Virtual Book Club: Lois Ehlert

It’s time for the Virtual Book Club again. And this month, we are featuring Caldecott award-winning author/illustrator Lois Ehlert. Ehlert’s distinctive collage illustrations inspire the imagination by transforming everyday objects into works of art. In honor of Ehlert’s illustrations, I brought Ehlert’s picture book Snowballs to life for my kids with a special Make-a-Snowman Dinner.

In the picture book Snowballs, the birds have a secret stash of “good stuff in a sack” for the first “perfect snowball day”.  Those perfect snowballs make a perfect snowman family decorated with all sorts of fun objects such as raisins, popcorn, nuts, bolts, and bottle caps. And when the sun comes out, the snow family gets a little drippy and slowly melts away.

I have so many ideas for fun projects to go along with Snowballs, but I decided to start with surprising my kids with making some fun snowman faces on a long Friday when my husband had to work late. In other words, this activity is EASY, takes LITTLE SET-UP, and is great for CRANKY, HUNGRY KIDS.

I rummaged through our pantry and fridge and pulled out small, healthy foods to decorate our snowmen faces with. I chose: Dried Cranberries and Raisins, Cheerios, Green Pepper slices, Almonds, Cheddar Cheese slices, and Bananas. Other great foods would be any type of fresh veggies or fruits, cooked beans, popcorn, nuts, and edible seeds. My toddler is still too young to eat some of these foods, but I just cut smaller pieces for her of the foods that she could eat.

I thought for a moment about tracing circle on a piece of paper for the snowman heads, but then I realized that white paper plates are perfect snowman heads.

And, we made snowman faces. Well, actually we didn’t. I mean I did, but my baby was too little and my preschooler balked at the idea of making a face since it was “too hard”. But, my preschooler did enjoy making cheese/almond structures, and everyone ate lots of food with little complaint. I think my kids were just a little bit small for the activity. Next time, I plan to simplify this activity by “drawing” a face on their plate with peanut butter or cream cheese and letting them stick the food to it.

Unplanned preschooler adaption of my Snowballs’ activity.

And really, the whole point of the activity is to make a small, magical moment for my children by bringing a book to life, not to convince them to make Pinterest worthy snowman faces. From that viewpoint, even a cheese, almond sculpture is a success!

 

Now, you can link-up any of your original activities and crafts inspired by Lois Ehlert’s books. Not only will your post appear here but also on each of these fabulous blogs:

Thanks for stopping by today. I know that I enjoyed reading Lois Ehlert’s books, and I’m looking forward to reading all of your awesome activities.

Bethany

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