Frederick the Mouse

During my daughter's book fair, I found this adorable book called Frederick. It is the sweetest story about a mouse (named Frederick) who collects things such as words, colors, and stories instead of food and supplies like his den mates. During the ho-hum days of winter, it's Frederick's stories and colors that brighten their lives.

The poem at the end of the story about the 4 mice that live in the sky and provide the seasons was the best. It inspired me to use the story in my class and have the kids make a picture based around the poem.

The items needed for this project are:

- 4 oval mice shapes in grey
- A flower, snowflake, fish, and a pumpkin
- Copy of the Frederick poem
- Grey circles

I framed the poem with paper. Each student glued the mice down in a row and added each season's shape onto their backs. We added yarn for their tails and used the grey circles for their ears. We used the 1-inch circle punch for the ear shapes. It made it a lot easier.

After gluing the mice down, the students then glued the poem to the top. I drew in some lines to look like rocks in the background since the story takes place with Frederick talking to his den mates in the stones of a wall. You can change up the season's shapes to fit with whatever you have. A sun would work great for summer and even a leaf for fall.