Make Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons - Meri Cherry (2024)

I am so excited to be part of this super awesome Preschool Book Club with 6 other bloggers that care A LOT about reading and bringing fun and creativity into our children’s lives. Each month we will share an activity related to a favorite children’s book. What better book to kick off the series than Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons? I’m a little embarrassed to say my girls are not sooo into books. At least not yet. Don’t get me wrong, they like them. They just aren’t all about books the way some kids are and I really want to change that. That’s where cardboard Pete comes in. Yup, I made a life-size Pete the Cat and he’s so groovy. I have a feeling he is going to become a lot like our recycled hobby horse, Henry, an extended member of the family.

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First, I made a pencil drawing of Pete the Cat on some white corrugated cardboard. I planned on using cardboard from an old box, which would work just as well, but didn’t have any, so I had to go into my stash of stuff to paint on. I drew out Pete the Cat in pencil first and then colored him in with Deco Paint Markers. If you could use a little help with drawing Pete the Cat, I found this cuteprintable that you can print out, cut out and trace on cardboard. If you want a bigger Pete, you can blow up the printable at your local copy store. After I colored him in, I made four buttons from the cardboard by cutting out circles and coloring them. Lastly, I stuck them on using Velcro Squares, which I actually use for a ton of craft projects. It feels like I’m always searching for velcro. Anyway, the next step was to test it out with the girls.

D was first on the scene. I had Pete sitting up on the fence and she went right over to get him down. She was quick to pull all the buttons off and try sticking them on again and again. Then she moved onto something else. My little D.

Gigi spent more time with Pete, talking to him, trying to roll his buttons over the table and rearranging them. Mostly she danced with him and read him her own version of Pete the Cat. We watched this Pete the Cat video as well, which both my girls loved. I have a feeling Pete will be a bigger and bigger star in our house over time, which I love. I am going to use him to prompt the girls to read more Pete the Cat books. I think tomorrow morning I’ll have him sitting at the breakfast table with the book when they wake up in the morning. I plan to put him in all kinds of random places in an effort to build their interest in books.

Two days later – It worked! It worked! My girls are in love with Pete and they love reading Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons. We read it three times this morning, watched the video a few times, and the girls carried him with them all over the house. I am so pleased! Ok, looks like I’ll be making some more characters to read with. We’ll have a whole crew.

Click on the links below to see what other great Pete the Cat ideas you can do with your child and to read about our whole Preschool Book Club Series click here. Have fun!

Button Snacks from Sugar Aunts

Pete the Cat Scavenger Hunt from Home Grown Friends

Pete the Cat Sewing Activity from Mama. Papa. Bubba.

Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons from Frogs and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails

Pete the Cat Math Game by Buggy and Buddy