Rhyming Prompt: December 25
Habitat cleanup is such a delight
It feels good to clean something messy up right.
Let’s do the same thing to our own habitat
And clean up a mess wherever we’re at!
We might take a walk and pick up some litter,
Or we might just make the living room glitter!
Ask your folks how you can help cleanup today
I’m sure when you did it will make them say “Yay”!
Download the prompts for December 25-28 here as a PDF or here as a Microsoft Word Document (you may have already printed these—I’m just re-posting them here for convenience). If you want to get an early start on the last page of printed rhymes (!!!), you can download the prompts for December 29-31 here as a PDF or here as a Microsoft Word Document.
An image of the December 25 prompt printed on cream cardstock with a green border. There is a gold wax impression of a frog in the corner, highlighted in silver. The card is nestled in a lit Christmas tree.
Other Materials:
None necessary.
Suggested Pose:
Frantz wants to go for a walk and collect trash today, and he has collected the equipment to prove it!
Frantz is sitting in a pair of child’s rain boots in front of a lit fireplace. He has a garbage bag, gloves, and the daily prompt in his lap, and a grabber behind him, as if suggesting a walk around the neighborhood to collect litter.
Activity:
Choose something to clean up with your kids. If you’ll be opening a lot of presents today, you may want to task your child with wrapping cleanup. You can help them sort what can be saved, what can be recycled, and what can be thrown away (and give them a garbage bag). If you aren’t opening gifts today, perhaps your child would like to go for a walk with you around town, bringing a trash bag and some gloves to pick up litter as you go. Perhaps you’d like your child to clean their habitat—their room. The choice is yours.
Rationale:
Because yesterday’s oil spill activity introduced the concept of preserving habitats, this exercise is about a little more than just helping around the house. It’s expanding on the idea that keeping an environment healthy is essential for every being that lives in that region. Even if your child can live with a mess, this develops an understanding that cleaning is necessary, healthy, and benefits everyone.
Book Recommendation:
Have you been waiting for the day when I would recommend The Lorax, by Dr. Seuss? It has finally arrived! My kids love this book, so it’s a fun one to read for us, even on Christmas. You can watch a read aloud here. Dr. Seuss is a perennially contentious figure because he was an undeniable racist, but his books are classics and deeply embedded in the culture. I try to thread the needle by only reading his books that don’t depict humans and to buy them used so as not to benefit his estate, but I fully understand if you don’t want to read his works at all. I’m also giving my kids One Plastic Bag, by Miranda Paul and Elizabeth Zunon, which I’m very excited to read with them, too. I’ve recommended other books illustrated by Elizabeth Zunon before because her style is so fun and unique. You can watch a read aloud here.
A closeup of the cover of One Plastic Bag by Miranda Paul and Elizabeth Zunon