Kindergarten Activities for "It Looked Like Spilt Milk"

Cloud Survey

Cut a few "clouds" out of white felt. Similar to the book, make sure that your clouds are somewhat suggestive of animals or other familiar objects. Try to keep them somewhat ambiguous so that different children are likely to see different things. Show the class one of your clouds and ask your students to tell you what they see. Write the suggestions as column headers on the board. Once the class agrees that all of the possibilities are listed, have the students vote for which possibility they see and write that number under the corresponding header. Label the cloud with the winning title and repeat with a new cloud.

Cut several sponges into random shapes. Have your students dip the sponges into white paint and press them onto blue construction paper. Encourage them to try different sponges so that their pages feature several different white shapes. Once the paintings are dry, ask students to describe what they see. Help them label each shape with their descriptors.

Teach your students how to identify different types of clouds and to explore how forecasters use clouds to predict the weather. Describe basic differences in types of clouds. Use pictures and explain what each is typically associated with in a particular weather pattern. For example, dark gray cumulus clouds frequently accompany a storm. Play weather station by showing the class a cloud and having students tell you what to expect.

Ask the class if things in nature besides clouds can spark the imagination. Suggest looking at stars to see if any of your students see animals or other shapes in the night sky. Leaves can also inspire imaginative play. Consider going for a walk and collecting leaves to turn into collages or to shape into toy boats. Encourage your students to be as imaginative as possible when they look at nature and create a class nature book. As the year progresses, encourage students to look in the nature book for inspiration on writing topics.