The Fun of Freckle Juice: Creating Activities Around a Read-Aloud
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Something fun we did the other day was make Freckle Juice…well, kind-of. We made our own version of it. The kids had a blast, and when my kids have fun, I have fun.
Here’s what we did. At bedtime, I gave them the choice, “You want to go to bed now? OR…you can stay up with me, cuddle with me in my bed, and I will read this really fun book to you?” I’m sure you can guess what they picked. Staying up an extra 30 minutes is always their preference!
As a side note, that’s my big hack. The Bedtime Choice. This past week, whenever I said, “Who wants to listen to me read this book?” They all groaned. For some reason, this book did not look fun to them. They always chose a different read-aloud book instead. So, when something like that happens, I give them what I call The Bedtime Choice. And, 95% of the time, they choose what I wanted them to choose because they get to stay up later. And, they are super excited and engaged to do so.
Back to Freckle Juice. So, I read the book Freckle Juice, by Judy Blume. With each chapter I gave my kids The Bedtime Choice – “Should I read the next chapter, or do you want to go straight to bed?” So needless to say, we read the whole book in about 30-45 minutes. It’s such a touching, funny, relatable story. It’s about a kid who really wants freckles and gets a recipe from a mischievous girl to make a potion, basically, that will give him freckles. (It kind of reads in the funny way that Diary of a Wimpy Kid reads.) When the book was all done, I said, “Your assignment tomorrow is to think of one thing you want to change about yourself. Then, create a recipe for a potion that will make that happen, that you want to drink yourself. Then, write down a reversal potion. I can show you our measuring cups and spoons, our spices, our cookie decorating toppings, candy, juice, and more. Whatever you want to put in it, you can!” My youngest said in astonishment, “Will the potions actually work?!?” Precious.
So, the next day, they had their recipes ready, and they spent about an hour presenting their potion recipe, making their potion, and drinking their potion. My girls’ potions were the following: “Candyland: Take away Mommy’s sweatiness on her hands and feet,” and “Never Wash: Never wash your hands again!” My son’s potion was, “Bring me closer to God.” Seriously, my heart melted from their magical creativity. Of course their recipes included fruit, rainbow sprinkles, candy, and juice. My eight-year-old learned that 2 teaspoons of salt does NOT make a sweet drink taste better. Seeing she was near tears, I suggested she start over. We talked about Chefs and how they figure out what works and doesn’t work – through trial-and-error…so it’s okay to start over. And my son learned to check our fruit supply before putting blackberries on his list. My youngest sounded out words like “cup” and “candy.” It was a blast!
As another side note: we also studied melanin, what a freckle is, and why some people have freckles and some don’t. We discussed skin-color and the spectrum that melanin gives us through various people groups on earth. We touched on sun tan and sun block. Most importantly, we discussed how we are all made in God’s image the way that He wants us to be. I explained that God made us the way we are for a reason - we do not need to change ourselves, not even my hyperhidrosis (sweaty hands and feet) – we need to be thankful for the body He has given us. So, you can really dive in deeper into this topic and rabbit trail wherever it takes you.
You can do this type of thing with any read-aloud picture book. I’ve been trying to have one activity per daily read-aloud picture book, and this practice has only enriched our homeschool days. If a book includes balloons, have balloon races! If a book has beautiful watercolor art, then play in art for a bit. If a book is a story with only pictures and no words, then ask, “Who wants to tell this story?!?” You even can ask your children to come up with an activity that represents the picture book. You will get to see what makes your kids excited and fulfills their curiosity. I had no idea my kids would be into making their own recipes…but I do now because of Freckle Juice.
