The Cat in the Hat: Educational Activities and Games for 2 to 5 Year Olds

Let's face it, kids love movies, but it's been proven that they should watch no more than 2 hours of TV a day. So why not combine their love of a movie and activities that will help them learn and grow? Following are suggestions for the movie The Cat in The Hat released in 2003. These activities would also work well for preschool classes and party games for this age group.

Watch the movie

Let your kids watch the show while you prepare the activities for the rest of the day or attend to other responsibilities.

Rhyme Activity

Teach your child this rhyme. They'll enjoy doing the actions, older children will want to make the song go faster to see if they can do the actions fast enough.

My Hat

My hat, it has three corners

Three corners has my hat;

And had it not three corners

It would not be my hat.

Do these actions for these words:

My-point to yourself

Hat-point to your head

Three-hold up three fingers

Corners-point to your elbow

For older children you can have them leave out a word that corresponds with an action and only do the action.

Read a Book

There are a lot of incredible books available to go along with the movie The Cat in the Hat. Pick one you think your child would enjoy and involve them while you are reading. Ask them questions about the pictures and story. Following are a few suggestions of books to read.

• The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss
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• The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins (Classic Seuss) by Dr. Seuss
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• Who Took the Farmer's Hat? by Joan L. Nodset and Fritz Siebel
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• The Fat Cat Sat on the Mat (I Can Read Book 1) by Nurit Karlin

Make or Decorate a Hat

Make a hat out of paper and let your child decorate it with markers, colored paper and glitter. You can also get hats to decorate from craft stores that would be fun to decorate.

Balancing Act

Gather blocks, cups and other stackable toys. Encourage your child to see how tall they can make a tower. They will learn many principles of balancing and creating steady structures.

Gather and Put Away

In the movie, there is a mess in the house that has to be put away. Teach your child the concept of returning items to their proper place with this game. Give your child a basket, purse or bag and ask them to gather items that have a certain trait. For example you could ask your child to get toys that have red on them. Have them put these items in their basket, purse or bag. Then have them put the items back where they belong.