Boy oh boy… Qq is a hard one! Although there are lots of great words that start with a Qq, finding books and crafts to go along with those words isn’t as easy. After going through quarterback (last week WAS the Superbowl and being so close to Indianapolis, I thought this might be fun), quiet, quick, and quill, I FINALLY settled on quail and queen. I really did NOT want to use queen because I wanted to remain gender-neutral for all the little boys in my classes, however, I just wasn’t able to think of another fun Qq craft that I could produce in mass quantities. So queen is was!
Our Q letter craft came from a website that was recently sent to me by a coworker. I have used this site before and I just remembered that I have never credited it. To find cute animal alphabet letters, click here.
Materials: Index card with capital Q, googly eye, and crayons
Front of card
Back of card
1) Color the capital Q to look like a quail.
2) Trace the capital and lower case Qq on the back of the card.
3) Attach the googly eye!
As mentioned, the other craft this week was a queenly craft. I gave the kids pre-cut crowns and had them “bedazzle” them with jewels and sequins. For the boys, I reminded them that while only girls can be queens, kings and princes are just as royal and also have jewels on their crowns. I did, however, try to give the boys less “girly” colors, though I gave them the option of having pinks and purples if they wanted them! See the crown Sammy is wearing in our video for an example!
Have you ever looked for a picture book about quails? Chances are, you aren’t going to find one! HINT HINT… authors and publishers, GET ON THAT! In fact, I have a good friend who will be publishing a series of children's stories about zoo animals this year, perhaps I can talk her into publishing a book about a quail! Hear me Carolyn, I am going to need you to help a librarian out!
Since I was unable to find a good quail book, I settled for two books on queens. Both books are a little bit older, but fit the bill nicely. The first book, The Queen’s Feet by Sarah Ellis was a funny little story about a royal whose feet are anything but royal. The book has a great moral value in it about apologizing and trying one’s best to behave while ultimately realizing that every so often, we all need to let loose and have fun!
The other queenly book we read was called The Queen’s Holiday by Margaret Wild. With this book, the first thing I needed to explain was “holiday” in British English means vacation. This was very important to understanding the book. After that, all of the silly things the guards, the maid, the doctor, and the groom do make much more sense. This book was a good, quick read, though the kids didn’t find it nearly as funny as I did, that is, until the royal potty made an appearance. You will have to read the book to find out why in the world a royal potty would be needed!
In keeping with the theme of music last, I thought I might introduce you all to a color song that I love! I use this song for my baby class as well as my 2s and 3s sometimes. I like this song because it first give the color, then asks you to find the object with the same color. I use this song with puppets and give each kid a craft stick puppet with object on it. That way, it becomes more of a “find the color” game and less like learning.
Although Qq was a bit daunting, I think we got through it just fine! We will be taking a break from our regularly programmed schedule to celebrate… VALENTINE’S Day. I can absolutely promise you that I will not post a gooey, schmoopy, love post next week! I like Valentine’s Day as much as the next person, but as my friend at Desperately Seeking Sparkle said, “I love to love all year round, not just on February 14th.” Thanks, Emily for that great quote! I hope you tune in next week to see what fun and amazing Valentine’s creations we come up with!
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