We celebrate reading in March to commemorate Dr. Seuss's birthday. Every year we throw a party with our home school friends and others... this year you are invited to throw a party of your own! Here is how we do it:
Pick the date.
Dr. Seuss was born on March 2nd and was a great contributor to young children's success in reading. The books are fun and the illustrations are fabulous! Our party is not always on the 2nd, but is in the month of March.
Invite people EARLY.
Send out a red and white striped invitation and ask people to do and bring a couple of things:
2. Each child is required to share with the group.1. It's a potluck, so bring a Dr. Seuss inspired food (green eggs and ham always show up) or a food based on your favorite book (biscuits from Little House on the Prairie, bananas from Curious George, etc.)
- Elementary aged children tell about their favorite book.
- Middle and High School students write and tell about their favorite author.
3. Each child needs to bring "A Shelf for Myself". 4. Please bring gently used books for the Book Swap.
Before the Party
Ask parents to go through their bookshelves and donate books they no longer want. We ask around the neighborhood to gather books, too.
Set up a long table for the kids to place their "A Shelf for Myself" boxes.
Set up the dining area for the pot luck snacks.
Set up the room where all will share their favorite books.
Hide a Dr. Seuss's Grinch (or other character) in your house in plain sight... give a prize for anyone who finds it.
At the Party
Welcome everyone at the door in costume. You can have book covers hanging on the wall, a "Cat in the Hat" hat making station, name tags, "name that famous Dr. Seuss character" game, or there are tons of fun ideas to do online.
Party Itinerary
- guests arrive.
- have them put food, and "A Shelf for Myself" in the appropriate place. Invite one or 2 parents to set up the Book Swap.
- "Guess the Dr. Seuss Character" game.
- Tell them the Grinch is hiding around the house, to find him--but don't tell the others.
- Right before the presentations, hand out paper and pencils so kids can write down book titles they would like to read from the presentations and from the book shelves.
- Book Presentations.
- Invite all to have snacks and browse through the "A Shelf for Myself" area.
- Book Swap. (We have the kids line up youngest to oldest and they each get to pick 1 book the first time through. Depending on how many books you have we just have them keep going through until the books are gone. One year a friend was moving and donated seven boxes of books! Everyone went home with an armload and a BIG smile!).
This is a fun way to continue encouraging reading and we always love to throw a party! The kids can have some fun dressing up and sharing. Our kids always come home with a list of new books to read! Success!
"A Shelf For Myself" Kids love to have their "own" books. Each of the kids have their own bookshelf in their room where special books are kept. We have a family library in the school room and hallway, but the bookshelf in their room is just for them. When we have our Dr. Seuss party in March, we invite all the young kids to bring "A Shelf for Myself" made from a paper box. Simply take a box and cut off all but one flap. Tip it over and you have a shelf! (The extra flap is a cover for the box when it is time to transport.) We encourage all the kids to decorate their shelf with paper then choose some of their favorite books to put on their shelf. It is fun to see which titles they choose--which books have made a difference to them!