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Celebrate Each Animal Hero & You

“Celebrate your best life – you are a rainbow of possibilities!”

Activities for Anywhere—Schools, Camps, Families or Neighborhood Fun

Study and have a celebration as you learn about each animal. Below are some great ideas to get started, but please feel free to add or change anything to make your party grand. Some folks even dress up as their favorite Super Hero.

Choose your favorite or a new animal each time:

Butterfly  –  Frog  –  Flamingo  –  Termite  –  Baboon

BUTTERFLY DAY – SPREAD YOUR WINGS AND FLY

ART:

Caterpillar Chain –

  • Decide what you can accomplish in the next 100 days. (This project is great to start the first week of school or the first week of summer). Cut out 100 strips of paper. Write or draw your dreams on your strip daily.
  • Then add the loop to the paper chain for the 100 day Cool Caterpillar Chain Celebration.
  • You can also do as a class or family and alternate who adds the loops.

Claim Your Wings –

  • Download “CLAIM YOUR WINGS” in the Fun & Learning section.
  • Cut out your wings, decorate, and wear by clipping or safety penning them to your shirt.
  • Print, cut, decorate, and wear or make a group mural by taping everyones onto a big poster board.

SCIENCE:

Butterfly Farm –

  • We ordered ours through the website insectlore.com.
  • Watch, share, and learn about together. It’s amazing! 
  • Get Library Books on Butterflies and Metamorphisis.

GAME:

Butterfly Thumbs Up Fun –

  • Play inside or out with 4 or more players.
  • Pick 2-3 players to be Butterfly Fairies.
  • Everyone else puts their head down on their arms folded with their eyes closed and their thumbs up.
  • The Butterfly Fairies fly around the room each touching one persons thumb. (Thumbs go down when touched.)
  • When time is up the chosen players try to guess which Butterfly Fairy landed on their thumb.
  • If they guess right they get to be The Fairy for next game.
  • For more info, see these directions on the Heads Down Thumbs Up Game.

Simon Says—“CATCH-M Says”

  • Play inside or out with 3 or more players.
  • One person is chosen to be the leader.
  • They stand up front and lead the class telling them what to do, ideally quickly.
  • When they say for example, “CATCH-M Says” – Jump up and down”, the whole class should immediately do it.
  • If they say, “Jump up and down” without the “CATCH-M Says” and a player follows, they are out of the game.
  • The last player wins and gets to lead the next game.
  • For more info, see these Simon Says directions

MUSIC:

Hokey Pokey—Butterfly Hoping He Can Fly Song –

  • Play the traditional Hokey Pokey Song, but change the words for some Butterfly fun – Hands to wings, shake it all about to fly around, etc.

SNACK:

Butterfly Yums –

  • Fill a sandwich bags with treats – carrots, cereal, grapes, goldfish, raisins, nuts, etc.
  • Bunch the bag in the middle with a clothes pin. Decorate the clothespin, adding eyeballs, and a pipe cleaner for antennas.
  • Fore more ideas: https://www.pinterest.com/explore/butterfly-snacks/

CATCH-M CACHE:

Make a “CATCH-M Cache”—

  • Make a treasure chest filled with special gifts that have smiles on them, a notepad, and pen.
  • You can hide your CATCH-M Cache on your own, with your class or family.
  • Then let the official treasure hunting begin!
  • Whenever you find a Cache, sign your name, take a treasure, and leave a new treasure for someone else to find.
  • Visit the \”Go Geocaching\” page for more details.

DRESS UP:

  • Wear wings, a cape, or dress in bright colors, pretending to be a flower who feeds the
    butterflies.

CHARACTER STRENGTH:

  • Animals show us that we are all here for a reason.
  • Watch an animal closely. Ask what its purpose might be, then consider what yours is.
  • Breathe deeply, listen to your heart, look for your star, and claim your wings, saying to yourself, “YOU CAN BE ANYTHING!
“You can be anything you want to be, if only you believe with sufficient conviction and act in accordance with your faith: for whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve.\”
Napoleon Hill

FROG HIP HOP DAY – PUT ON YOUR FEET & FIND YOUR BEAT

ART:

You Can Drum –

Frog Printable –

  • Stick your thumb in green paint.
  • Press it onto a piece of paper to be the Frog body.
  • Then stick your pinky in the green paint.
  • Press it onto the same paper underneath your thumb print twice to be Frog feet.
  • Use a pen to draw arms, mouth, eyes.
  • For more ideas, visit: https://www.pinterest.com/explore/frog-crafts/

SCIENCE:

Grow a Frog

  • We ordered ours through the website growafrog.com.
  • Another incredible experience to watch, share, and learn about together.
  • Get library books on Frogs and Life Cycles.

