A Week of Dr. Seuss: Cat in the Hat Toss

I adapted this activity from an idea I saw on Seussville.  The Seussville activity has kids make their own Cat in the Hat hats out of paper bags, and use them as a container for a hat toss.  I decided instead to make a hat out of an old oatmeal container for Trevor.  I figured it would be easier for him to use a stiff container, as opposed to a flimsy bag for a hat toss.

What You Need:

• Oatmeal container (or other cylindrical container)
• Red and white construction paper
• White paper plate
• Glue
• Tape
• Scissors

How to Make it:

1. Glue white construction paper to the outside of the oatmeal container.
2. Cut strips out of the red construction paper, then glue red strips onto the container to create a striped hat.
3. Cut the middle of a white paper plate out, then glue and/or tape it to the rim of the container to create the brim of the hat.

Trevor thought this activity was pretty neat.  He loved the hat I made for it.

He decided to carry it around for awhile:

Ready to start the Cat in the Hat Toss:

His motor delays make throwing difficult, so for him this was more of a Cat in the Hat drop, not toss:

Even though he couldn’t throw, he enjoyed dropping and watching the balloons fall:

I decided to up the ante on his dropping skills.  Since we’re working on stairs with him I put the container next to the stairs and helped him climb and then drop:

Helping him climb and drop.  He thought that was really cool:

You can use small balls or beanbags for this Cat in the Hat toss.  I made some homemade balloon balls by putting Moon Dough into balloons.  They’re squishy, yet solid.  It was a nice sensory addition to this activity.