Storybook Week 7: Harold and the Purple Crayon

This week the storybook is Harold and the Purple Crayon, written and illustrated by Crockett Johnson.

1. Read the Book

Language Arts/Story Interest

Together with your child, read the book or watch the storybook video.

2. Make a Safety Town

Arts and Crafts/Safety/Dramatizing/Pretend Play

In Harold and the Purple Crayon, Harold decides he needs a moon, so he draws one. He needs a path, so he draws one to walk down. Through his adventure, he keeps hold on his purple crayon so that he can create what he needs, whether it be a shortcut across a field or a whole city. This is a powerful concept for children. The idea that they can create the world they want to play in through their imaginations is a breathtaking one.

I like this Safer Strangers, Safer Buildings video from Child's Eye Media to combine safety information for young children with a way to play pretend with these new ideas. Look at the end of Part 2 to see the safe buildings the children make to create a safe town. It looks like they are making the buildings out of small cardboard boxes about the size of instant oatmeal boxes. The boxes are covered with white paper so that the children can draw any embellishments or signs they like on their buildings. Adding people and vehicles to the town would of course make it even more fun.

3. Purple Paper Night Sky

Arts and Crafts

Your child may want to draw with a purple crayon after reading this book. That would be fantastic; let your child do what he or she likes with a purple crayon and paper. Be prepared for a nice story about what is being drawn.


A different activity for children who are not interested in a purple crayon is to use purple construction paper and white chalk to make a night sky. The texture of chalk on construction paper can be a learning experience in itself.

For a baby or toddler: Allow your baby or toddler to use chalk on construction paper if baby is old enough to safely hold and use chalk. Your toddler may be quite fascinated with making white marks on a colored paper instead of the other way around.

For a preschooler: Ask your child to draw stars and a moon on your purple paper to make a night sky. You might even add to the picture yourself.


For an older child: Combine learning about constellations with drawing some on the paper. If you have not already learned together about constellations, look up some pictures of constellations in the sky. For this arts and crafts activity, have your child make up his or her own constellations and name them.

4. Sailboats

Story Interest/Science

Harold draws a sailboat and sails across water. How does a sailboat work? What makes it go?

Explain that a sailboat needs its sails to be up so that wind can blow the sails and push the boat.

For a toddler or preschooler: Find two plastic bath toy boats, one with a sail and one without. Draw a bath, put your child in, and do an experiment. First put in the boat without a sail. Blow on it. Allow your child to blow on it too. The breath might move it a little bit but likely won't push it forward very far. Now take that boat out and put in the boat with the sail. Blow on the sails. This boat should move forward much more easily because there is wind in its sails.

For an older child: Have your child build a sailboat. Here is a link to a 5th Grade Sail Boat Project.

5. Finding Your Room

Geography/Story Interest/Physical Activity

Start in your child's bedroom. Now lead him or her out to another room. Instruct your child to go back to the bedroom. Ask how they found it. Go to another room. Tell your child to get back to the bedroom as quickly as possible. Try this from one other room.

For a toddler: Do the above activity, emphasizing which room is your toddler's room. Have fun with it! If your toddler needs an extra challenge, try it with all the lights out and a flashlight.

For a preschooler: Do the above activity, asking your child which direction they are going as they navigate to their room. Do the flashlight variation because a preschooler will be delighted with it!

For an older child: Have your child first walk back to the room, then sit down somewhere and draw a map to show the way they walked. This map can be as simple or as elaborate as necessary. Some preschoolers can do this activity.


Note: Anytime you or your child gets excessively frustrated with an activity, take a deep breath and remember the purpose of the activity. Some of your purposes may be: To teach, to learn, to have fun, to spend quality time together, and to evaluate your child's abilities. It is usually better to avoid an outburst of frustration with each other than to complete an activity. Sometimes just taking that breath, looking each other in the eyes, and thinking for a moment about the real issue bothering one (or more) of you is extremely valuable.

Bedtime Routines

PowerLaunch recently posted about The Power of Routines, including a poignant passage about the power of a bedtime routine.

Our youngest is a great sleeper. People always comment on how he goes straight to sleep when we put him down. This usually happens even when we are in a new environment like visiting in someone else's home. What he has is a bedtime routine that has been the same from about two months old until the present time, twenty-three months old. That is twenty-one months of the same routine for each nap and each bedtime. If I did my math correctly, that is over 1,600 occurrences of the same ritual.

We do a bath every other day, followed by diaper and pajamas, followed by tooth brushing and flossing, followed by zero to three bedtime books (depending on the day). Then he has the same lullaby sung to him and he is laid down on his bed with the same litany describing his bedtime objects. His music box is then turned on and I say the very same good night message to him.

Any bedtime routine that includes healthy wind-down activities and an expression of love is a fantastic bedtime routine.

What is your child's or children's bedtime routine?

Three Ways to Teach Children a Work Ethic

A work ethic is something most parents want their children to learn. Here are three ways to begin to instill one in your child.

1. Start Early with Cleaning Up.

Every time your baby plays with toys, have a clean-up time when it's time to move on to something else. You might use a clean-up song to sing each time. Definitely use the term "cleaning up," even to your tiny baby.

You will start by cleaning up all the toys yourself. Do it cheerfully to show that it is a good and fun thing. As baby gets older, he or she can have a turn dropping a toy into a basket. You and your baby or toddler can take turns dropping one toy into the right place. Saying, "My turn! Your turn! My turn!" etc. also sets up the concept of sharing and taking turns for later lessons.

Each time playtime is over, have your child pick up toys. You can either cheerfully help or limit the number of toys available to a number that your child can pick up on his or her own.

If you do these things every single time, your child will naturally learn to clean up, with a minimum of fuss and a maximum of cheerfulness. Okay, it may not work perfectly every time, but it does lay the right groundwork.

2. Be the Example.

Groan. Another hard thing to model for your children, right? Being the example is the best way to teach your children anything in the world. Show them what you do in your daily life. Later you can tell them why.

Do your tasks until they are finished. Let your children see you working. Try to maintain a cheerful (or at least neutral) demeanor while working. Note: For me, these are things I have to work on continually. Keep in mind that, just as you are not perfect, neither will your children be. (Thank you, Chronicles of a Babywise Mom, for that good lesson.)

3. Trade help.

By the time your child is a preschooler, he or she can help you out in many ways. Babies can help pick up in the manner described above, and toddlers can help, too. Some toddlers can fold washcloths, some can sort laundry, some love to unload the dishwasher with you, and some can set dinner utensils on the table.

Next time your child asks for your help, help him or her. Ask him or her to agree to help you next time you need help. All of this should be done and said in as chipper a tone as possible. Get your child's agreement.

The next time you do a task that your child could possibly help with, ask him or her to help you. Give a reminder of how you helped them and asked for their help in the future. Use their help!

Depending on the age of the child, you might not want to require more than five minutes of help. You want this to end on a positive note, with all people feeling proud of themselves. On the other hand, if you have hard workers who can do more than five minutes, have them do as much as they can so that they have something legitimate to be proud of.