This is sponsored post in partnership with Disney Book Group. All opinions are my own.
Tornadoes, flooding, giving thanks, Elephants, and Pigs. That pretty much sums up the last two weeks where we live here in Oklahoma! Almost every night we have been watching the weather to stay aware and safe. Tornadoes and floods have hit many areas of our state, and even the Oklahoma City metro area. However, our area of the city has been spared so far, so we have much to be thankful for. However, when we found out that Mo Willems, one of our family's favorite authors, had deemed May to be Thank-O-Rama month, we found it to be perfect timing to think about how blessed we are!
We have definitely grown to love books by Mo Willems' in our house. Whenever we see a new release by him, or something special happening, we always make sure we check it out. Last week we not only found out about Thank-O-Rama month, and the tour that Mo Willems is on, but we found out about the new book in his Elephant & Piggie Like Reading! series. It is Harold & Hog Pretend For Real, by author/illustrator Dan Santat, and it is such a good read.
Even though we couldn't see Mo Willems on his Thank-o-Rama tour we wanted to talk about how thankful we are for what we have, especially in light of what has been taking place around us in our state. We set aside some time for our kids to write the names of people or things that they are thankful for on our chalkboard wall. We also found printable signs on the Thank-O-Rama website, and made cupcake toppers as well, to show appreciation to special people in our lives!
It's easy to make your own Thank-O-Rama stations at your house as well! Just head to Mo Willems' website and check out all of the free resources that are available. You can print your own "I Will Thank" signs, spin the wheel for thankfulness ideas, and more. If you want to make your own cupcake toppers like we did, just save the pictures of the signs from the website, resize them, and print them off. Then cut them out and tape toothpicks to the back. Your kids can then write the names of who they are thankful for and then they can give those people the cupcakes!
We used chalkboard contact paper and stuck it to our wall, then encouraged our kids to use sidewalk chalk to write down who and what they were thankful for. They even wrote down the names of authors Mo Willems and Dan Santat on our wall! We also had Elephant and Piggie (yes from the Elephant & Piggie books) sidewalk chalk from Twee that my kids used. It was such a fun and uplifting day! It's definitely time well spent when you can gather your kids and and remember everyone and everything that you have to be thankful for in your life.
As I mentioned above, May was full of fun times because Harold & Hog Pretend for Real! released as well! If you couldn't tell from the photos, my youngest especially loves this book. This silly story is all about two best friends who pretend to be Elephant and Piggie, by playing dress up and attempting to take on their counterparts' personalities. The kids wanted to play pretend too, so we disguised ourselves with Elephant's glasses and Piggie's snout of course, just like Harold & Hog. The book is in stores now and you will definitely want to pick up a copy for your kids. I love how the main characters ultimately decide that it is okay for them to be themselves and to let their personalities shine through.
So whether you are reading this post in May or next January, remember that every month is a good month to remember who and what you are thankful for. Also keep your eyes out for Harold & Hog Pretend for Real! because, as part of the Elephant & Piggie Like Reading! series, Dan Santat has written and illustrated a book that you will want to read over and over with your kids!
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