I only heard about National Scribble Day this year when I opened an email from our supervisor asking us to celebrate it in our schools. So naturally, I Googled it to find out what it was and discovered that the day is based on a children’s book. A perfect event for teacher librarians.

I know there are already so many “National” Days we try to cover as teachers and librarians, but I do recommend adding this one to your list!

What is National Scribble Day?

This day is specifically celebrated on March 27th, but on or around this day works. The day is based around the book I’m NOT Just a Scribble by: Diane Alber. This book teaches kindness and creativity through the adorable character Scribble. The message of the story is clear for younger readers and will help teach your students about empathy. accepting otherness and kindness.

Scribble Day is fairly new, but there are resources online for different activities for your classes. At the author’s website, there is a great lesson plan document for you to print out!

For Scribble Day, I focused on getting the kids out of the library and into a space where the whole grade could be together to celebrate. Here are all the details of the activity so you can use it in your own school.

Scribble Day Activity

Materials:

• Scribble Stickers (The author sent these to our school for FREE when I signed the school up for the event, but you can also buy them here. One pack is good for 300 kids.)
• Large White Bulletin Board Paper (18 pieces about 4-5 feet long. I did 6 pieces per grade level. Our grade levels range from about 80-105 students which I split into 6 groups).
• 6 Boxes of 24 Count Crayons (I used these from Target for $1.29 per pack.)
• Copy of I’m NOT Just a Scribble OR this YOUTUBE Video to show the students.

Activity Instructions

Overview: After reading or watching the story, students will split into six groups. Each student in the group will get a different color crayon. Each group will also have a picture on large bulletin board paper that they will need to color in as a team. Throughout the project, that student is only allowed to use the one color that is given to him.

Each student will first create a scribble character, adding the eyes and mouth stickers that you give them and then the group will color in the picture.

I recorded my directions for the students, which I included for you below!

Scribble Day Directions Video

Preparation

1. Request or order your Scribble Day stickers.
2. Create a way to group your students. I split each grade level into 6 groups, so I wrote out 100 index cards with the numbers 1-6 on them. As students entered the gym, I gave them an index card with a number on it. When it was time to move to the groups, they moved to the area with their number.
3. Create signs for each group by number or color. The signs should match the index cards so the students can easily find their groups.
4. Create the picture that students will be coloring as a team. I picked 3 different scenes: Playground, beach and town. I projected each scene onto the white board. I taped white bulletin board paper to the white board and traced six copies of each scene.
5. Get crayons ready. I bought new boxes for this project, but all you need is to make sure each team has a set of 20 different color crayons.

It can be hard to organize whole grade activities, but it was definitely worth the effort! Bringing them together in a different space made the day feel special!

Comment below with your National Scribble Day Ideas!

Related Topics:

Dot Day Activities

Read Across America Activities