It Looked Like Spilt Milk
Written and Illustrated by Charles G. Shaw
Key Concepts
Vocabulary




Using your imagination to see things differently
Paying attention to and appreciating the natural world
Identification and classification of objects in our environment
Talk about weather and colors of the rainbow
Words from the Text:
 spilt
 Great-Horned Owl
 imagine
 storm
 fog
 rainbow
Types of Clouds:
 cumulus
 cirrus
 stratus
Related Words:
 snow
 sky
 ice
 lightning
 thunder
 temperature
It Looked Like Spilt Milk 2
Related Books
Little Cloud by Eric Carle
A little cloud becomes all sorts of things—sheep, an airplane, trees, a hat—before
joining other clouds and raining.
The Cloud Book by Tomie de Paola
Introduces the ten most common types of clouds, the myths that have been inspired
by their shapes, and what they can tell about coming weather changes. The first
eleven pages are the most appropriate for preschoolers.
The Farmer’s Almanac
A traditional guide to weather conditions, phases of the moon, etc.
Weather Words and What They Mean by Gail Gibbons
Gibbons defines and illustrates temperature, air pressure, moisture, and wind,
putting the words in large type and a dialogue balloon, then breaks them down even
further: moisture is illustrated as rain, drizzle, hail, snow, etc.
Clouds, Rain, and Fog by Fred and Jeanne Biddulph
This big book is an effective way to introduce weather vocabulary. With its colorful
photographs and easy-to-understand text, the book captures children’s attention and
keeps them engaged (available at the FLRC).
What Do You See in a Cloud? by Allan Fowler
Great non-fiction book for the preschool classroom. The full page photographs of
cloud formations are outstanding.
Clouds and Weather (Peterson First Guides) by John A. Day and Vincent J. Schaefer
FLRC has a variety of adult science guides such as this, as well as posters and charts
related to weather and clouds.
The Wind Blew by Pat Hutchins
In this humorous book, the wind blows so strongly, it snatches up objects one by
one, even the wig on a judge’s head. The background of each illustration
foreshadows the next object to be whisked away, and the rhymes help children read
along.
It Looked Like Spilt Milk 3
We heard the story:
It Looked Like Spilt Milk
By Charles G. Shaw
The story had pictures of clouds of many different
shapes.
Let’s look at the clouds together. You can tell me
what things you see in the clouds and I’ll tell you what
I see.
It Looked Like Spilt Milk 4
Nosotros oímos el cuento:
It Looked Like Spilt Milk
Parecia como leche derramada
Por Charles G Shaw
Vamos a mirar las nubes. Usted puede contarme
qué cosas usted ve en las nubes y yo voy a decirle
que es lo que yo veo.
It Looked Like Spilt Milk 5
For the Teacher
About the book
About the
Story
About the
Author and
Illustrator
Each page of the book shows a different shape in bright white on a dark blue
background. On every page, the phrase repeats, “Sometimes it looked like spilt milk (or
whatever shape is on the page), but it wasn’t spilt milk…” The reader doesn’t learn until the
end of the book that all the white shapes are just clouds floating in the sky.
The beauty of this book is that it builds a foundation for children to think about rain,
weather, spring, and the way the world around us transforms. Once children discover this
book, they begin pointing out shapes of clouds all the time.
Charles G. Shaw was a Modernist painter during the interwar abstract art movement.
Supported by an inheritance with Woolworth lineage, Shaw was, as the NYT put it, “rich
but rarely idle.” By age nine, Shaw was already an avid painter. During the twenties, he
turned to writing and produced a novel and a Broadway play. Even while engaged in other
pursuits, he continued to paint, and art became his focus by the 30s. In 1947, he published It
Looked Like Spilt Milk, which he both wrote and illustrated.
For the Teacher
Reading the book
Getting Started



As You Read
If you are emphasizing letter recognition in your class, hold up a letter S and a letter
M and tell the children: “These letters are a clue to two important words in the title of
the book I am going to read today.” Have children say the letter you are showing
them. Then hold up a copy of It Looked Like Spilt Milk (Big Book available from the
FLRB) and ask if they see the special letters (S and M) in the title of the book. Read
the title of the book, the author’s and the illustrator’s names and begin!
Show the cover of the book It Looked Like Spilt Milk and tell the children, “We are
going to play a guessing game as we read the book and you can tell me what you
think each shape looks like.”
A different way to begin: pull out a few flannel board shapes for the book and ask the
children what they look like. Then ask them to guess what today’s book will be
about.
Note: The following suggestions and questions are not necessarily meant to be used the
first time you read a book, or to be used all at once. Often it’s best to read through a
book once and then reread it on subsequent days, taking into account the children’s
attention span and interest. Repeated readings and incorporating story-related
activities into multiple classroom areas can turn a story into a far-reaching learning
experience.
 When you read the phrase “sometimes it looked like _____” pause and let children
respond. Using the phrase “but it wasn’t ____” and have the children shake their
heads and finish the sentence.
It Looked Like Spilt Milk 6

