Hey everybody! Did you know that tomorrow is Dr. Seuss’ birthday?! If you missed it last year, you gotta try our vegan version of “green eggs and ham” (pictured below)! I think our green eggs are especially special because they are made green with spinach instead of food coloring 🙂
Make a tofu omelet & crack a book instead of an egg!
What makes this batter taste “eggy” is the black salt (a.k.a “kala namuk”) which you can order online, or find at a health food or specialty store. (FYI black salt has a sand-like texture and is dirty-pinkish in color. It isn’t actually black.) You could always leave it out as well, but it is the sulfur in the black salt that really gives it that eggy flavor.
So… in preparation for Dr. Seuss birthday, we made something to wear for our Dr. Seuss breakfast tomorrow… just some fun cutting & pasting, which the kids always LOVE!! Drum-roll please… announcing… Cat in the Hat HATS and Thing 1 & Thing 2 Popsicle Stick Toys!! The best thing about these 2 projects is that I already had everything in our art box to make them! 🙂
To make a Cat in the Hat hat: (2)
- 1 sheet red construction paper, cut into 1″ red strips, lengthwise
- 3-4 sheets white cardstock (this will make the hat, the bottom part of the hat, and the headband straps
- glue stick
First cut one hat shape out of each piece of white cardstock. Then use another piece of white cardstock for the 2 bottom parts of the hat. Then you will need several long strips of white cardstock that you will use to tape together for the headband part (last). Cut a bunch (like 10) of red construction paper stripes.
Your basic hat making supplies… here is everything all cut out and ready to go! (note: we did end up cutting the bottom hat piece skinnier).
Now, the fun part! Let your kids glue the red stripes onto the hat! We used a glue stick to keep it from getting bumpy from using too much glue. Make sure the kids cover the strips completely and then smooth them down well. After all the stripes are glued on, trim the excess of the edges.
My kids LOVE cutting and pasting!!
Next, I glued the bottom part of their hats on and set them under something heavy to flatten them while they dried.
Once dry, staple 1 headband strap to each side of the bottom of the hat with 2-3 staples and fold edge slightly (I stapled vertically)… and I ran out of staples, which is why my kids arent pictured together!
Here you can see how i folded and stapled the straps to each side, and taped the middle after “the fitting”.
Fit your hat around your child’s head and tape the straps together where they meet! Voila! Your kids look just like the Cat in the Hat (but without all the hair!). You could even paint their faces like cats, if you so desire! I know my little cat lovin’ girl would be all about that!
There’s a spunky new cat in town, Dr. Seuss!!
To make a Thing 1 & Thing 2:
- 2 big fat popsicle sticks, any color will do
- blue yarn (cut into 2″ pieces) or some blue fuzzy hair
- some little googly-eyes
- two small white cardstock circles to label “Thing 1” & “Thing 2”
- craft glue
If you have this stuff, you can make a Thing!
First glue the yarn-hair on. I did this part myself because it was a little tricky and sticky. First generously apply glue (real glue, not a glue stick) to about 1″ of the end of the popsicle stick. Lay hair across it horizontally and then generously add more glue and lay more hair vertically. Tap it gently to push it down (be careful! It gets sticky fast and then it tries to glue the yarn to your finger!). Set aside until completely dry (several hours).
First glue yarn sideways and wait several minutes
Now carefully glue some yarn in the other direction. Let dry for several hours!
Next, decide where you want to glue on the googly eyes and the circular name-tags. You can add a mouth, eyebrows, etc. if you want to give it an expression! Voila! Your very own Thing 1 & Thing 2 to play with… guaranteed to be less trouble than the real ones!!
(The “Things” pictured below are still drying… which is why we havent drawn on faces yet. I just placed the eyes and nametags on in different ways so you can see different ways of designing your Things!)
At first I thought the glued part of hair would be the back… but maybe not! The first one looks more like a “wild thing” Thing! I like him!
You could even position their name-tags up top of the yarn. You decide how you’d like your Thing to look!
I hope you liked our crafts today, it was too cold to go out and play! So go buy your tofu & your kala namuk… cook up a green breakfast and then go read a book! Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!!
This little trickster cat looks ready to get into SOME kind of trouble!
P.S. I tagged this in the “Dinner and a Movie” category since there are several Dr. Seuss movies you could use this food/craft with (including the Cat and the Hat cartoon and/or the Mike Myers version)!! 🙂
Your Vegan Neighbor 