The Book We Love
The cutest little mouse sisters, that figure out that bravery comes in many situations! A short read, but a great few minutes to feel empowered!
The Activity We Did
"Sheila Rae wasn't afraid of anything."
Henkes, K. (1987). Sheila Rae, the brave. New York, NY: Scholastic.
Bravery Box
You Will Need:
- Medium-sized box
- Scissors
- Random items from around the house:
- We used a diaper, hand lotion, alligator head, uncooked rice, Goldfish crackers, watermelon, Littlest Pet Shop toys, and stuffed animals. We got the kids to help pick items too.
How to Play:
Inspired by Jimmy Fallon's "Can You Feel It?" segment (this episode is with Reese Witherspoon), we got the kids to guess random items hidden in a box, which they were SUPPOSED to only feel with their hands - Aedan was a bit of a cheater and kept peeking inside! Make the player stand behind the box and feel each secret item, one at a time, to guess what they are!
It took us a few rounds to get ready, but the BEST reaction was the last round because of the switch of elation/fear between the kids! You'll have to watch the video below to see, but Aedan goes from excitement to disgust when he finds out what it is, and Faye goes from losing-her-mind to totally fine.
Tips:
- Make the hand holes smaller on the sides of the box so your kids can't see inside! Or be more vigilant about making them stay behind the box.
- We also had the kids pick items, which was silly because then they would guess the item they chose! So if they choose items to gross out their siblings, make sure they sit that round out.
- Choose a variety of textures (sticky, soft, spiky) and temperatures (from the fridge, cabinet, outside).
The Food We Ate
"When her sister, Louise, said there was a monster in the closet, Sheila Rae attacked it."
Henkes, K. (1987). Sheila Rae, the brave. New York, NY: Scholastic.
Monster Cookies
You Will Need:
- Cookie dough
- Extra baking ingredients:
- We used chocolate chips, marshmallows, pecans, peanuts, oatmeal, and M&Ms. Use whatever your family likes in cookies!
Instead of sticking with our go-to chocolate chip cookies, we made them into monster faces! Using the extra ingredients we each created our own monster faces in the raw dough, then popped them into the oven. The ingredients shifted during baking to make even more ridiculous faces!
As an extra challenge for me, I attempted to make a dupe of the Target Monster Cookies, a favorite treat when I'm in need of a mommy-break. Each batch going into the oven, I would add one more ingredient, as I remembered them! Oatmeal, peanuts, chocolate chunks. Hence the different looks of the non-face cookies! They kept getting chunkier and chunkier!
Other Fun Ideas
"The sounds became more frightening. The thoughts became more horrible."
Henkes, K. (1987). Sheila Rae, the brave. New York, NY: Scholastic.
Printable Strengths
Who doesn't need a little help with bravery every day? Print out the affirmations printable, fill them with your favorite bold colors, and hang it where you need a daily reminder! It's on the bathroom mirror for me!
Other Activities
Some other fun resources for the book, and other crafty ideas that we didn't do... yet.
- PBS Kids For Parents: One of my biggest struggles as a parent is not passing on my anxieties and fears to my children -- and there's lots of them! Things like fear of heights, open-backed stairs, riding a bike. Some great tips on how to help children be brave is found here!
- PBS Kids: And why not have Daniel Tiger teach at the same time? I know my kids listen better when it's not mom or dad offering the advice!
- Teachers Pay Teachers: Need something more specific for school lesson plans? There are LOTS of resources here, and Sheila Rae seems to be a favorite! Read-aloud activities, coloring pages, sequencing...
- Peace Through Play: Even a fun kids book can have such great lessons to learn! Peace Through Play has some thought-provoking questions to bring up after reading and having fun.
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