2/6/13

Origami Dog

Trevor belongs to an awesome children's Book Club. At each meeting, they discuss the book they've been reading, then do a craft or activity that is inspired by something in the book. They finish with a snack that is also inspired by the book. It is great fun and Trevor always looks forward to going.

When Trevor first joined, he and I would read the books together out loud so that I could help with vocabulary and check his comprehension. A few months ago, he told me that he wanted to start reading the books by himself, then have me read them by myself, and then discuss them together. So that's what we're doing now.

During our discussion, part of our ritual is to try and guess what the Book Club activity and snack will be. Our most recent book was Beverly Cleary's classic, Henry Huggins. We brainstormed possibilities for the activity. Something to do with nightcrawlers or fishing? Maybe a football craft? A mock pet show? Nope. None of those. When I picked Trevor up from Book Club, he proudly showed me his origami dog, inspired by Ribsy.



But, as Trevor was quick to point out, Ribsy is not white. He is brown with darker patches. I asked Trevor if he would like to make a brown version of the dog that would look more like Ribsy. He thought that was a great idea. I got out some brown paper and cut two squares, one for Trevor and one for me, then he taught me how to make it.  

Step 1: Fold the square in half diagonally.

 
Step 2: Fold down the corners of the triangle to form the dog's ears.  

 
Step 3: Fold up the remaining point of the triangle to form the dog's snout.

 
Step 4: Add eyes, nose, mouth and spots. Here's Trevor's interpretation of Ribsy:

 
And here's mine:

 
Our next book is Mr. Popper's Penguins. I can't wait to see what the activity and snack will be!

7 comments:

  1. Another cute project!!!
    You are such a good mommy! Really, you spend a lot of time w/ Trevor that is rare for parents these days (I admit even I'm guilty of not doing it a smuch as I should)!
    My heart kinda got sad when you sad that Trevor wanted to read the books by himself...I remember when that happened w/ my kids ::sniff, sniff:: But my goodness how grown up of him to say "lets discuss it after" :0)

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    1. Thanks! I pride myself in being a good mommy. :)

      I wasn't too sad about Trevor wanting to read the books on his own. I know I'd much rather read silently than read out loud, so I can't blame him for feeling the same way. I was a bit worried at first that he'd be struggling with vocabulary and/or comprehension - Mr. Popper's Penguins is a 5.6 level book (fifth grade sixth month) and Trevor is only in 1st grade, but he's not having any problems. Occasionally, he'll ask me what a certain word means or show me a paragraph that confuses him. It's a little sad to see him growing up, but overall it's more awesome than sad.

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  2. Love love love love this idea! LOVING how they both turned out!! And SO AWESOME that Trevor loves to read on his own... Brookie is the same way ... before she goes to bed she likes to work in her kindergarten workbook all on her own!

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  3. I am not surprised that Trevor is reading at such an advanced level because his Mom is awesome! I love the little puppy dog origami. It's such a good book club project.

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  4. It's great that he wants to read on his own. Way to go Trevor!

    Love the doggies. Such a fun project....gotta do it with the nephews!

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  5. I did this for a birthday card
    best idea ever!!!
    found on pinterest!!!

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