Virtual Book Club: The Very Quiet Cricket

We are participating in this month's Virtual Book Club hosted by Toddler Approved and The Educator's Spin On It. This month's story is The Very Quiet Cricket by Eric Carle. We love Eric Carle books at our house, but this is one that we actually hadn't read yet. We picked up a copy from our local library. We got really lucky because the copy that we read made a little chirping noise on the last page of the book. Zel was very intrigued by this. He said, "what's that?" every time he heard it and looked all around for the source of the noise. After reading it several times and watching it online too, I came up with a fun craft idea based on the story: cricket wings! I also decided to spend the entire week talking about bugs with Zel. So check back all week for more bug themed posts!

To make our bug wings, I used a cardboard box and cut out two wings using a box cutter. I kept a cardboard rectangle connected between them to hold it up better. I then painted a coat of black tempera over the printed side of the box.

 After it dried I set out green, blue, black, and white tempera for Zel to use. Zel liked to pat the brush all over the wings. Then when he accidentally got paint on himself, he began to paint his body on purpose. It started with feet, then he had a blast painting his diaper. He then dropped the paintbrush and tried finger painting the wings and then his body. We had a very colorful bath right after this project too!

 I added a ribbon to hold up the wings, but Zel liked holding it with his hands better.   

Check out all of the Book Club projects and add your own!