Since Dr. Seuss’ birthday is at the beginning of the month, March is a great time to explore his books. Of course, I like reading his books any time of the year, too. Recently, my preschoolers created a super duper, oh-so-colorful Dr. Seuss craft inspired by The Lorax. Yes, the kiddos made their own Truffula trees! In fact, a group of them planned out the entire process.
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Related: Dr. Seuss Activities Perfect for a Dr. Seuss Theme
lovely and whimsical Dr. Seuss craft for preschoolers
Materials
Striped paper straws
Cotton balls
Liquid watercolors (we used Discount School Supplies, and you can find more HERE)
Hot glue gun
Planning
I need to brag about the preschoolers a little bit here. I mentioned that a group of them planned this Dr. Seuss craft, right? Well, I wasn’t exaggerating one little bit! After reading The Lorax, I made a comment that it would be fun to make our own Truffula trees. Well, about 6 or 7 of the kids jumped on that idea and ran with it!
They remembered that we’d dyed cotton balls for our Baa Baa Black Sheep name craft earlier in the year. They also remembered that we’d used striped paper straws for our Valentine’s Day straw art. Add to that the knowledge that I have a glue gun and am not afraid to use it, and our DIY Truffula trees were born!
Directions
1. Place a squirt or two of liquid watercolors into a zip-up plastic baggy. Place a few cotton balls into the baggy (but not touching the watercolors yet), and zip up the bag. Shake shake shake! If you happen to make up a silly song to sing while shaking, even better!
2. Take the cotton balls out and let them dry well.
3. Once the colorful cotton balls are dry, bring out the paper straws. Choose which straws (“Truffula tree trunks”) should go with which cotton balls (“Truffula tree tops”).
4. Attach the cotton balls to the paper straws using a hot glue gun.
I know I’m biased, but I loooooooooove how our DIY Truffula trees turned out! They’re currently on our building shelf, displayed in old baby food jars. We’ll be doing more with them this month before sending them home with the kiddos.
Would your children/students enjoy this super colorful Dr. Seuss craft? Have you made your own Truffula trees before?
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