Nothing breaks up monotonous and sedentary routines better than a celebration! Elementary schools all over the U.S. celebrate Read Across America week in honor of Dr. Seuss’s birthday. During Dr. Seuess week, young kids read many of the author’s most beloved stories while finding fun activities to pair along with.
While you will find many creative and fun ideas to celebrate Dr. Seuss’s week, we have the very best Wacky Wednesday Ideas right here to create a wacky day in your classroom or at home!
Where Did the Book Wacky Wednesday Come From?
If you ever read Dr. Seuss, you will know that kids love all of the silly things in his stories that create meaningful learning experiences.
Dr. Seuss’s birthday is on March 2, and this year, that day falls on a Wednesday! Many have made March 2 a week-long celebration of all the wacky things in honor of Dr. Seuss’s birthday.
However, the fundamental idea for a “Wacky Wednesday” came from the story entitled just that, Wacky Wednesday.
4 Dress Up for Wacky Wednesday Ideas
Dressing up in some way for a special occasion or increasing school spirit is an enthusiastic way of showing how excited you are. In this case, what better occasion to celebrate wacky Wednesday than wearing wacky clothing or crazy hair? Every one of these dress ideas can be done in an in-person school setting or live via a class Zoom session! There is no reason everyone can’t join together and be wacky in celebrating Dr. Seuss’s week, whether you’re together or apart.
1. Have Wacky Hair!
One of my favorite wacky Wednesday ideas is coming to school with crazy hair! Many fun ways to make your hair extra silly for this wacky day. Put your hair into several different braids and ponytails, use hair paint for wacky colored hair, place feathers and beads on top of your head. Children will love seeing all of the different wacky hair, and parents will love to create it!
2. Have a Silly Sock Day
Wearing silly socks for a silly book is one of the most straightforward ideas for wacky Wednesday. My kids love when they see my super funky knee-high socks with Dr. Seuss characters all over them. Kids can mismatch their socks, wear lots of sock layers, or find funky ones to adorn. Make your silly sock day a contest and have your class vote on who has the craziest pair of socks! The winner gets a wacky Wednesday prize to complete their silly sock look.
3. Wear Wacky Colors
I guess colors themselves are not “wacky”; however, you could do more of a mismatch day to make wacky Wednesday a whole lot more fun! Forget what mom says doesn’t match; go on and choose what you think will look its wackiest for this unique and fun day. So dress to impress all of your students with your wacky mismatched colors and see who looks the wackiest!
4. Wear Your Clothes Backwards (or Inside Out!)
Don’t wanna wear stuff backward, well then, flip it inside out! While wearing your pants backward can come with its own set of dilemmas, watching everyone walk around with their shirts, pants, socks, shoes, hats, etc. on backward will give everyone a good laugh! You could even get crazy and wear your clothes inside out and backward!
5 Wacky Wednesday Activities
Our list of Wacky Wednesday ideas wouldn’t be complete without a handful of hands-on learning Seuss activities! Each of the suggestions selected is low prep activities that are loads of fun and contribute to the learning theme of Wacky Wednesday.
1. Bring Wacky Things
Consider this option as more of a Wacky Wednesday show and tell! Children will love to get creative with the types of wacky things they can find around their home to show the whole class. Plus, this is a great learning activity that allows students to learn and explore different things they would not usually know about.
2. Do a Wacky Experiment
Nothing says Wacky Wednesday without a bit of science experiment. One of my favorites is a foamy experiment students can make either from their desks or at home. Show students what wacky things happen when baking soda meets vinegar.
Also, there is the option to make some wacky Wednesday slime! Kids love to create slime, and they would be more than happy to have this to play with at the classroom table.
Make any of these fun options educational by integrating new words that they can use all day.
3. Write Your Own Wacky Story
What better way to honor the Seuss birthday than to write your own wacky story? This one is undoubtedly a top favorite among the many Wacky Wednesday activities! Kids love to create their own stories, and they are always too bright and colorful. When your kids are all done, have them read aloud their story to the class.
4. Pair Dr. Seuss Reading
Have your students pair their Wacky Wednesday story with Dr. Seuss’s Green Eggs and Ham. By bringing other Dr. Seuss books into your lesson, you introduce your students to a realm of different vocabulary and fun.
What is wackier than making green eggs in class and then getting to eat them. Plus, go ahead and make something wacky, even wackier, by putting polka dots on the green eggs and ham.
5. Create a Wacky Painting
Activity ideas for Wacky Wednesday would not be complete without allowing students to create a piece of artwork that is beautifully wacky! Have your kids create their wacky art pieces and hang them in the hallway during Dr. Seuss’s week, then allow them to take paintings home.
4 Wacky Wednesday Surprises!
Wacky Wednesday is so much more fun with wacky surprises when you enter the classroom! Why, if you’re dressed wacky, your hair is wacky, and you’re doing wacky activities, then the classroom should be wacky too! If you are teaching from home, you can easily adjust your decorations to fit your learning environment.
1. Rearrange Your Classroom
I know this one sounds like a lot of work (and it is), but the kids love it! Plus, this can be done in a regular classroom or a homeschool resource room. So go ahead, rearrange the furniture, place all your books upside down, and make your classroom plain crazy. Kids will love using those problem-solving skills to find things in silly places.
2. Hang Hats from the Ceiling
While this is not your typical decor, this one is so much fun! During Dr. Seuss week, have your students bring in hats to help you complete your silly look, or bring in a bunch of your own and hang them from the ceiling. Make this silly decoration educational by having different types of hats from different parts of the world and teach your kids about those places. With that, pair the Dr. Seuss book Oh, The Places You’ll Go.
3. Upside Down Furniture
This one may take a little more time and energy among all of the Wacky Wednesday ideas for your classroom. Place your lamp shades upside down, flip over those chairs and desks, and anything else you can think of! Doing this will make it feel like you’re actually inside Dr. Seuss’s books! You can even pretend you’re dancing on the ceiling. How fun is that for a room full of imaginative kids?
4. Hang Pictures Upside Down
If you flip all of your furniture upsides down, why not your pictures too? Kids will love the wacky upside-down pictures for Dr. Suess week! You can even make your upside-down posters and pictures into an early reading game by putting your students into teams to see who can read all of the upside-down posters the fastest. Because, honestly, most of what teachers have hanging up in their rooms have words on them.
Creating a Hybrid Learning Lesson Plan
What I love about every one of these Wacky Wednesday Ideas (aside from the fact they are tons of fun) is that kids and parents can celebrate read across America week with everyone. Because Covid is still throwing education for a loop, we wanted to ensure these Dr. Seauss week activities could be done from a house or classroom.
Parents, have your students take a video of their wacky wear, their wacky pictures, stories, and so on, and post it to your homeschool community or online learning environment. You can also celebrate with them within your own house and make special memories.
Final Thoughts on Wacky Wednesday Ideas
For most classrooms and homes with smaller children, Dr. Seuss books are a staple for learning rhyming, sight words, and valuable lessons. There is a reason why the whole country comes together one week a year to celebrate all of the great works of this renowned children’s author. Any time we can come together as educators to promote fun and laughter while simultaneously learning should always be taken advantage of.
In the most famous words of the great Dr. Seuss himself, “The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn the more places you’ll go!”
