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dr seuss art

Five Art Projects to Celebrate Dr. Seuss!

by Gina McAndrew


Have A Blast Creating the Dr. Seuss Way!

 

My kids used to have a running joke in my house:

Don’t let Mom read us a Dr. Seuss book because she’ll be talking in rhymes for the rest of the day!

Well, my kids are older now, but as I patiently await grandchildren (ahem), I’m reminded of the beauty in the simplicity that Theodore Geisel, more lovingly known as “Dr. Seuss”, showed in his illustrations. However, his work is nothing short of genius. For example, the clever plays on words, the bouncy illustrative style, and the quirkiness of his characters. As a result, it never gets old!

Continue the celebration!

Although his birthday was a couple of days ago, there is no reason to stop the party! So I put together five art projects to encourage fine motor skills, problem-solving, and creativity in your kiddos. Furthermore, they all celebrate the works of Dr. Seuss!

Koi fish, Seuss style!

So with a quick search on Pinterest, you will find a popular art project of koi fish pulled out of a continuous line drawing. But for this project, we will modify it to Dr. Seuss’s One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish book! 

You will need:

8-1/2” x 11” white paper

Pencil and eraser

Black permanent marker

Colored pencils, markers, or crayons

  1. First, take out your pencil and draw a continuous, organic line through your entire page. Too many scribbles will take too long. But if there are not enough, you will have very large areas to color in (and that can get tedious).
  2. Now, look at your scribbles and find some fish! It’s kind of like looking at clouds and seeing objects. You’ll need to find five fish.
  3. Next, take a black permanent marker and outline your fish.
  4. Color one fish white, two fish green, one fish red, and one fish blue to match the book cover. No two colors should touch, so you may need to do various values of red, for example, by using a red pencil, red crayon, and red marker.
  5. In contrasting colors that look like water (blues, violets, greens), color in the remaining scribbles. However, the task is to never let two of the same colors touch, except tip to tip or corner to corner.
  6. Lastly, decorate the fish with your permanent black markers. After that, maybe create some eyes, fins, etc.

Create a character flipbook!

This is a timeless art project that I’ve often used when also teaching writing. So you’ll be drawing several characters that you’ll be able to mix and match.

You will need:

3 or 4 sheets of 8-1/2” x 11” white paper

Pencil and eraser

Ruler & Scissors

Black permanent marker

Colored pencils, markers, or crayons

  1. First, take your papers and fold them in half and then place them together to make a little “book”. Next, staple the pages together in the centerfold.
  2. On the right side of each page, draw a crazy, Seussical character from your imagination or your favorite one from a Dr. Seuss book.
  3. Next, trace over your characters with a black permanent marker and then color them in.
  4. After that, divide your character pages into three equal sections with a ruler, then cut the pages to the centerfold.
  5. Lastly, you can mix and match your characters by flipping some pages over and leaving some in place. Can you make a story with your new characters?

Seussical Tree and Landscape with Stick Puppets!

You will need:

Several sheets of 8-1/2” x 11” white paper

Piece of cardboard from an old box 

Pencil and eraser

Glue stick

Crayons, colored pencils, markers, etc.

Popsicle sticks

  1. Look at some Dr. Seuss books and study his fantastical trees. 
  2. On one piece of paper, draw a horizon line in the middle of your paper to divide the sky and the earth.
  3. Next, put a little vanishing point in the middle of your line.
  4. Start drawing some crazy, fanciful trees. As a result, the closer they are to the vanishing point, the smaller they should get.
  5. Use lots of fun colors to finish your landscape. Next, glue the paper onto a heavy piece of cardboard so that you can stand it up for a puppet show later.
  6. After that, take your other paper and create some fun characters, and then color them and cut them out.
  7. Finally, attach your characters to popsicle sticks with your glue stick and have a fun puppet show!

AMAZING 3D PROJECTS!


Sculpey Clay Characters:

My kids used to have hours of fun creating Dr. Seuss characters out of Sculpey clay, and I still have them! Grab some colorful Sculpey clay at your local art supply store, turn on some fun audiobooks or music, and let the creativity flow! However, you will need to have some toothpicks handy to attach heads and limbs and keep them in place. Visit the sculpey website to get started!

Shadow Box:

When you have some Sculpey characters, you will definitely need a shadow box for little shows. Can you tell I’m all about acting things out? That’s because kids thrive in role-playing. Furthermore, it gives them the opportunity to process their daily life and to problem-solve real-life scenarios with pretend situations.

So grab a shoebox, scrapbook paper, tissue paper, empty wooden spools, and any other little items you can find in your house and create a backdrop for your Sculpey characters! Make it colorful, whimsical, and Seussical!


So now that you have your five art projects to celebrate Dr. Seuss, feel free to post some photos in the comments section. In other words, I would love to see your creations!

Happy birthday, Dr. Seuss!


“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose. You’re on your own, and you know what you know. And you are the guy who’ll decide where to go.”

-Dr. Seuss


Gina McAndrew is the Founder and CEO of The Mark Project, an organization that equips believers with the tools they need to fulfill the Great Commission through art. 

She is also the Founder and Director of Potter’s Clay Applied Arts, a program that equips students to glorify God through the arts. Gina has a BFA in Studio Art, an MS in Industrial Communications, and an MBA, all from Lindenwood University.

She has been teaching art and written communications to students of all ages for 15 years, focusing on the practical applications of these subjects. As a former upper-level manager and homeschool mom of four children, Gina continuously seeks to implement new and innovative ideas at both companies.

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