pig Day pigs

Roly-Poly Pig and Piglets

 

Who doesn’t love hamming it up with a piglet? But let’s face it, having your own real pig just isn’t practical for everyone. Here’s a little piggie that you can make to keep you company on your desk or near your bed or anywhere it’s fun to play!

Supplies

  • Printable Pigs Ears Pattern
  • 2 ½-inch wooden spoon, available from craft stores
  • 1-inch wooden spool, available from craft stores
  • Pink yarn, I used a wide-strand yarn
  • Pink fleece or felt
  • Pink craft paint
  • Pink 5/8-inch or 1-inch flat button with two holes
  • Pink 3/8-inch flat button with two holes
  • Paint brush
  • Scissors
  • Glue
  • Black marker

CPB - Pig Day with spools (2)

Directions

  1. Print the Pigs Ears pattern
  2. Trace the ears onto the fleece or felt and cut them out.
  3. Paint the spool with the pink paint
  4. Let spool dry
  5. When the spool is dry, glue the ears to the spool, letting the ears stick up over the rim of the spool.
  6. Wrap yarn in straight layers around spool until the body of the pig is a little bigger than the end of the spool, which will be the face
  7. Cut yarn off skein and glue the end to the body
  8. To make the nose, glue the button over the hole in the middle of the spool
  9. Mark the eyes and mouth with a marker
  10. To make the tail for the large pig, cut a 4-inch long piece of yarn. Tie a triple knot in the yarn (or a knot big enough to fill the hole in the spool). Then tie a single knot below the first knot. Insert the large knot into the spool’s hole at the back of the pig. Trim the yarn in front of the second knot as needed.
  11. To make the tail for the piglets, tie a single knot in the yarn and another single know below the first. Insert one of the single knots into the hole. Trim yarn as needed.