Guilford County Schools ACES Program
Weekly Theme: The Wubbolous World of Dr. Seuss – Centers
Activities
Art Center
Cat Tail
Cut a circle out of a black piece of paper about the size of a paper plate. Staring on the outside
edge, cut one large spiral piece about 2 inches thick. Tape this 'springy' strip to the back of your
pants to be a cat tail!
Horton’s Clover
start out with a green pencil or pipe cleaner and glue a pink pom-pom to the eraser end of it.
Then glue a tiny white pom-pom onto the pink pom-pom and let it all dry. Voila, you now have a
clover just like Horton's!
If I Ran the Zoo
Using clay, make animals real and imaginary.
Dr. Seuss Quilt
Have students create quilt squares based on the characters in the books that you read.
Daisy Head Mayzie Headband
Staple a green pipe cleaner to the middle of a green sentence strip. Glue or staple a flower
colored and or decorated by the student to the top of the pipe cleaner. Adjust to fit around
student's head.
The Shape of Me Collage
Trace and cut out students from the paper. Let them go through magazines and cut out things
that they like. They can then paste them on the cut out and you have a collage of the child.
Save the Trees!
Students can design a poster to discourage the destruction of the rain forest.
Star Bellies?
Have students decorate pre-cut stars if they would like to be a Star-Bellied Sneetch today!
Horton’s Egg
Design an egg for Horton to hatch.
Board Game Center
Dr. Seuss’s ABC Board Game (Bender Burkot)
Green Eggs and Ham Board Game (Bender Burkot)
The Cat in the Hat Board Game (Bender Burkot)
ABC Bingo (for the ABC Book)
Twister (for the Foot Book)
July 2008
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Activity ideas obtained from ACES staff and public domain materials
Guilford County Schools ACES Program
Building/Manipulatives Center
Clean-Up Machine
Ask students to design a machine out of LEGO® bricks or blocks that would clean up their
rooms after a visit from the Cat in the Hat.
Star Off/Star On Machine
Design a new machine for Sylvester McBean out of LEGO® bricks or blocks that would put
stars on or take stars off the Sneetches.
CATCH Kids® Games
(K-2)-#115, #116, #118, #121
(3-5)-#123, #124, #134, #194
Computer Center/Computer Lab
One Fish, Two Fish Matching Game
http://www.seussville.com//games_hb/game_viewer.php
The Lorax Project Games
http://www.theloraxproject.com/
Seussville Playground
http://www.seussville.com//main.php?section=playground&pgarea=area1
Sylvester McBean’s Sneetch Belly Game
http://www.seussville.com//games/sneetches/game.html
Oh, The Places You’ll Go! Elephant Ball Game
http://www.seussville.com//games/eball/game.html
The Lorax Save the Trees Game
http://www.seussville.com//games/lorax/game.html
The Cat’s Concentration Game
http://www.seussville.com//games/concentration/
Horton’s Who Hunt
http://www.seussville.com//games/horton/game.html
Dramatic Play Center
Cat in the Hat Puppets (Kaplan)
Cat in the Hat Finger Puppets - (Kaplan)
July 2008
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Activity ideas obtained from ACES staff and public domain materials
Guilford County Schools ACES Program
Clean-Up
Clean-up the house after the Cat in the Hat, Thing 1 and Thing 2 have gone home!
A Diffendoofer Day Play
Hooray for Diffendoofer Day! is a rollicking, read-aloud rhyme ideally suited to dramatic choral
reading and pantomime dramatization, such as in the presentation described below.
Select students for the parts of the narrator, Miss Bonkers, Mr. Lowe, and the three cooks
McMunch. Assign other students to portray Miss Bobble, Miss Wobble, Miss Fribble, Miss
Quibble, and other non-speaking characters in the story.
Have students stand in a semicircle, with the narrator at one end and Mr. Lowe and Miss
Bonkers at the other. As the narrator reads about each character, ask the students playing that
role to step forward and perform an appropriate gesture or movement. (For example, Miss
Quibble could put her hands around her mouth megaphone-style for a silent pantomime yell.)
Introduce some choral movements for the entire cast to perform. (Examples: When Flobbertown
is described, all students can march in place drearily. During the test, all students can pretend to
be nervously reading the questions, then slowly begin to grin as they realize that they know the
answers to write down.)
Practice singing or chanting "The Diffendoofer Song." Have students throw their arms joyfully in
the air for the three final "hoorays."
Costume your cast. Ask students to bring in the brightest, craziest, funniest clothes that they
can find in their closets to wear and share with their performing classmates.
Cat in the Hat Fingerplay
One little cat on a sunny day
Put on his hat and went out to play
Two little cats when it started getting dark
Put on their hats and went to the park.
Three little cats when the sky was blue
Put on their hats and went to the zoo.
Four little cats by the kitchen door
Put on their hats and went to the store.
Five little cats on a sunny day
Put on their hats and they all ran away
Gross Motor Center
Socks on Fox
Have the players sit in a circle. Place a large pile of socks in the middle of the circle. Instruct the
players to put on as many socks on one foot as possible. The player with the most socks on his
foot wins.
