Where The Wild Things Are

We recently read Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak for our Literature and Comprehension lesson.  This is such a fun book for boys.  I grew up in a family of only sisters so I never really experienced the wild side that boys have.  Now I'm a mom of two little wild things so I can relate to the mom in this story, and I think my boys really grasped the significance of this book's message.

Read It:  If you don't own the book you can rent it from the library, or you can watch it on You Tube.  You can even watch president Obama read the book to some children.  I thought this was a good one.:  

Make a wild Thing:  After reading and discussing the book I let the boys create this wild thing puppet.  They really liked using the candy corn to make sharp teeth, especially because they got to eat some.

Make a mask:  We had a template that came with our k12 curriculum, but here is a link to instructions on how to make a really cute paper plate mask:  http://spinsandneedles.com/stuff/2009/10/31/diy-last-minute-where-the-wild-things-are-mask-tutorial/  I think to make it easier I would use construction paper instead of felt.  

 Here is my wildest child, aka The Free One, with his mask on.  

Have a wild rumpus:  After we finished our masks and puppets, we put on some wild music and had a wild rumpus in our living room.  We even ran around outside our house screaming and waving our arms!  Oh my, what will the neighbors think?

This is such a popular book that there are literally hundreds of ideas on what you could include in your unit.  Here are a couple I thought were great.

1.  Here is a free lapbook from Highlights of Homeschooling.  You just have create an account.

2.  You'll definitely want to check out these fun online games and quizzes based on the book.

If you know of any other great resources to round out a unit on Where the Wild Things are, please share it in a comment.