Fun Book-Themed Activities for Crenshaw
By Lily | Published 2 January 2023 | Goodreads Rating 3.98 | This post may contain affiliate links.
We’ve curated a list of fun games and activities inspired by Crenshaw. Be sure to try some (or all!) of these ideas while creating special memories for your family along the way!
Crenshaw, written by Katherine Applegate, is a heartwarming story about a young boy named Jackson and his imaginary friend, Crenshaw, who happens to be a giant, talking cat. As Jackson struggles with his family's financial difficulties, Crenshaw helps him navigate through his challenges with humor and compassion. This poignant novel explores themes of homelessness, family, and the power of imagination.
Continue the reading fun with these book-themed activities when you’ve finished the book! If you or your child haven’t read this book yet, visit the book summary for Crenshaw here!
The 10 Best Family-Friendly Activities to Bring Crenshaw to Life
Activity 1: Organize a yard sale as a family.
Jackson and his family sadly had to hold a yard sale to earn money as well as sell everything before moving into their car. However, organizing a yard sale can be a fun and educational experience for kids for many reasons:
1. Teaches valuable life skills: Organizing a yard sale involves planning, pricing, advertising, and negotiating, which are all valuable skills that can be useful in many aspects of life.
2. Encourages creativity: Kids can use their creativity to come up with fun ways to advertise and decorate their yard sale, which can be a fun and rewarding experience.
3. Promotes responsibility: Kids will need to take responsibility for their yard sale by setting up, managing, and cleaning up after the event.
4. Provides opportunity to earn money: Yard sales can be a great way for kids to earn some extra money by selling items they no longer need or want.
5. Encourages decluttering: Organizing a yard sale can motivate kids to declutter their belongings and get rid of items they no longer need or use, which can help them develop good organizational habits.
Find out how one summer camp used yard sales (just like the character Jackson in the story did) to teach kids financial responsibility!
Activity 2: Learn about the special friendship that comes from cats!
Crenshaw was an imaginary friend for Jackson, but the bond and friendship between Crenshaw/Jackson and Grizzly/Justin is very real! here were a lot similarities - to start, they’re both black cats!! And Crenshaw likes to surf while this cat called Grizzly likes to skateboard!! Does your child have a similar friendship with a 4-legged animal?
Activity 3: Visit the largest cat cafe in Japan!
The Cat Cafe Mocha based in the bustling district of Shinjuku in Tokyo is the largest cat cafe in Japan. The interior is very relaxing and clean even with as many as 33 cats living there! The "meal time" when all the cats in the store eat together is incredibly cute and you should see it at least once. Follow along in the below video to visit the cafe and to learn more about this purr-fect place as well as about Japan!
Activity 4: Create your own cat cafe at home!
If you and your kids are inspired by Cat Cafe Mocha, set up your very own cat cafe at home! Even if you don’t have cats, encourage your kids to think creatively by using stuffed animals or pictures of cats and envision Crenshaw coming as a special guest. Or better yet, invite friends who have a cat to join in the fun!! Here are a few ideas to get your kids started on their cat cafe:
1. Menu planning: Kids can create a menu for their cat cafe, including cat-themed snacks and drinks like "meow-mosas" (orange juice and sparkling water) or "tuna salad sandwiches." They can also make signs and labels for their menu items.
2. Cat crafts: Kids can create cat-related crafts to decorate their cafe, such as making cat ears headbands, drawing and cutting out cat paw prints to put on the floor or walls, or making cat toys to sell in the cafe.
3. Dress-up: Encourage kids to dress up in cat-related outfits, such as cat ear headbands and tails, or aprons with cat prints, to add to the atmosphere of the cafe.
4. Role-playing: Kids can take turns being the "cafe owner" and "customer," practicing their social skills and imagination by serving food and drinks and engaging in pretend conversations.
5. Reading to cats: If you have a pet cat, kids can take turns reading their favorite books to the cat, creating a cozy and relaxing environment for both the cat and the readers.
6. Cat-themed games: Kids can play cat-themed games such as "Pin the Tail on the Cat" or "Cat Charades."
Activity 5: Inspire young world changers.
