Additional Learning Resources for The Wind in the Willows Art & Baking Study Guide by The Build Your Masterpiece Class
Chapter 1: The River Bank
Today we are reading chapter 1 of Wind in the Willows, which is all about the magic of the River Bank. As you read this chapter, make a mental note of the places they talk about, to use in our art project. There is the Meadows, River Bank, Lake and Wildwood.
Enjoy this Read Aloud of Chapter 1:
Listen to this chapter by following along with your own copy of the book, or enjoy listening while you paint your watercolor art project, below.
Discussion Ideas:
Spring cleaning, housework, chores, activities that are fun during the spring such as boat rides, like the one Ratty and Mole enjoyed.
Optional: Pick a sentence from this chapter for copy-work.
Find more to do with vocabulary words, sentences, spelling bees and more with Vocabulary.com
Art Project: Map Making + Paper Dying
Create your own antiqued paper by using tea, coffee, or watercolor paints to DYE them. You can make lots of dyed pages today if you'd like and keep the pages for making other things, such as journal pages, books, or save for an up coming Adventure in Scotland! Scan the QR Code to see our Additional Learning Resources for this craft if you would like to dye your paper with Tea.
Let's get started!
Basic Supplies Needed:
Paper + pencil + markers
watercolor paints + colored pencils
White Printer paper
Steps:
Using your watercolor paints, add a bit of color to your paper to make it look old. Allow it to dry and once dried, you can begin drawing your map of the wind in the willows using your imagination from and think back to what you remember in the book. Using a pencil to begin with, sketch out the basic areas. You may recall the Meadows is where Mole's home is, and the River Bank is where the Rat lives and the Wildwood is where Badger lives, and so on. Encurage your child to draw what they imaged the river bank to look like.
Music to listen to while creating art today:
Additional Craft Option: Method for Making a Map with Tea or Coffee DYED Paper:
To start, get your measuring cup, place 10 tea bags, and pour your boiling water over top, and stir them up. Let them steep, and stew until it's as dark as you would like. Pour our tea into the pan, keeping your tea bags out!Next, add in your white paper, a few at a time, and stack it up to the top, if you want (depends on how many you are making). Use your spoon to press your paper down gently, to help it absorb the tea then allow your paper to sit, and soak for a little while. Perhaps while you are listening to the read aloud of the chapter. Then you will tip over your pan and drain our the access tea.Divide it in half, and you can dry them in the oven, or you can peel them off one by one, and allow to air dry on a table top. Place the stained pages on a cookie sheet, 5-7 sheets at a time, then pop in the oven at 295F, for 3-5 minutes.
In the Kitchen: Make Tudor Knot Cookies
Additional Books for this Chapter:
Over and under the Pond by Kate Messner
Picnic with Oliver by Mika Song
Song of the River by Joy Cowley
Bear Came Along by T. Richard Morris
Pond & River by Steve Parker
The Tale of Mrs. Tiddlemouse by Beatrix Potter
What the Oak Tree Sees by A.K. Scott and R.M Brink
Additional Learning Connections:
While reading this chapter with my 6 year old, we had some interesting topics come up, and I wanted to share with you what they were, and the videos we paired with them! * please let me know what additional topics of discussion come for you!
Question: How to Moles Dig Tunnels? Why don’t they fall in on them?
Answer to that, with another question: Why Tunnels Don’t Collapse:
And here is a second video that’s really cool, How a Sand Castle holds up a car, showing the strength with packed sand, and soil. This is a great introduction into so many sciences!