A Lithgow Palooza

by John Lithgow

Looking for creative ideas for a rainy day? John Lithgow, one of my favorite actors and childrens’ book author, has compiled 101 activities for kids of all ages that range from art to acting to dance to food to birthdays to vacations and more. This book is a great resource for parents, teachers, and kids for many zany ideas.

Two of my favorites are:
Cat Yoga: You need a cat for this one. Observe your cat throughout the day and identify all the action poses – drawing or videotaping them – and giving them names. Then practice the poses yourself!
Invent-a-saurus: Mix and match dinosaurs and animals to make new creatures like an “Iguanoturkey” or a “Stegojelly” or a “Tricerasnake.” Simply draw or cut and paste pictures from magazines to create your creature. Then you can create a habitat for your creature and even create a collection of them in a notebook sort of like a “field guide”

Lithgow extends each activity with several related ideas which could occupy minutes to hours. He lists good books, music, materials needed, appropriate age ranges, and budgets ranging from free to a few dollars. He encourages you to be creative with what you have at home or wherever you are! This book is in our adult section, but is fine for kids too.

Reviewed by Molly

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