Hey Forest Friends Fam,

Building off of last week’s activity of acting out the story, I decided to do something pretty silly and dress up as a character in a book. I decided to dress up as Pete the Cat and read Pete the Cat! Here’s the video
Before showing this to your children, I just wanted to acknowledge that this video may be scary for some kids! My face is painted blue, which may make watching this video feel like interacting with a clown for some. If you’re concerned, I’d suggest watching it first. Some kids may find this funny and silly, and that’s ok, and it’s also ok if your child doesn’t like it!
Dealing with fear feelings: Give them lots of hugs, turn the video off, acknowledge their fear without trying to talk them out of being afraid, sing a couple calming songs, and assure them that everything is ok.
 
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Today’s activities:
 
Dress-up – Dress up doesn’t have to be complicated! Often, one prop is all that’s needed to create a costume. This could just be cat ears for Pete the Cat, a tie to become a “business person”, or a stack of a couple hats to become the Peddler from Caps for Sale. You can encourage your child to create a story or play by asking questions like: “What is something this person/character/animal says?” and “What is something this person/character/animal does?”.
The Directing Game – One person plays the Director and the rest of the players play actors. Designate a “stage” area (it can just be the empty space in your living room) and have everyone but the Director line up to be called onto the “stage”. Then the Director calls out a character like “Fireman” and the first person in line walks across the “stage” while acting like a Fireman. Next, the Director calls out a new character, such as “Teacher”, and the next person in line crosses the “stage” as a Teacher. Children can do physical actions to act out the characters, come up with silly lines, or just make sounds. If your child is having a hard time acting out characters, you can also try animals.
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Sending well wishes,
Teacher Eliza