There's a Wocket in My Pocket
Place about 10-15 small toys on a tray. Have all the guests look at the tray for 10 seconds then
turn around. One child (chosen by leader) will then take a toy off the tray and put it in his pocket.
Have the rest of the students look back at the tray. Whoever yells out the missing item first
scores 1 point. Play until everyone gets a chance to put a toy in his pocket.
July 2008
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Activity ideas obtained from ACES staff and public domain materials
Guilford County Schools ACES Program
Sneetch Beach Ball
Each person gets a star to wear on their bellies and every other person gets two stars. Using a
beach ball, pass the ball to someone who was different from you. One-star must pass the ball to
a two-star. If they passed to the same kind, they are out. When only one kind of star-belly is left,
declare their team the winner.
Cat Cat Hat
Have one student begin as the “Hat.” He/she walks around the circle tapping each child on the
head, saying “Cat” with each tap. When the “Hat” is ready to choose the next person to be the
Hat, he/she says “Hat” when tapping the chosen person on the head. That child must get up
and chase the “Hat” around the circle. Played just like Duck, Duck, Goose
Balancing Act Relay
This time the teams will attempt to balance items on their head like The Cat In the Hat!
Use a small pillow or beanbag for each team. When you say "Go!", the first player on each team
will place the item on their head and walk to the cone at the end and then return to their team.
Then the next player takes a turn. It's okay if the pillow falls off, just keep trying.
The Cat Says
Played just like Simon Says.
Left Foot, Right Foot
Have students stand, call out left foot – they must stand on their left foot, call out right foot o
they must switch and stand on their right foot. Call faster and mix it up and see who can keep
up.
Hop, Hop, Hop
Have students use kangaroo balls and have a hopping relay race!
Clean-up Relay
Play this fun relay race to clean up the mess before Mom gets home!
 Provide each team with one large shopping bag with handles.
 Mark a starting line on one side of the room (or yard, if playing outdoors) and place a
cone or chair at the other end, one for each team.
 Scatter items along the course from start to finish; clothes, shoes, toys etc.
 When you say "GO" the first player from each team quickly moves along their course
picking up the items and placing them in the bag as they go. When they reach the cone
they must return to their team while removing the items out of their bag along the way.
This will create the "mess" for the next player so the items should be scattered, not
placed in one pile.
The last player on each team does not make the mess again but runs back to their team with a
full bag, box or large plastic toy barrel.
KidzLit®
(K-3)-Sylvester and the Magic Pebble
(3-5)-The Bat Boy and His Violin
Listening Center
Dr Seuss Books with CDs (Kaplan)
July 2008
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Activity ideas obtained from ACES staff and public domain materials
Guilford County Schools ACES Program
Listen, Read & Rhyme with Dr. Seuss (Lakeshore)
Music Center
Dr. Seuss On the Loose (tune: Old MacDonald)
Dr. Seuss is on the loose,
And this how we know.
Cats, hats, eggs and ham,
Cats, hats, eggs and ham,
Cats, hats, eggs and ham,
We love his fun books so!
"Hooray for Diffendoofer Day!"
We love you, Diffendoofer School, we definitely do.
There surely is no other school,That's anything like you.
You're gribbulous, you're grobbulous, each day we love you more.
You are the school we treasure, and unceasingly adore.
Oh, finest school in Dinkerville. The only one as well,
We love you, Diffendoofer School, much more than we can tell.
You are so diffendooferous, It gives us joy to say,
Three cheers for Diffendoofer School, Hip, Hip HOORAY!
Reading Center
K-3
Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss
Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss
Ten Apples Up On Top by Dr. Seuss
My Many Colored Days by Dr. Seuss
3-5
How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss
The Lorax by Dr. Seuss
Thidwick the Big Hearted Moose by Dr. Seuss
And to Think I Saw It on Mulberry Street by Dr. Seuss
Riddles
What do you have when you pack Horton and a tree in a suitcase and put them in the luggage
compartment of your car?
A trunk and a trunk in a trunk in a trunk.
Why do Mr. Brown’s cows like to sing?
They like Moo-sic!
Where does one fish keep all of his money?
In the river bank!
July 2008
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Activity ideas obtained from ACES staff and public domain materials
Guilford County Schools ACES Program
What does Horton do just before he leaves for vacation?
He packs his trunk!
Why does everyone love the Cat in the Hat?
Because he’s purrrrr-fect!
Science and Nature Center
Oobleck
Materials Needed
 1 1/2 C. Corn Starch
 1 C. Water
 Food Color (optional)
Mix the ingredients and allow children to play with the mixture. When "pushed" together, the
mixture will appear dry and solid; as children let go of the mixture, it flows like a smooth liquid.
Save a Tree
After reading the Lorax, discuss the importance of trees in our environment. As a group,
students could plant a new tree and make it a group project to take care of it.
From the book, The Lorax: “Plant a new Truffula. Treat it with care. Give it clean water. And
feed it fresh air. Grow a forest. Protect it from axes that hack. Then the Lorax and all of his
friends may come back.”
JMG- Choose an activity from the Science Center
July 2008
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Activity ideas obtained from ACES staff and public domain materials