GAME:

Drum Circle –

  • Play inside or out with 1 or more players.
  • Sit on the ground or put all your chairs in a circle.
  • Then everyone starts playing their drums until they find their groups rhythm.
  • Sing each persons Boom Shake Song, then go around the circle and name your favorite animal, etc as everyone keeps their beat.

Musical Chairs –

  • Play inside or out with 4 or more players.
  • You can use your chairs that you already used for your drum circle.
  • Make sure you have one fewer chair than player each time you start the game.
  • The music starts and everyone moves around the circle.
  • When the teacher/ leader stops the music the player who does not have a chair is out.
  • See more about learning to play Musical Chairs

Duck Duck Goose—“WHOOSH! WHAM! You Can…” –

  • Play inside or out with 3 or more players.
  • Again you can use your existing circle from the above games.
  • One person is it. They go around the circle tapping each person on the head saying, “WHOOSH!”… Then “WHAM!”
  • Over and over until they finally pick their chaser yelling “You Can…”
  • Then they run!
  • If the person who is it gets all the way around the circle and sits back in the chasers seat with out getting tagged they win and keep playing.
  • If they get tagged the chaser gets to now go around the circle tapping heads saying, “WHOOSH! WHAM!… You Can!”
  • See more about how to play Duck Duck Goose.

Leap Frog –

  • Play inside or out with 2 or more players.
  • You make a line, leaping over the person in front of you, spreading your legs like a frog. The Frog continues leaping over everyone until he reaches the front of the line.
  • He kneels down and places his hands over his head for the next frog to come through.
  • Each player goes and you can repeat the game as many times as you’d like.
  • See more about how to play Leapfrog

Hop Scotch –

  • Play inside or out, alone or with as many players as you want.
  • Use chalk or tape to draw the hopscotch pattern with 10 numbered sections.
  • Each player has their own marker like a rock, shell, bottle top, pencil, etc.
  • One player at a time, starting with the #1 square, tries to toss their marker in it.
  • Then the player hops through the hopscotch pattern, one foot in each square, skipping over the marker square, hopping all the way down and back.
  • A player losses a turn if they hop on a line, lose their balance, or if they miss the right square when it is their turn to toss their marker.
  • See more about how to play Hopscotch.

MUSIC:

  • Sit quietly outside and listen to all the incredible sounds of nature.
  • If you are near a pond or somewhere with water, hopefully you will have the fun of hearing the Frogs sing.
  • Or play Frog’s Boom Shake Celebration Song.

SNACK:

CATCH-M CACHE:

  • Make a “CATCH-M Cache”—A treasure chest filled with special gifts that have smiles on them, a notepad, and pen.
  • You can hide your CATCH-M Cache on your own, with your class or family.
  • Then let the official treasure hunting begin!
  • Whenever you find A Cache, sign your name, take a treasure, and leave a new treasure for someone else to find.
  • For more details, visit the \”Go Geocaching\” page of my website.

DRESS UP:

  • Kids can wear bling, fun things like side ways hats, weird shoes, shirts, or anything they think would be fun to dance and hop around in, even bunny ears.

CHARACTER STRENGTH:

  • Go out in the world and try everything you can, every kind of music, book, food, sport, show, art, language, etc.
  • Then watch what makes your heart sing, dance to it’s beat, enjoying every note, taking it all in so you can find your feet and sing, “YOU CAN DO ANYTHING!
“You can do anything you set your mind to.”
Benjamin Franklin

FLAMINGO DAY – LET YOUR BEAUTY RADIATE

ART:

Handprint Flamingos –

  • Paint your right hand, red or pink. Press your painted handprint onto a piece of paper with the thumb up and fingers to the side.
  • Add a beak and eyes to thumb, a flat U in the middle of the hand in black to look like a wing, and a backwards 4 at the base of the hand in yellow to look like legs.
  • Give them feet and your done.
  • Even tape every bodies to a piece of butcher paper to create a class mural.
  • For more details: https://www.pinterest.com/explore/flamingo-craft/

SCIENCE:

“You are what you eat.”

  • Flamingos are pink because the algae they eat is loaded with beta carotene, an organic chemical that contains reddish pigment.
  • Study why diet is so important and the 5 main FOOD GROUPS two-leggers eat:
    • Dairy
    • Fruit
    • Grains (cereal)
    • Lean meats, poultry, fish, eggs, tofu, nuts and seeds
    • Vegetables, legumes, and beans.