Crenshaw is imaginary. Childhood hunger isn’t. Three out of five K–8 public school teachers say they regularly see students come to school hungry. There are two ways that you and your family can get involved and help struggling families like Jackson’s. This includes organizing a food drive to drop off at a school in a disadvantaged neighbourhood. Or, finding a food pantry where your family can volunteer to serve food to those in need.
Hear firsthand from Addie Mae from her research and involvement on food pantries, and how kids can make a difference together with their families.
RELATED: If your child loved Crenshaw, check our our list of the 50 Best Cat Books to read!
Activity 6: Organize a family game night with cat-themed games!
Playing cat-themed board games as a family is a fun and engaging way to spend quality time together. It provides an opportunity to bond, strategize, and challenge each other in a light-hearted way. It also encourages problem-solving skills and encourages creativity. Check-out these fun cat-themed board games:
Cat Crimes: This is a very fun game with varying levels of difficulty that feels educational too. The easier levels could be suitable for younger kids, like 5 years, and the "expert" level is challenging for older kids. One round of the game can be played in about 5 minutes.
A Game of Cat & Mouth: A fiercely competitive, magnet-powered, highly addicting, Pinball’ish game! A Game of Cat & Mouth is all about fast-flinging and quick thinking with a touch of precision. It’s like air hockey, but instead of air and hockey, it’s cats and rainbows! It’s cutthroat multiplayer pinball.
Exploding Kittens: Game Of The Year Award Winner - More than 10 million copies sold, breaking records in kids games, adult games and everything in between. This hit party game is for family and friends who are into kittens and explosions and laser beams and sometimes goats.
Activity 7: Create a diamond painting picture of a cat!
Diamond painting is a fun and creative activity that involves using small resin "diamonds" to create a picture or design. The process involves placing the diamonds onto a pre-printed canvas that has a coded chart indicating where each diamond should be placed. The end result is a sparkling, mosaic-like image.
Diamond painting is a great activity for kids, depending on age and skill level, as it helps improve fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, and concentration. However, it is important to ensure that young children are supervised as the small diamond pieces can be a choking hazard. Additionally, it’s important to also check the labeling and only use kits that are labeled as non-toxic and safe for children.
Activity 8: Organize a "crazy socks" day.
In the book, the main character, Jackson, wears crazy socks to school. Encourage your kids to wear their own crazy socks and talk about the significance of this in the story. Have a contest to see which person comes up with the craziest combination!!
Activity 9: Download free resources to build reading comprehension.
This Teacher’s Guide from MacMillan Publishing includes discussion questions and thoughtful activities.
The Classroom Bookshelf provides an extensive list of Teaching Ideas and Invitations for Crenshaw that especially deals with hunger and homelessness.
Vocabulary.com is a great resource to test your child's knowledge, as well as spelling acumen of words learnt from Crenshaw.
Download this free printable for Crenshaw from Reading Quests to help with your child’s comprehension of this book and to make reading fun. Great for struggling readers!
Activity 10: Read more much-loved stories of animals!
If your child (and you!) enjoyed reading Crenshaw, be sure to check out these books with inspiring stories of animals and award-winning authors!
Wish: From award-winning author Barbara O'Connor comes a middle-grade novel about a girl who, with the help of a true-blue friend, a big-hearted aunt and uncle, and the dog of her dreams, unexpectedly learns the true meaning of family in the least likely of places.
Pax: Pax by Sara Pennypacker is a novel about a boy named Peter and his pet fox named Pax, who are separated when Peter's father enlists in the military. The book follows their separate journeys and eventual reunion as they both navigate the challenges of war and loss.
Odder: Inspired by the true story of a Monterey Bay Aquarium program that pairs orphaned otter pups with surrogate mothers, this poignant and humorous tale told in free verse examines bravery and healing through the eyes of one of nature’s most beloved and charming animals.
REWARD: Celebrate Crenshaw!
When your child has finished the book and completed at least one of the above activities, download this FREE book-themed artwork to hang or frame in your child’s room as a keepsake of this special book!
More book-themed rewards to celebrate Crenshaw!
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