I love planning learning activities around great books, even out-of-print ones. Relating a story and its elements to what is happening to us and the world around makes it more relevant to our lives. One such book is The Red Carpet by Rex Parkin, which I thought would be perfect for Father’s Day.
Published in 1948 and part of the Before Five in a Row (BFIAR)booklist, The Red Carpet is a rollicking good story with vivid illustrations. It is about a runaway carpet that rolls all over town and stops just in time to make the Duke of Sultana feel welcome when he arrives at the dock. The red carpet and the policemen chasing after it make the unsuspecting Duke beam with importance.
The Red Carpet Treatment
I planned to roll out a red carpet for my husband for Father’s Day. But the other day, he went to work feeling really sick. I thought it would be a wonderful surprise to welcome him home with a red carpet treatment! It was also a nice tie-in with our discussion about heroes during our recent Philippine Independence Day study. Fathers who work hard deserve to be called heroes, right?
So here’s our red carpet made of eight sheets of crepe paper. What fun we had unrolling our carpet and walking on it!
Heart-Shaped Pretzels
Since the Father’s Day surprise was already unfurled, I decided to pull out all our magic tricks. Little T and I labored in the kitchen the whole afternoon kneading, rolling, and forming heart-shaped pretzels for our hero. We were inspired by the pretzels that fall out of Tony Tortoni’s cart as the red carpet zooms by. The afternoon treat was “good for a first attempt” and that’s just fine with me!
Love Signs
As the red carpet rolls and rolls down the street, it passes different buildings and street signs. We talked about the different signs that we see on the road and what they are for and then went on a neighborhood tour for an I-Spy-A-Sign game. Little T then made some signs of her own for her dad, with messages like “I Love You” and “Here” to help her dad find the doorknob… just because.
We got an early start to our Father’s Day and I have to think now of other things to do then. But I hope you got some red-carpet ideas for that special day while learning and having fun with your kids!
Make magic!
