“Sarabella’s Thinking Cap” by Judy Schachner
When I was a child I was a huge daydreamer, that is when my nose wasn’t buried in a book or I wasn’t out climbing trees bare foot. I loved to imagine everything from my own stories to ridiculous and pretend scenarios for situations in my life. I think that is why I related to the Sarabella, the main protagonist in this book.
Sarabella always seems to have her “head in the clouds” thinking about the most amazing things. This makes it hard for her to focus in school and until the teacher assigns art homework that involves drawing your thoughts, Sarabella has a hard time connecting with her fellow classmates and connecting with school work. Instead of just doing the assignment, Sarabella takes it one step further and creates a “thinking cap” that becomes a physical representation of all the beautiful thoughts floating around in her mind. It is through this that Sarabella finds herself connecting with her classmates and learning a way to express herself.
This book is gorgeously illustrated and is such a wonderful story about self acceptance, self expression and so much more. Definitely one for every dreamer.
Click here to purchase “Sarabella’s Thinking Cap” *affiliate link
Paper Bag “Thinking Caps” inspired by “Sarabella’s Thinking Cap”
In the book Sarabella creates a thinking cap from a brown paper bag to show her imaginings. Such a craft is fairly easy to mimic and such a wonderful idea that of course we had to give it a try! You could make your “thinking cap” with a large paper sack so that it actually fits your child’s head, or you can use a small paper lunch sack to make mini versions. We opted to use small paper sacks because they were easier for my toddlers to manipulate and less overwhelming because they had less empty space to fill up. However, I imagine that older children especially would enjoy making large, wearable versions.
Supplies:
- paper sack (large or small)
- any craft supplies that you want to use to decorate. (Ideas: markers, feathers, glitter, your own doodles, magazine clippings, cards, old book jackets…)
- glue or other adhesive for adhering your decorations
Process:
- Start by rolling up the bottom, open edge of the paper bag. Scrunch it as you go and be careful not to tear the bag.
- Continue to roll until you make a rim that you like. (If using a large paper sack continue to roll until it is the right size for your head. The more you roll the smaller the opening will get.)
- Tuck in the top corners of the bag if you would like a “rounded edge” appearance for your hat.
- Decorate your hat with anything and everything you want. There are no rules! We used markers, plastic gems, pom poms, a flower pin and cut out snails from a book jacket. (“Escargot” by Daska Slater in case you were wondering. It is seriously a cute book!)
I hope you and your little dreamers enjoy making these “thinking caps” as much as we did. If you give this Beyond the Book activity a try I’d love to hear how it goes! Share it on Instagram using hashtag #beyondthebook (I’m on Instagram as @book.nerd.mommy) or even just comment here with your thoughts. It would make my day! Or to simply save for later pin the image below.
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