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!

Some of the links on this site are affiliate links. This means if you click on a link and purchase something, I'll receive a small affiliate commission at no cost to you. Thanks so much for supporting my efforts with this blog!

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.

• Waltz
• Rock 'N Roll
• Tango
• Cha-Cha
• Reel
• Gerald's Style (play this variety of tunes or choose your own favorite style)

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.

Also, if you don't want to miss a single minute of great tips like this and all the fun around here, be sure to sign up for free updates and then look forward to having each post delivered right to your inbox.

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

Linked up with: Favorite Things, Over the Moon, Share the Wealth Sunday, Dishing it & Digging it, What's for Dinner?, Family Joy Blog Link-Up,  Literacy Musings Monday, Practical Mondays, Homeschool Nook Link Up, Happiness is Homemade, Merry Monday, Motivation Monday, What'd You Do This Weekend, Meet Up Monday, Totally Terrific Tuesday, Together on Tuesdays, Show Me Yours Linky, Tasty Tuesdays, Little Learning Link Up, Two Uses Tuesday, Hip Homeschool Hop, Lou Lou Girls Fabulous Party  Tuesday Talk, Wonderful Wednesday, A Little Bird Told Me, Everything Early Childhood, Creative Muster, Party in Your PJs,What to Read,I Am Pinnable, Christian Bloggers Link Up, This Is How We Roll, Creative Ways, Hearts for Home, Creative Exchange,  100 Happy Days, Try It Like It, No Rules Weekend Blog Party, Booknificent Thursdays, Thursday Favorite Things, I'm Lovin' It, Inspiration Spotlight, Home Matters, Pretty Pintastic Party, Weekend Potluck, Awesome Life Friday, Creative Collection, The Beautifully Creative Inspired , Bloggers Pit Stop, Weekend Traffic Jam, Pin Me Party,  From the Archives, Family Fun Friday, Friday Frivolity, Bloggers Spotlight, Make My Saturday Sweet, Weekend Wind-Down Party,Friday Features Linky, Funtastic Friday , Best of the Weekend, Sweet Inspiration Link Party, Small Victories Sunday, You're Invited, Love to Learn Tuesdays