Just a few days before the due date of our 6th baby (who ended up being over 9 pounds!), I was outside enjoying the weather with the kids–mostly waddling around watching them play–when my five-year old climbed to the top of the playhouse in the backyard swingset and called down for some attention. Feeling exhausted and big-bellied, I still tried to enthusiastically cheer her on from my stationary seat in the grass.
But this wasn’t quite the response she’d hoped for.
“Mommy,” she sighed. “Maybe when the baby comes out and you’re a little thinner, you can join our club.”
Bahaha! It was definitely a struggle to keep a straight face after that! As they say, “out of the mouth of babes. . . .” But I could see her point, as well as her disappointment that I hadn’t been a very “fun mom” lately.
Although I knew she meant no offense, I also saw this as an optimal teaching moment since similar comments could/would be very hurtful if said to anyone else in any other context.
And so to help me out, I ordered the most adorable book, “Can I Join Your Club?” and have enjoyed reading it with the kiddos (over and over) while sneaking in some discussions about diversity, inclusiveness, and friendship.
Can I Join Your Club? by John Kelly is about a quirky duck who’s looking for new friends, so he decides to join a club. Throughout the story he auditions for different animal clubs by roaring like a lion, hissing like a snake, and trumpeting like an elephant. But each time his application is denied because he’s “not really what they’re looking for.”
So what does he do?
Go home and feel sorry for himself? Abandon his unique duck qualities so he’ll fit their club requirements?
Nope.
He starts his own club–with his own rules.
You’ll have to read the book to learn more, but here’s a hint. . . . the club soon became very popular and Duck shows you can never have too many friends!
We love this book! The vintage-style illustrations are adorable, trying to make animal noises with Duck is so fun, and the read aloud is a perfect starting place for discussions about topics like: acceptance, courage, individuality, resilience, exclusivity, and friendship.
And then, because we often love to do book-related projects, this sweet story inspired us to build a clubhouse of our own: colorful paper-pieced style, of course!
To create this house craft, you’ll need:
- House Printable Template (link to the printable at the bottom of this post)
- white paper or card stock
- paint or crayons/markers/paint sticks
- scissors
- glue
- (optional) colored card stock or patterned paper
Print {Club} House Craft Template
Print the build-your-own-house template. We prefer to use white card stock for a sturdier project.
Color or Paint and Cut Your Template Pieces
For this particular craft we chose paint sticks. They’re my favorite art supply at the moment because they produce vibrant colors and paint-like-texture without the mess of actual paint.
Assemble House Craft Pieces
This part is my favorite and I intentionally did not label the house pieces (like I do in most of our template crafts) because I wanted kids to use their creativity and arrange the shapes in a variety of ways to create their own unique clubhouses. Just as Duck reminds us in Can I Join Your Club? that there is no one right way to be, there is no one right way to build this clubhouse craft.
The final customized project results are so fun and I love how the kids’ creativity with shapes makes each project so unique!
Mount Clubhouses for Display
When finished, use glue to mount your house on a piece of card stock, patterned paper, or painted paper. Then display!
Looking for the FREE printable template? Read on. . . .
As a classroom teacher turned at-home mom, I have a passion for keeping lifelong learning fun and creative. And I’m especially crazy about teaching through stories and good books because I believe as we learn about others’ stories and experiences, parallels and principles will emerge and personal application will naturally follow.
So now that the baby “is out” and I’m working on the “thinner” part, I’ve started my OWN club! And I’d like to invite you to join our FREE Facebook group: Keeping Life Creative with Books where we chat all about creative ways to promote literacy and teach and learn through stories and some of the best children’s books.
Join my FREE club!
This private Facebook group is for anyone who’s:
- obsessed with children’s literature
- has a desire to promote literacy
- is looking for creative book-related teaching ideas (and printable freebies like this house template!)
- and believes books can open the world to a child!
If YOU want to join a club where everyone is welcome, this group is for you!
And as an extra special welcome gift for joining our FREE “club,” you can download the build-your-own house craft template in the Facebook group. Or it’s also available for purchase on Teachers Pay Teachers.
Can’t wait to see you there!
