It Looked Like Spilt Milk Activity – Book & Activity
I love children’s books! I especially love a children’s book paired with an activity.
I thought it would be fun to bring some of our favorite stories to life. Our first stop? It Looked Like Spilt Milk by Charles G. Shaw.
Today we’re creating a simple and fun It Looked Like Spilt Milk activity.
If you enjoy this book activity, read to the bottom of this post. You can find other book activities at the bottom of this post. Enjoy!
It Looked Like Spilt Milk Summary
Charles G. Shaw displays creativity in the simplest way. The book has a blue background that highlights a different white shape on each page. An ice cream cone, a rabbit, and a tree are all featured. Allowing children to appreciate abstract art that they connect with.
The story is simple and repetitious, making it wonderful for young readers. The pictures are clear and, again, simple. This book really stands the test of time.
It Looked Like Spilt Milk Activity – Cloud Blots
This childhood classic is one of my favorite books.
The library is my go-to place for books, but It Looked Like Spilt Milk has been on our bookshelf for a very long time. I would recommend this one as a must-have for every home library.
What you need: It Looked Like Spilt Milk
By Charles G. Shaw, blue construction paper, dropper, egg carton, white paint. (Affiliate link.)
- Start by reading the book.
- Give each artist one dropper, an egg carton cut down to two cups, and a squirt of white paint and blue rectangles.
- Show them how to fold the paper in half by meeting the corners and pressing a crease in the center.
- Place a few small drops on one side of the paper.
- Fold the paper and press it.
- Ta da! Open the paper to reveal a fun design.
- Say, “Sometimes it looked like…” and enjoy the fun answers!
Questions to ask your kids: “What do you think will happen to the paint when you fold the paper over it?” “Do any of the pictures look similar?” “Can you control what the end product will look like?”
More fun book activities
Don’t let the fun stop here! Check out these other book activities, which are perfect for preschoolers.
- Rosie Revere, Engineer… Tinkering Station – Round up a few odds and ends and get ready for some craftsman-style tinkering.
- “How Many Feet in the Bed?” Counting Book Activity – This book (and song) has been one of our favorites. It was wonderful to act it out.
- Picky Mrs. Pickle – Has a book ever inspired a taste test at your house?
- Hop on Pop Preschool Activities
- Wocket in Your Pocket Art
- Create your own book activities – Do your little readers have a favorite book? I’ll teach you how to help them become creators of their own special activity.
- Good Night Moon Bedtime Sensory Play – Bring this Margaret Wise Brown classic to life while you wind down for bed.
Do you have an It Looked Like Spilt Milk activity? Share it in the comments.
What a great idea! I love art projects that work well with books!! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Valerie.
I love this idea. We were already going to the library this morning, so we’ll be picking up this book to use with our craft today.
I would love it if you would post some pics on my Facebook fan page.
I forgot to tell you how much I LOVE the mini-blot paintings! These are a wonderful way to expand on this book…
Thank you, Thank you!
Love this idea! I am planning for the school year and stocking up on some good ideas. Love this!
What a great idea. Thank you!
Jill! These are wonderful, and I especially love how you added captions to each of the paintings. Your kids will get a kick out of reading them when they grow up, I’m sure. Beyond that, this is a super way to encourage creative thinking. I can’t wait to try this with my daughter!
I love activities based on books! Simple and joyful idea. Thanks for sharing…
Beautiful! I love it ..
love the monochromatic look of these and how much they elicit creative thinking. we did this recently with blobs of different colors of paint – check out our paintblot post here about it.
i trully love this activity. i was going throug my library center when i stumble over this book and decided to do an science project with it. as i read ur instruction u said this was a literacy topic. i would add by saying it is also science as well. because the children are predicting as well as solving what will happen. i’m wondering if it will also be a good idea to try different color construction paper except for white ofcourse. at the end i will create i book ‘It looked like…..book. because everyone are entitle to their own opinoin as to what the print might be.I will use all the children names and their work and read it to other children. thanks for the idea.
Andrea, What a lovely idea! I bet the children will have a great time experimenting with different color construction paper and a book will be an awesome way to show case their hard work!
I love this idea! I did this when I was in college in one of my education classes and we all had so much fun with this activity. We colleceted everybody’s paper and created our own It Looked Like Spilt Milk book.
What a nice idea you have there! My son and a few students I am teaching here loved your idea ! Looking forward to more….
Thank you!
Love this idea!! I usually do inkblots like this with lots of different colored paint to make butterflies and we talk about symmetry (they paint only on one side, fold it over, and the finished product is symmetrical). But this is a fantastic way to incorporate one of my favorite springtime books! Thanks!!
Thanks for sharing! This is one of my favorite books to share! I am always looking for storybook activities! Will continue to watch for more! 🙂