Get Library Books on Flamingos and Healthy Diets.

GAME:

Show and Tell –

  • Everyone gathers together and takes turns showing off their most extraordinary treasure.

Flamingo Bingo –

  • Play with Numbers, Alphabet Letters, Animals, Punctuation, or Play Rock-N-Roll Bingo with fun songs you choose
  • Play inside or out with 3 or more players.
  • Buy or make cards that work for the game you choose.
  • Have one person draw and call out the number, etc until you have a winner. Include prizes too.

Flamingo Food Toss –

  • Play inside or out, alone or with as many players as you want.
  • Flamingos eat in funny ways so have fun trying to eat upside down. Or have fun tossing food up and catching it with your beaks/mouth. You can keep score.

MUSIC—POEM:

Boom Shake Celebration Poem –

SNACK:

  • Assign each student one of the 5 food groups and have them pick some snack that fits in their category and bring enough for the whole class to try.
  • For more fun have the class eat Flamingo style—upside down, etc.

CATCH-M CACHE:

  • Make a “CATCH-M Cache,” a treasure chest filled with special gifts that have smiles on them, a notepad, and pen.
  • You can hide your CATCH-M Cache on your own, with your class or family. 
  • Then let the official treasure hunting begin!
  • Whenever you find a Cache, sign your name, take a treasure, and leave a new treasure for someone else to find.
  • Learn more about Geocaching.

DRESS UP:

Day of Beauty –

  • Wear your most beautiful, odd, extraordinary outfit, hairdo, or shoes. Also wear some pink and think to stand on one leg every hour.

CHARACTER STRENGTH:

  • No matter what anybody says or how you much you compare yourself to others, you are perfectly and wonderfully made. You are extraordinary!
  • There has never been and never will be another person like you with your gifts, your wisdom, your drive and your desires.
  • Live your life to the fullest saying to yourself, “YOU CAN HAVE ANYTHING!
“You can have anything you want if you want it badly enough. You can be anything you want to be, do anything you set out to accomplish if you hold to that desire with singleness of purpose.”
Abraham Lincoln

TERMITE DAY – HARD WORK & TEAM WORK WORKS WONDERS

ART:

Lego/ Building Blocks –

  • Work together to build a super cool castle with anything you can find: Legos, wooden blocks, cards, or outside with a rock or stick formation.

SCIENCE:

  • Study the 4 Seasons—1. Winter 2. Spring 3. Summer 4. Fall.
  • And understand the importance of designing, building, and sharing a home that can provide protection during each.

Get Library Books on Termites.

GAME:

Stuck In A Hole Tag –

  • Play outside with 3 or more players. One person is it. Everyone runs around.
  • If you are tagged you have to sit on the ground cross-legged like you’re stuck in a hole.
  • The only way out is if someone comes and tags you.
  • Learn more about how to play tag

Aa! Ee! Ii! Oo! Uu! LOOK OUT FOR THE SHOE! Game –

  • Play in a gym or outside with 3 or more players.
  • You play like dodgeball, but you call the balls “Shoes!” (Why “Shoes”- you will learn in Book 3.)
  • The sides are uneven. One is The Termite Side who has fewer players, buy if they work hard and together they should be able beat the Honey Badger side as they watch them run away scared!
  • Learn more about playing dodgeball. 

CODES, NOTES, & RIDDLES

  • Create different ways to encourage yourself or someone else to fight for their dreams.
  • Learn more in my “Create Codes, Notes & Riddles” section.

Class Project –

Work together with your family, friends, neighborhood, school on a way to make our world great: Recycle, build a garden, fix something broken, pick up trash, etc.

MUSIC:

  • Create a unique beat stomping your feet as you strive forward; clapping your hands; pounding a wall; singing a song that your dream can come true!

SNACK:

  • Any kind of snack you can stack or lean against each other to create
    a roof, or some sort of shelter.
  • Then put your treats inside to stay warm and protected until you eat them.

CATCH-M CACHE:

  • Make a “CATCH-M Cache”—A treasure chest filled with special gifts that have smiles on them, a notepad, and pen.
  • You can hide your CATCH-M Cache on your own, with your class or family. Then
    Then let the official treasure hunting begin!
    Whenever you find A Cache, sign your name, take a treasure, and leave a new treasure for someone else to find.
  • Learn more about Geocaching.

