Owl Sandwich and Books

We read two books featuring owls this week, so I had to reinvent my owl sandwich.  Last year, I made this owl sandwich

and these owl pancakes

My owl sandwich didn't change too much; actually, if I had checked the blog or remembered, I would have included the Cheerios, but I completely forgot about them.  So, the only real change is the addition of apple circles.

I cut the owl shape out of a slice of bread and covered it with peanut butter.  To make the eyes, I cut circles out of apple slices with my smallest biscuit cutter, and then placed banana circles on top of those and used raisins as the pupils.  The beak is a cashew.

The books we read this week are:

Owl Moon by Jane Yolen - In this book, a young girl goes owling with her father.  C and R both enjoyed this book, but I LOVED it.  Seriously, I felt transported into the woods on this cold, dark evening and I could see the moon, feel the cold air, and hear the echo.  I want to go owling now!  One cool thing is that the author's husband used to take their children owling in Massachusetts, and that made this book particularly pleasurable for Yolen to write.  It has also made me want to find out more about owling!

One Odd Old Owl by Paul S. Adshead is a tongue-twisiting, rhyming, repeating, puzzle story about a snoring owl that is disturbing a sleepy snail.  The snail asks more and more birds to wake the owl, to make the snoring stop, and the results are very funny!  We all enjoyed this book.  The illustrations alone are incredibly beautiful, and every time you read this book, you will discover a different layer of fun.

Click here to read about more owl books we have enjoyed, and to find directions for a simple owl craft.

C was so young in this photo!

Owl Pancakes

Owl Mask

The template and directions for this owl mask can be found at the National Wildlife Federation website.  I traced the template onto craft foam and cut out all of the pieces.  C and R glued the masks together.  I used a pin to make tiny holes on the sides of the eyes and pushed shoelaces through to tie the masks.  You can also add feathers. 

After making the masks, we read one of our favorite owl books, Good Night Owl by Pat Hutchins.  Poor Owl is trying to sleep, but all of the daytime noises around him are keeping him awake.  Will he ever get to sleep?

Owl Snack - Take 2

I replaced the graham cracker beak from the first owl snack I made with a cashew.  I'm still not so sure it looks like an owl.  It's a good thing I am not a food photographer - look at those crumbs on the plate!!!!!!!

I made this by cutting a piece of whole wheat bread into a circle shape (use a cookie cutter or biscuit cutter or a glass).  Then I just cut a notch out of the top to make the two points at the top.  I covered the bread with peanut butter.  At the top, I stuck a few Cheerios on the bread.  The eyes are slices of banana with chocolate chips pushed into them, and the beak is a cashew.

Whooooo wants a healthy snack?

I searched for healthy snacks that look like owls, but the only thing I could find was made with lunch meat and C won't eat lunch meat, so I came up with this.  I guess it looks like an owl if you know it is supposed to be an owl.  Next time, I will make the beak smaller; I think that is the problem.

To make the snack, I used a large biscuit cutter to make a slice of bread into a circle shape.  I then cut a tiny notch out of the top of the circle, and spread peanut butter over the bread.  Banana slices with chocolate chips pushed into them made the eyes.  The beak is a graham cracker that I cut into a triangle, and I used Cheerios above the eyes.  C and R enjoyed every bite.

Legend of the Guardians, The Owls of Ga'Hoole

The whole family went to see Legend of the Guardians, The Owls of Ga'Hoole in 3D yesterday.  I loved every minute of the movie.  R slept through most of the movie (she almost always falls asleep in movie theaters), but everyone else thought it was great.  Click here to see the trailer, and then go see the movie. 

You can expect some owl crafts and snacks posted here over the next week or so!  To read about some of our favorite owl books and see the owl craft we made last year around this time, click here.

Owls

Owls are incredibly interesting, in my opinion. Every fall, I have intentions of going to the raptor show at our local Audubon society but it never seems to happen. We missed it again this year. Maybe next year.

We are having fun learning about owls this week. In addition to learning about their diet, habitat, and anatomy, C and R enjoyed reading a few fiction books and making an owl craft.


Good Night Owl! by Pat Hutchins is a cute book about an owl who cannot sleep one day because of all the noise around him - bees buzzing, crows croaking, etc. I love the 1970s illustrations!

The Sleepy Owl by Marcus Pfister is about an owl who oversleeps and sets off in search of someone to play with. She makes a new friend who helps her find playmates.

Our favorite owl book is Owl Babies by Martin Waddell. It is the sweetest book about three baby owls who wake up to find their mother gone. Will she come back? The little owls are anxious and miss their mother. This is a great book to read if your child is experiencing separation anxiety.


I found this owl craft at Kids Craft Weekly. It was very easy.

1. Glue mini cupcake liners onto the flap of a brown paper lunch bag for eyes, and use a marker to color pupils in the middle.
   
2. Draw a triangle beak on the flap of the bag.
3. Cut strips of paper in different colors to fit across the front of the bag as feathers. Then cut them like fringe and glue in place. We used tissue paper, but you could use construction paper. I discovered that you have to start gluing the strips at the bottom and work your way up to create the layered look.

You could make three owl baby puppets and a mommy owl puppet and retell the story of Owl Babies. How fun would that be? The story is perfect for this type of play.

This was fun. If you have any owl books or crafts that you love, please leave me a comment.