Book Club: A House for Hermit Crab

My younger kids book club read A House for Hermit Crab, and after a discussion, we had two activities to do:

1. Perler Bead Art. Hermit crabs decorate their shells to provide camouflage, and I set out our Perler Beads for the kids to make their own sea creatures or creations of whatever they wanted. I controlled the iron, although I let the kids watch as I ironed their beads to melt them together. This was definitely a popular element, and the parents noted that the kids were very focused on finding the beads they wanted to use.

2. Smell Test. Hermit crabs find their food using scent, so I placed ten cups on the table. Each cup had a coffee filter (with holes punched in it) covering the top with a rubber band, and inside was a cotton ball with some sort of extract or flavoring on it. I used a wide variety of scents, including vanilla extract, lemon juice, pickle juice, ginger, garlic, etc. The kids had a paper to write their guesses on, and I let them check it against my answer key once they were done.