DRESS UP:

  • Pick a position in a noble family—King, Queen, Princess, Prince, Soldier, Carpenter, Butler etc. and dress accordingly.

CHARACTER STRENGTH:

  • Pay close attention to your surroundings, what you need for warmth, shelter, safety, food, success, etc.
  • Also, take the time to learn how to relate and work well with others so that we can all excel and accomplish great things together, living a life beyond our wildest dreams as we learn that, “YOU CAN LOVE AND BE LOVED!
“Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives your courage.”
Lao Tzu

BABOON DAY – CELEBRATE YOUR BEST LIFE

ART:

PomPoms –

  • Learn all about making and using PomPoms!

Colorful Mask –

  • Create so your face radiates for a fun celebration.
  • Brown paper grocery bags are the best. Cut out eyes, color, etc.
  • At the end of the day, you can fill each others bags/masks with Surprise Smiles or You Can Notes.

Hulu Skirt or A Tutu –

  • Have fun coming up with fun ways to create.

SCIENCE:

Community –

  • Baboons over the years have learned the importance community— They live in large groups called Troops where getting along with each other, knowing the roles they each play, etc is extremely important.
  • Get Library Books about Baboons, Mandrills, and the importance of Community.

GAME:

Red Hot Moody Potato –

  • Play inside or out with 3 or more players.
  • Sit in a circle and sing Baboon or Baby Baboon’s Boom Shake Celebration Song.
  • When the song ends who ever is left holding the red hot moody potato is out.
  • Or you can use a buzzing timer.
  • Learn how to play Hot Potato 

Back Rub Train –

  • Play inside or out with at least 1 other player.
  • Make a train and rub the persons back in front of you for 1-2 minutes.
  • Then the person in the front of the line moves to the back and
    you keep going for as long as you’d like.

A-BUN-DANCE Game –

  • Play alone, with four-legged friends or as many as you can, even dare a flash mob dance.
  • Put on a tutu, a hat, headband, or anything grand even a homemade Hula Skirt.
  • Rock, shake, swing, dance, drum, sing, as the game starts with a shout,
    “Yeah, BUTt I can!”
  • Then break into a big bun-booty dance singing a Boom Shake Song or any other song.
  • You can even coordinate a big group who all learn the same dance moves and do a surprise flash mob performance for parents, neighbors or friends.
  • And end with a booty shake and the shout out, “My life is filled with ‘ABUNDANCE’!”

MUSIC:

Boom Shake Celebration Song –

  • Play your own, Baboons, or any animal from Dream Big. Perform while playing A-BUN-DANCE Game. Even dare a flash mob performance.
  • Learn more in the “Write Your Own Boom Shake Song” section.

SNACK:

  • Baboons over the years have actually learned to share and have gone so far as to feed one another.
  • So for fun pick a snack. Feed your friend to the right, give it to a neighbor, friend, a per son in need, a homeless shelter, the list is endless.

CATCH-M CACHE:

  • Make a “CATCH-M Cache”—A treasure chest filled with special gifts that have smiles on them, a notepad, and pen.
  • You can hide your CATCH-M Cache on your own, with your class or family. Then
  • Let the official treasure hunting begin!
  • Whenever you find A Cache, sign your name, take a treasure, and leave a new treasure for someone else to find.
  • Learn more about Geocaching.

DRESS UP:

  • Wear a tutu, a hula skit, a headband, a cape or whatever you think might create a mood of fun and celebration.
  • You can also wear a lot of color and call it \”Rainbow Day.\”

CHARACTER STRENGTH:

  • Our minds and moods can create dark, hard, lonely times where we’re either mean to others, ourselves or just plain scared, frozen, unable to do what we know we should.
  • We have to watch all of these realities, understand how they affect us, move through our different moods, then ultimately choose to be grateful no matter how bad it has been or how tragic our situations as we say to ourselves, “YOU CAN CELEBRATE LIFE!
“You can do anything if you have enthusiasm. Enthusiasm is the yeast that makes your hopes. Rise to the stars.”
Henry Ford

Please share photos, videos or any fun ideas from your parties!

We’d love to see, build community, and celebrate the quest for our dreams together.

Share them on social media with a #GOBIG #CATCHM

or send them to us directly. Tell us your name, where your from, and if it is okay for us to share them with our community.

“It’s time to come together. . .
Everyone around the world come on! Yahoo!
It’s a celebration”

Kool & The Gang

The tadpole from DREAM BIG by children\'s book author Kat Kronenberg