Noah's Ark Lesson + Animal Craft

It's been awhile since I've done a book and craft combo with the kids, so when I spotted a box craft set of paper plate animals on super sale at Michael's I went ahead and grabbed it to stow away for a rainy day. A few weeks later, I came up with an animal-related lesson we could do and found a Noah's Ark book
while at the library.

After a massive toy swap out in their play room, I remembered we actually had a Noah's Ark toy in their box of Little People stuff so I pulled that out and used it to explain who Noah was and what the ark looked like. The kids each held two animals of their choosing while I read the book to them, then I slid the boat around the table and let them each march their figurines into the ark "two by two" before we started our craft.

I'm not one to shy away from putting together a set of craft supplies myself—and I keep several craft drawers stocked with random supplies to rummage through for just such an occasion—but it really did help that everything I needed came in the box.  The quads were able to peel the paper backing off the foam sticker pieces themselves and I would show them how to copy the photo on the box to assemble their respective animals. Coincidentally, two made a zebra and two made a monkey.

They were quite proud of their finished pieces and show them off to anyone who comes over since I hung them on their art boards in the play room (along with their super cute Father's Day card my mom helped them make, complete with flowers!).

After the craft, we watched our Baby Einstein's Baby Noah DVD—yes, we still have many of our Baby Einstein DVDs because they still love them—and it held their attention for the entire 38 minutes. That's like five years in toddler time, right!? I actually emptied the dishwasher and reloaded it, completely uninterrupted and without up to eight hands wanting to "help me." Plus, I think between the craft, Little People toy and DVD, the concept of Noah and his ark was very much solidified in their minds because they've repeated the story a few times since.

Mission accomplished.