Max dons his wolf suit in pursuit of some mischief and gets sent to bed without supper. Fortuitously, a forest grows in his room, allowing his wild rampage to continue unimpaired.
Before reading the book, look at the cover and write a story about what might happen.
Write a story about the kinds of 'mischief' that Max makes.
Look at the use of connectives and punctuation within the story.
The author uses 'terrible' repeatedly to describe the wild things. Why did he use the same word so many times? Can you think of synonyms for 'terrible'?
Write captions for each of the illustrations in the book.
Listen to this audio version of the story. Could you record your own reading?
If you were the king of the wild things, how would you feel? Can you write a diary from the point of view of the 'King of the Wild Things'?
Write a sequel where Max returns to see the wild things. What might happen?
Find the different time periods mentioned in the book. Can you convert between different lengths of time?
Science
Write a fact sheet about one of the wild things. What is its habitat? How is it adapted to live there? What does it eat? Does it have any special features / abilities??(see Resources below)
Computing
Use a painting program to create a picture of a Wild Thing.
Make a stop-motion animation showing Max and some wild things having an adventure. Watch this example for inspiration:
Design Technology
Make a model of the boat that Max uses to sail to where the wild things live.
Art
Design your own 'wild things' that live in different habitats.
Look at the illustration of the coloured leaves on the inside cover. Could you get different colours of leaves and arrange them to make a picture? Could you cut out and paint leaf shapes and arrange these?
Imagine that a forest (or other type of landscape) 'grew' in your bedroom / kitchen / classroom. Draw a picture showing what this might look like.
Look at how Maurice Sendak used shading within the illustrations. Try creating different shades of one colour. Can you use these shading techniques in your own pictures?
Can you make a flip-book animation based on a scene in the book. Look at this video showing a test animation by Disney which is based on the book:
Music
Compose a piece of music to accompany the 'wild rumpus'.
Geography
Draw a map showing Max's bedroom, the ocean that he sails over and the place where the 'wild things' live.
PSHE
Max makes 'mischief'. What does this mean?
Look at the characters' expressions in the illustrations and discuss how they are feeling at each point in the story.
Max gets sent to bed when he makes mischief. Discuss what consequences are and how they result from our actions.
A Year 1 display that is based the wonderful story 'The Snail and the Whale' by Julia Donaldson. Could you make a similar display board with the children in your class?
Comments
Eimear
1st March 2016
Really beautiful lesson idea! Gave me a lot of inspiration!
Sue
1st April 2016
Great ideas. Really inspired me foe book week. T650hank you so much Sue 2nd April 2016
tami
16th May 2016
This is a wonderful outline for story writing!
Raquel Dickert
8th October 2019
Great ideas!
Sara
9th July 2020
Fab ideas. X
Ella24
12th April 2021
I always look on Teaching Ideas, I always find useful activities. Thank you!