Turtle snacks, turtle art, a visiting turtle, and fun with Dr. Seuss are all part of the Yertle the Turtle Nature Book Club this month.
Turtle snacks, turtle art, a visiting turtle, and fun with Dr. Seuss are all part of #YertleTheTurtle #NatureBookClub this month. #ihsnet #onlinebookclub #naturebookclub
Turtles Everywhere!
Our neighbors have a pond. It's lovely and we like to hang out there on nice days. Lately, we've had some visitors from the pond. This little guy showed up just in time to inspire a nature book club!
We like him much better than the other visitor last week. My kids laughed hysterically when I went into Ninja-Mode to keep from scaring the visiting skunk. But, I have no intention of bathing in tomato juice anytime in the near future!
Yertle the Turtle Nature Book Club Discussion
This month our book club was on the book, Yertle the Turtle by Dr. Seuss. Just like all of Dr. Seuss' books, this book has a great moral. Yertle the Turtle quite literally stands on the backs of his fellow turtles to make himself a greater turtle, at least in his own eyes. Of course it all falls apart when the turtle at the bottom of the turtle ladder has had enough.
An interesting side note, Yertle's turtle friends were first drawn during World War II as a political cartoon. Geisel was frustrated by labor disputes that were slowing down war production and used his turtles to send a message. Later, he wrote the famous, Yertle the Turtle book.
Yertle the Turtle Nature Book Club Snacks
Turtle Snacks are so fun to make AND to eat. Here are some great ideas to get your inspiration flowing:
Yertle the Turtle Nature Book Club Activities
I absolutely love combining subjects, so why not combine Nature Study and Art this month? We went to our go-to-art-resource, Chalk Pastel for a great series on pond art.
We started by drawing Yertle's pond. Nana from Chalk Pastel shows you how to draw a pond with chalk pastels in the video below. Just scroll down to near the bottom of the page for the video.
You will need:
- Chalk pastels in dark brown, medium brown, orange, yellow, dark purple, medium purple, dark green, medium green, light green, white, light blue, dark blue
- Construction paper in light blue
Pond Nature Video Art Lessons - You ARE an ARTiST!
Not only will you grow to love the nature you see after a visit to a pond, you will learn to paint nature too because you ARE an artist! We show you how in our Pond Nature Video Art Lessons.
Next we drew one of Yertle's cousins! You can find the video for this when you purchase the Pond Nature Video Lessons above or you can join the You Are An Artist membership. I've found this to be much better for us since we use so many of the art products.
We love Nana's tutorials and always enjoy painting with her instruction.
Yertle the Turtle Online Nature Book Club
Go on a nature trek with us based on the book, Yertle the Turtle. During this online book club, we will go on rabbit trails of discovery about the turtles; what they eat, where they live, and more. We will find ways to learn by experiencing parts of the book through arts and crafts.
We will add a little nature study magic dust and go on outdoor adventures into nature.
At the conclusion of the story, we will have a "party school" celebrating Yertle's turtle friends.
Take a Sneak Peek into our Yertle the Turtle Online Nature Book Club:
Yertle the Turtle Online Book Club ~ A Nature Book Club
Adding adventure to the picture book, Yertle the Turtle
Now for the awesome Nature Book Club!
The Nature Book Club is a monthly link-up beginning on the 20th day of each month. It’s a monthly book club devoted to connecting children to nature through books. Each month has a different theme. We welcome your nature book and activity related links!
This Month's Nature Book Club theme:
Beach, Sand and Shells
The Nature Book Club is brought to you by these 2 nature loving bloggers and myself who are your co-hosts! Are you following them? If you don’t want to miss anything, be sure to follow each one.
Here are the co-hosts, their choices of books, and activities for the month:
Frog Life Cycle Drawing and Frog Puppets from Thaleia at Something 2 Offer
Sea Turtle Sun Catcher Craft from Emily at Table Life Blog
Hi, I’m Dachelle. I’m a homeschooling mom of 3 in the South. I love chocolate and have been known to hide it from my children. I can often be found reading a good book (or even sometimes just an okay book) and enjoying a jar of Nutella — don’t judge. I blog, here, at HideTheChocolate.com when I’m not creating book clubs and making lists…lots and lots of lists (it’s an addiction). Learn more…
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