The Day the Crayons Quit Writing Activity

The first time I read The Day the Crayons Quit to my children I was hooked! My love of the book was solidified when my son had two of his friends over and all three of them became so excited when they saw the book on our shelf and excitedly started retelling the story to each other. Proud teacher/mama moment! The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt explores the point of view of the crayons in a boy’s crayon box. Each crayon quits, refusing to be colored with and writes a letter to the boy sharing its feelings. This week the Preschool Book Club is exploring The Day the Crayons Quit. We love learning from books that focus on acceptance and empathy. The Day the Crayons Quit Writing Activity helps children focus on the feelings of others and the importance of being thankful.

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WHAT YOU NEED FOR THE DAY THE CRAYONS QUIT WRITING ACTIVITY

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Copy of the book The Day the Crayons Quit
1 copy of The Day the Crayons Quit Writing Activity Sheet per child
crayons
pencils

AREAS OF DEVELOPMENT

literacy development
social development
emotional development
color exploration
creativity
fine motor development
artistic exploration

THE DAY THE CRAYONS QUIT WRITING ACTIVITY

Prior to beginning the writing activity take the time to read The Day the Crayons Quit to your children. After reading the book focus the discussion on “Why do you think the crayons felt the need to write the letters? Why did they not want to color anymore?” My children and I talked about how we need to take the time to feel grateful for the people and things in our lives and remember to tell them how much we appreciate them. “I wonder if the crayons would feel better if we took the time to thank them?” I asked. We agreed they would and so our writing activity began.

I told each of my children to go find their favorite crayon color and bring it back to the table. I purposefully didn’t have the crayons at the table because I am always looking for ways to keep their little bodies moving. Once back at the table I handed each of my children a copy of The Day the Crayons Quit Writing Activity Sheet and told them we were going to write thank you notes to our favorite crayons. I read through the sheet and then we began. This writing assignment works for multiple ability levels. My son is independently writing and was able to use inventive spelling (writing words as they sound) complete the writing activity with minimal help.

My daughter wrote her own name and she dictated her words to me and I wrote them for her. Dictation is an important step toward independent writing and reading.

After my children completed the writing I gave them another piece of white paper and had them create a drawing focusing on their favorite color crayons. This was a fun way to honor each crayon.

I love how much thought Quinn put into his drawing.

Once the drawing were completed we displayed them on our wall. My kids really enjoyed this project. Quinn was so inspired by the last page in the book that he took all his crayons back upstairs to his desk and immediately started drawing. Hooray for crayons!

Interested in more ways to explore The Day the Crayons Quit through play? Click on the links below.