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.

Twelve Fun Ways To Teach After School

1. Coach or help with a child's sport or activity.
2. Enter a parent-child contest together. Some dance studios feature parent-child performances. Or does a moonbots challenge sound more up your alley?
3.  Read the book I Love Dirt: 52 Activities to Help You and Your Kids Discover the Wonders of Nature, by Jennifer Ward. Pick your favorite activities and do them.
4. Plan a trip to the zoo. Or anywhere, really. Use Notebooking Fairy's K-W-L worksheet to help your children think about what they already know about the place, what they want to know, and, later, what they learned. 
5. Make homemade applesauce together. Be sure to ask ahead of time what ingredients you will need. (It's fun to think of making something out of just two or three ingredients.)
6. Make up a new language with your child, or a written code just between you.
7. Make a special field trip out of your child's passion. For my son, that would be a trip to a Medieval Times Dinner and Tournament or another tour of Narnia: The Exhibition.
8. Set up an email address for your children and help them compose emails back and forth to grandparents or other relatives or family friends.
9. Play Music-Back-And-Forth. First your child gets to choose a song to play - the louder the better. Next it's your turn to play a song you really like. Repeat. The last person to stop dancing is the winner.
10. Make up a story together. Someone starts it with a few sentences, then lets the other person continue the story for another few sentences. Take turns. You may want to have someone else typing or recording your shared story for posterity.
11. Announce Spanish Week (or any other language you want). All DVDs must be watched in Spanish or with Spanish subtitles. Try to listen to Spanish music all week. Make recipes all week long from the cuisine of Spanish-speaking countries.
12. Start a Charlotte Mason Book of Centuries. From now on, whenever you talk about, hear about, or read about something interesting happening on a certain date, enter it in the Book of Centuries.