“Wish” Review and Activity

by Haley Bono

As the snow melts and the grass grows, so does every child’s favorite little yellow weed: the dandelion. Soon these little flowers will go to seed and turn into a gray round puff ready and waiting to grant little kids’ wishes, while remaining a nemesis to every yard enthusiast.

I discovered the sweetest little book called Wish by Chris Saunders, where a rabbit manages to catch three little round wishes, and then sets off to ask his friends what he should wish for. This book has the most whimsical pictures as the rabbit roams through the forest wondering what the best use of his wishes would be. The message of the story is one of selflessness. In the end Rabbit gives the wishes to each of his friends, and in return his friends offer their talents, and friendship back to the him. It is an important lesson to teach our children that as we serve and are kind to others. As we do this we are often given service and kindness in return, which creates a beautiful cycle that builds wonderful communities.

This is a scholastic book, and may be available at your local bookstore. However you can also purchase it here on amazon.

To introduce this activity you can talk a little bit about dandelions. Did you know that dandelions were not always considered a weed? It's true! Historically, dandelions were a very useful plant, even magical. They are packed full of important nutrients such as vitamin A, vitamin C, Iron, Calcium, and Potassium. The Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association says:

“Dandelions are more nutritious than most of the vegetables in your garden. They were named after lions because their lion-toothed leaves healed so many ailments, great and small: baldness, dandruff, toothache, sores, fevers, rotting gums, weakness, lethargy and depression.”

Supplies:

Free dandelion page (there will be a free download at the end of the post), Something to color with (we chose water color paints), glue, cotton balls, food coloring, water, some type of small bowls, dropper (If you don’t have a dropper you can use a paint brush), a smock or large t-shirt.

Directions:

1. Color/paint the dandelion page. I love using watercolors since my kids love painting, but it is so easy to clean up, but you can use any coloring medium you would like. However, if you are using crayons, be careful coloring the center of the dandelions since we will be gluing there, and glue doesn’t like sticking to the waxy surface crayons leave behind. If you used paint, let it dry.
2. Pull out enough cotton balls to place one in the center of each dandelion. You can also rip them in half, and use half for each center. Glue the cotton balls to the center of each dandelion. Let it dry.
3. Decide how many colors of food coloring you would like to use. We used four, but you can use however many/little as you would like. Place a little water in the bottom of a bowl/container and add several drops of food coloring. BE CAREFUL, food coloring is PERMANENT, you may want to cover clothing with a smock, or old t-shirt.
4. Using a dropper or paintbrush, drop different colors of food coloring onto each cotton ball. Let it dry.

Different Variations:

• To make this activity more engaging for older kids, there is an optional template that includes three places for them to write their own wishes. Encourage your little ones to think of others. How would these wishes help others around them?