Very Hungry Caterpillar Hat

March is Reading Month, so Logan's preschool class did an author study on Eric Carle. Yesterday, he came home with this cute Very Hungry Caterpillar hat to share with his sister. It's a quick and easy craft to do with little ones.

{Celebrate Reading Month with this Fun Hat!}

Materials:

• construction paper (red, yellow, green, black)
• scissors
• paper trimmer (optional)
• glue stick
• stapler

Directions:

1. Cut two strips of red paper about 3-4 inches wide. Staple one piece to the other, end to end. Wrap the extra long strip around your child's head for size, and then cut off the excess. Tip: A paper trimmer is nice for this, but scissors will work, too.
2. Cut two yellow circles for eyes. Ours are about 2 1/2" wide. Cut two green circles, slightly smaller (Ours are about 1 1/2" wide), and have your child glue them to the yellow circles. Glue the eyes to the center of the red paper strip. Note: Circles do NOT need to be perfect!
3. Cut two narrow strips of black paper, about 1" wide, for antennae. Tip: Again, a paper trimmer is helpful, but you can use scissors if you don't have one. Staple these to the red paper strip, on either side of the eyes.
4. Staple the ends of the red paper together to finish the caterpillar hat, which your child can now wear!

Story Time

The recent finale of summer Story Time at our local library had me reflecting on the reading that I have done lately. Mia logged something around 26 books for that final week (and that is just the titles that I recorded-- not counting 2nd, 3rd, and umpteenth readings of any given book). I am glad that she loves to read, but I do get tired of reading the same books repeatedly. This is why I made her get in line with me to get the free book that Ms. Irene was giving the kids at the end of Story Time. Mia has been oddly shy around Ms. Irene this summer, and has refused to go get her rewards each week. I have stood by and watched her do this even though it frustrated me a bit, but I was not passing up something NEW to read! (Plus, she was giving out Dora coloring books, and I knew that Mia had to have that even if she claimed she didn't like Dora. Obviously, this is not true, and she asked for it later that day.)

I am sad to say that I don't remember the last book I read for myself. I know it was at some point when Logan was still unaware that books existed he would let me read while nursing. Now, he tears the pages and eats them. (In case you are wondering, I am still able to frequently use my computer while he nurses.) Sometimes, I miss those days of reading whatever I wanted. Both my mom and my sister-in-law have loaned me books and I wonder if I will ever get around to reading them. And I love reading. I just find that there are so many things that need to be done that at the end of the day, when I have a few moments to myself, I would rather do something else (like vegetate in front of the TV). On the other hand, it would be nice to read something that doesn't rhyme.