Happy Birthday Moon! Literary Activities and Focus Lessons

Happy Birthday Moon by Frank Asch, was a favorite book of mine as a young child, and I have passed my book on to my kids who now love it just the same. If you haven’t heard of or read Happy Birthday Moon it is a cute story about a bear who finds that he has the same birthday as the moon! They exchange birthday gifts (or so he thinks!) and become great friends. (SH – don’t spoil it, but the “moon talking” is actually an echo from the bear’s voice over the mountains) If you haven’t read it with your child you should buy it or rent it from the library.

Here are a few fun activities that you can incorporate into your week while reading Happy Birthday Moon.

Gather together different materials like cups, seashells, plates, hats, etc. and have your children talk loudly into them. Do any of them create an echo? What about talking in different rooms in your house, or even outside. Try different locations in your backyard! What is an echo? If your child is old enough you can talk about sound waves too!

In the story the bear talks to the moon. Take your kids outside at night and list the things you can see in the sky. There is (usually!) a moon, stars, and sometimes you can even see a plane or two! Build a telescope the next day using cardboard paper towel rolls and decorate it with tissue paper, glitter, stickers, etc. Your kids can then it use it at night to get a more narrow look at the beautiful creations in the sky! If they are old enough you can discuss constellations too!

In the story Bear gives the moon a black top hat. Using construction cut out pieces to make a top hat, and have the kids glue it onto another paper and decorate it!

Bear and the Moon became friends. Talk about what it means to be a good friend, and how much fun it is to give gifts to other people. Does it make them happy or sad? Gifts can be bought, made, or even offered in the form of a service – like helping a sibling clean their room or a parent wash up the dishes!