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Katie tries to pick the sunflower seeds from the Vincent Van Gogh painting, but when the vase tips over, the flowers go everywhere. Mimi, a little girl from a painting nearby, comes to help Katie, but when Mimi’s dog Zazou comes too, disaster follows!
Teaching Ideas and Resources:
English
- Katie describes the sunflowers as ‘dry and crunchy’. What other words can you use to describe them? Could you use a thesaurus to find some more?
- Choose a famous painting and write your own story about the people / objects that can be seen inside it.
- Imagine that the people in a painting could come to life. What might they say? Can you think of speech / thought bubbles for famous paintings?
- Write your own story about a character who can go ‘inside’ famous pictures. What might happen to them?
- Use the speech in the story to turn it into a play script. Could you perform the play for an audience?
- Imagine that you are sitting on one of the seats in ‘Cafe Terrace at Night’. Write a description of what you can see / hear / smell.
- Turn the story into a diary entry from Katie’s point of view. How would she feel about her adventure?
- Use the information in the back of the book to write a biography about Van Gogh or one of the other painters.
- Can you find out about another artist not mentioned in the book and write a biography about them?
- There are lots of books in this series. Could you write a new story about an adventure that Katie might have?
Maths
- Make a list of things that you might buy with the treasure that Katie finds. How much do each of the items cost?
Science
- Write a set of instructions to teach people how to grow sunflowers.
- Plan and carry out an experiment to find out the best conditions for a sunflower to grow in.
Computing
- Use painting software to try and recreate one of Van Gogh’s paintings.
- Paint a sunflower picture using the template (see Resources below).
Design Technology
- Design a new frame for one of your own paintings.
Art
- Draw your own picture of some sunflowers by looking at real ones or some photos (see Resources below).
- Look at different works of art by Van Gogh. Which is your favourite? Could you try to recreate some of them?
- Think about the colours used in Van Gogh’s work. Could you use similar colours in your own art?
- Van Gogh used big brush strokes in his paintings. Can you try a similar technique for your own work?
- Look at the use of perspective in ‘Cafe Terrace at Night’. Can you try to create your own picture of a scene using perspective?
- Draw your own still picture of apples, oranges and other fruit.
- Make a storyboard showing the main events of the story.
- Colour a sunflower picture?(see Resources below).
Music
- Compose a piece of music that might be playing at the ‘Cafe Terrace at Night’
Geography
- Look on a map and find the locations of any galleries near to you. Could you visit one of them?
- Design your own gallery and draw a map of it. What famous works of art would you include in it?
History
- Make a timeline and label it to show when the different artists were alive.
Languages
- Can you find any foreign words in the story? What do they mean?
