This week’s “Book of the Week” was The Windy Day by Anna Milbourne, and oh! we had soooo much fun. Plus, I officially decided my kids don’t need any more things because plastic bag “kites” and sailboats made from empty jar lids seemed to keep them entertained much better than their room full of toys! Who knew?!
Book of the Week: The Windy Day
Come for a breathtaking walk on a blustery day and find out all about the wind!
The Windy Day by Anna Milbourne is beginning non-fiction told in story form. Milbourne’s simple explanatory text and textured watercolor paintings describe the things wind can do — making leaves dance across the grass, pushing sails on boats, and turning the blades of windmills.
What is Book of the Week?
“Book of the Week” is a literature-based study designed to nurture the early years of childhood through great books and creative projects and play.
Visual, auditory and kinesthetic learners will all benefit from a variety of lessons and activities. Complete them as outlined in the 5-day plan, or pick and choose according to your needs!
The “Book of the Week” method suggests you read the same book every day for five days and explore a different angle of the story each day.
Day 1: The Windy Day {Book of the Week}
Will the Wind Blow it?
We started our “Book of the Week” activities reading The Windy Day and talking about all the things they knew about wind. Then I showed a variety of objects of different weights that I’d gathered around the house and invited them to predict about which objects would blow away in the wind. After a quick review on fan safety I had them hold the objects near the moving air to test their predictions. Kids are natural born scientists who love hands-on experiments and this one brought lots of giggles.
Blowing bubbles is a fun anytime, but especially when talking about and creating our own “wind!”
And for snack we made a windy day treat of “Kite Graham Crackers” with a variety of spread choices (peanut butter, Nutella, jelly, frosting, etc.) Spreading was great fine motor practice for little hands.
{via Instagram}
Day 2: The Windy Day {Book of the Week}
On day two we read The Windy Day again, this time paying particular attention to the author’s description of the wind as it “ruffles your hair” and “snatches your hat, almost as if it wants to play.”
After we read this, we talked:
“What does it feel like when the wind ruffles your hair?”
“What does it look like when the wind ruffles your hair?”
And then we got out the paint so we could make some crazy windy day hair paintings with straws. It was a super-fun project after reading/talking about the wind ruffling our hair!
Click for the details: Windy Day Hair Painting with Straws
Windy Day Fruit Trees
Snacktime had us dreaming of warmer weather.
But actually — they’re supposed to be trees “blowing in the wind!”
Day 3: The Windy Day {Book of the Week}
On day three we focused on The Windy Day kite-flying pages and got out the art supplies for a Cut-and-Paste Kite Craft and Kite Color-by-Number page.
Let’s Go Fly a Kite! (or a bag)
It makes perfect sense to fly a kite during The Windy Day week.
But if you’ve ever flown a kite — they can be finicky. The wind has to be right, you need a clear open space, and don’t even get me started on untangling the stings after the 3-year-old has decide to try flying it herself.
On top of that my husband was out of town this week (HUGE love to single moms out there! I don’t know how you do it!!), and I feel like flying a “real” kite might be one of those “go outside with dad” projects.
When I saw this mom’s suggestion to fly a “plastic bag kite,” I knew it was just right addition to our book of the week activities.
Simply thread some yarn or string through the handles of a grocery bag, and then let them run around the yard –trailing their plastic bag kite behind.
Guess what? They loved it. It was a super fun (and free) way to run off some energy. And now they’re asking when we’re going to go fly a “real” kite. So, good thing dad will be home tomorrow. 😉
Open-face Kite Sandwich
The older kids were at school when I made this “sandwich” for Addy (3) who’s become a terribly picky eater. But I think it’s mostly that she’s “too busy” to sit down and eat and would much rather graze and get back to playing. So sometimes I arrange her food in a cute way to catch her attention a little longer and encourage her to eat better.
When I showed her the “kite” sandwich, I asked if she liked it.
“No,” she said matter-of-factly.
I mean, I wasn’t about to let a preschooler’s opinion ruin my day but I have to admit I was a little disappointed that I’d spent the extra time arranging her plate.
Then she smiled. “I LOVE it!” And gobbled every crumb. So I took that as my parenting gold star of the day. haha
Day 4: The Windy Day {Book of the Week}
Day four was all about windmills. This time we read The Windy Day and talked about the windmill pages. Then for some text-to-text connections, we watched a couple of YouTube videos to see windmills and wind in action.
We also pretended to “be a windmill” with some gross-motor windmill exercises, and finished off the windmill activities by blowing pinwheels. There are lots of tutorials on Pinterest for homemade pinwheels, but this time we went with store-bought versions.
Pinwheel Snacks
These snacktime treats might be a bit of a stretch from wind and windmills, but “pinwheels” had me remembering these “pinwheel cookies” my grandma made when I was little. I think her “brown” swirl was some kind of fig or date filling and I’m not sure how kid-friendly they are so we went with a chocolate version. How fun would these be if you did rainbow colors for the swirl– similar to Rainbow Cookies?!
Or for a savory snack, you could always make a tortilla/lunchmeat/cheese pinwheel version instead. We like to use flour tortillas, spreadable cheese (like a Laughing Cow Swiss wedge), and thinly sliced lunchmeat.
Spread cheese on tortilla, layer with meat, and roll tightly. Then cut into pinwheel “slices.”
Day 5: The Windy Day {Book of the Week}
The final day during our wind exploration was all about sailboats. I grew up near the water and spent a lot of time watching boats sail along the coast, so sailboat day during this “book of the week” was extra special to me!
While reading The Windy Day we took extra time to notice the watercolor illustrations and talked about the way the wind blows and pushes a boat across the waves — “steadily for miles and miles.”
And then we used our favorite liquid watercolors on printable sailboat templates to imitate the illustrations.
Sailboat Races
The girls had a blast with sailboat races! We made the sailboats together. . . kind of. Mostly I made them (because hot glue) while they watched and “helped” choose colors for the sails and impatiently asked over and over if their boats were ready yet. #reallife
(I recommend making these boats ahead of time if doing the activity with several children. Complete directions and details can be found in “The Windy Day” Book of the Week pack.)
Once the boats were ready I filled a container with water, gave them a straw, and let them play by propelling their boats with self-made wind. Honestly, I was shocked and impressed at how long they stayed occupied with their little baby-food-jar-lid sailboats!
Sailboat Jello Snacks
And Jello and fruit sailboats for snack!
The Windy Day Printables
Do these “book of the week” activities look like something your kids would enjoy? The lesson plans, snacks, supplies, and printables are FREE with the purchase of The Windy Day from my Usborne Books & More store. Or you can find JUST the printables at Teachers Pay Teachers.