The Perfect Square tells the story of a square who made the best of whatever happened to him and eventually found great contentment being the square that he was. A wonderful read for not just children, but adults as well, a reminder that no matter what happens to us, we make the best of the situation and find our own happiness as the square did eventually at the end of the story.
Now here’s what we did for this interesting book – not as comprehensive as my other posts on literature-based learning though! π
We tried to replicate the story to see if we could re-create the square in those ways in the book.
We did this activity over a few days as it requires quite a bit of time and stamina.
Using a piece of drawing block, I cut out 6 squares and got her to paint them in the colours the square appeared on the book.
For younger children, this would be a good time to teach colours apart from just doing the painting.
Vocabulary
These are the words/ phrases I found that needed some explaining/ revision:
‘shattered’, ‘babbled’, ‘torn into scraps’ vs ‘shredded in strips’, ‘ripped’, ‘crumpled’, ‘wrinkled’, ‘confining’, ‘rigid’, ‘cramped’
Extension activity:
Piet Mondrian-inspired art:
I pasted black tape on half a sheet of drawing block, set up the colours that Piet Mondrian used in his famous work, and got her to view examples of Piet Mondrian art on the tablet, leaving a sample next to her so that she could focus on her task.
The completed piece of art which is now the cover of her A4-sized scrapbook where I stick the pictures and paintings she does in school and at home.
Other ideas that you can tap on after reading the book (for younger children):
- Days of the weekΒ – you can re-read The Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle as well for reinforcement
- Colours
- Shapes
- Story sequencing – ask the child what happened to the square on the various days and what the square became as a result.
Hope you have fun!
View our other literature-based learning posts if you’ve found this useful! π
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Love it! Thanks for sharing. I will definitely have a look into the title π
You're welcome Beanienus! π
I love this! Thanks for sharing!
How old is she?
I want to plan this activity to the 2 years old children, is it suitable for them? Hope they will enjoy it.
Thanks for sharing.
I did this activity with her when she was 4. I think this series of activities is too advanced for 2 year olds. Maybe you can try simpler activities on my blog.
ok, will look it through, thanks for your ideas.