We celebrated Dr. Seuss Day, formally known as Read Across America, here by reading The Cat in the Hat and making cat hats. This was my go-to library lesson for years with pre-k and kindergarten, and now my own small human can benefit from all of my supplies and old lesson plans. I still have a stash of white paper bags in the perfect size for hats that I bought myself. I took them with me when I stopped teaching, so I still had them on hand to make hats.

I drew off some quick lines, and H colored in some red stripes. The hats take hardly any time to make, which was ideal for a sensory kid who just wanted to squirm and run today. I had some other ideas planned, since the hats get made pretty quickly (this depends on the kid, though. Some kids race through, others take a solid 30 minutes to meticulously color the lines). My kid raced. I cut a slit in all 4 corners, folded back the opening of the bag to make a hat brim, and voila! Cat in the hat hats.

She’s off somewhere watching the animated Cat in the Hat short, another staple of the day.