Giraffes Can't Dance Roll-a-Dance Die (free printable!)

Books become even better when you pair them with fun activities!  See what we did to go along with this month's Monthly Crafting Giraffes Can't Dance Book Club selection!


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My bloggy pal Hilary over at Raising Fairies and Knights started a fun Monthly Crafting Book Club - a challenge to create activities to go along with some of the most beloved children's books.

We had some great fun last year (see links at the end) and have continued the fun this year:


January - Ladybug Girl Addition Bugs


This month, we're focusing on one of our favorite books, Giraffes Can't Dance





In case you haven't read it, this little rhyming book is loads of fun. It's the touching tale of Gerald the Giraffe - who loves to dance, but sadly is about as graceful as a, well, giraffe.

Gerald runs away from the jeering crowds at the annual Jungle Dance where he is comforted by a cricket and then discovers that anyone - even he - can dance with the right music.

Gv and I have engaged in our own little dance-a-thons from the very beginning of her life, so I decided to incorporate a little fancy-feet fun into this month's book activity.


I created this free printable for you to cut and slide into one of these useful little tools


If these goofy pictures don't put a smile on your face, I don't know what will!


(Don't have a cool die like that? Glue the printable squares to a cardstock version of this.)

You can spotlight whichever style of music you like for each side of the die, but I wanted to stick with those shared in the book, so I created a short playlist for each one to give you a few examples.




Just roll the die, play a song from the appropriate music style and then boogie on down until the tunes taper off.


Top-of-your-lungs singing is not an option!

The next player rolls the die and everyone moves to that melody.


...or maybe the same player keeps taking a turn. Again. And again. And again.

The game continues until the jams run out (feel free to find your own) or everyone's too pooped to polka anymore.

If you have older kids, you could even look up a some videos of the dance steps of that style to try out. For the moment, Gv and I are just letting the music move us.

We had so much fun getting physical with this favorite book, I just know this will be something we'll do together for a long time!


I love coming up with book connections like these, how about you?  I'd love to hear!  Either leave a comment below or email me at lisahealy (at) outlook (dot) com.


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Check out the other amazing crafts that my fellow bloggers came up with for this month.

Come back next month and see what crafts and activities we come up with for the How Do Dinosaurs series of books. Join our Facebook Group HERE to participate.



Want to see all the great book activities from last year? Just check these out:

January Animal Action Dice Game for the book Barnyard Dance
February Cause & Effect Box for If You Give a Moose a Muffin
March - an alphabetical scavenger hunt for Dr. Seuss's ABC.
April handwashing fun to go along with The Piggy in the Puddle
May 5 Little Monkeys Fold 'Em Up for Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed
June pinecone princess & Cozy Sweater Warrior Paper Dolls for The Princess and the Pony
July - lantern craft for Curious George Goes Camping
August - mini backpacks & dress-a-doll fun for Froggy Goes to School
September - pumpkin fun for It's Pumpkin Day, Mouse!
October - monster shape-sort bags & other crafts for Have You Seen My Monster?
November - cozy paper quilt for Bear Stays Up for Christmas
December - snowflake activities for Millions of Snowflakes





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11 comments:

  1. Oh my goodness! This is a brilliant idea! I'm so glad you let me know about this post and this club sounds so fun. I would've never put together a dice game with the dances from the book. So impressed! Xx

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  2. This has to be the funnest idea I have seen in a very long time. It also gives you the opportunity to introduce children to various styles of music. Love it.

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  3. So cute. I love the dice idea. Thanks for sharing on the #LMMLinkup this week.

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  4. What a load of fun that would be for all ages.
    Kathleen
    Blogger's Pit Stop

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  5. This looks like such fun Lisa :) I would of loved growing up in your house

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  6. How adorable! This book looks so cute, and it looks like you had a ton of fun! Thanks for sharing this at Booknificent Thursday on Mommynificent.com this week!
    Tina

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  7. How adorable! Fun stuff. Thanks for sharing at the #InspirationSpotlight Party.

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  8. such an adorable fun stuff! Thanks for joining Bloggers Pit Stop.

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  9. Such a great idea! My boys loved that book when they were younger. Thanks for sharing with us at Love to learn. Pinned.

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