Reinforce
What’s
Learned/
Open-Ended
Questions
As you read, you may want to use flannel board shapes for each page (available at the
FLRC, or you can trace the template patterns on milk filters, coffee filters, or white
felt and cut the shapes out).
Note: Ask the children to respond to all or some of the open-ended questions below. As
they share, write down the children’s responses on a large sheet of paper or a
whiteboard (a mind map works well). Use one of the questions as your small group
activity, prompting the children to draw a picture and write or dictate their responses.
 What does the sky look like today? What does your favorite sky look like?
 Draw and Write: It looked like__________. But it wasn’t________. (picture
prompt paper available from the FLRC)
Ask the children to respond to all or some of the open-ended questions below:
 What does the sky look like today? Are there clouds? What do they look like?
 What do you think clouds feel like? What do they taste like?
As they share, write down the children’s responses on a large sheet of paper or a whiteboard
(a mind map format works well). Use one of the questions as your small group activity,
prompting the children to draw a picture and write or dictate their responses.

Related
Finger-play or
Song

Use the Eric Carle book Little Cloud and talk about different types of clouds (cirrus,
cumulus, etc.)
Show photographs of clouds during a thunderstorm, sun shower, snow storm, etc.
Encourage children to talk about their experiences with these different weather
conditions.


I Can Sing a Rainbow (FLRC)
Props from Family Literacy prop bag

Who Has Seen the Wind? by Christina Rosetti
Who has seen the wind?
Neither I nor you:
But when the leaves hang trembling,
The wind is passing through.
Who has seen the wind?
Neither you nor I:
But when the trees bow down their heads,
The wind is passing by.
In the Classroom
Nutrition Experience

Rice Krispies Treats (recipe card)
o As children heat the marshmallows in the
Library Area

Check related book list for other stories to
have on your bookshelf. (Give the list to
It Looked Like Spilt Milk 7

microwave, talk about how they look like
clouds as they puff up. Keep a cloud chart or
book available as a reference.
Note: Send home the bilingual recipe card when you
read the book and/or make the recipe.
Cream transforms into different forms just as water
changes from water vapor into liquid water, frozen
water, etc. Two ways to demonstrate this are:
o Whip heavy
cream from
liquid into a
fluffy topping.
o Have kids make
butter by
shaking cream in
a jar with a marble.
Math and Manipulative


Simple cloud graph:
When the day is cloudy, have
the children put a cloud symbol
or sticker on the calendar. At
the end of the month, make a
bar graph showing the number
of days that were cloudy versus
semi-cloudy or sunny.
Advanced cloud graph:
For a more involved project,
record on the calendar what
kind of clouds appeared if the
day was cloudy (cumulus,
cirrus and stratus). Then make
a graph showing how many
days had which types of
clouds.


your librarian to reserve copies of these
books in advance and check with the
FLRC).
Make a class book using the cloud prints
made and labeled by the children (see Art
Area activities).
Flannel board figures for retelling the story
(can be checked out from FLRC or use
template in this curriculum to create your
own).
Science Area





Display posters of types of clouds
Have prisms available for children to explore (FLRC)
Liter bottle tornado: get a tube attachment for two plastic soda
bottles and swirl them to make a mini tornado.
Make big bubbles with the following recipe:
o 16 c. warm water
o 1 C. Joy or Dawn Dish soap
o 2 T. Baking Powder (not baking soda)
o Stir and let settle overnight.
o Foam is a bubble buster! Scrape off foam that forms after
periodic use on the top of your bubble tray. Don’t shake
bubble mixture.
o The FLRC has giant bubble wands to borrow
o For more bubble fun: Go to www.bubblething.com
Clouds (The Water Cycle)
o Make a mini-water cycle by placing a small amount of
water into a clear, sealed plastic baggie. Hang it in the
sunlight and watch the water condense upon the sides of
the bag after it evaporates. It will then rain down the sides
of the bag, creating a cycle.
o If it is possible, boil some water in a Pyrex pot, so the
children can see the water bubbling. (This shows that the
molecules are really jumping.) Ask the children how they
feel when they walk upon a hot beach. Do they walk
slowly and heavily, or do they jump lightly across it? How
would they feel if they were on the stove—would they
stand still, or jump up to get out of the heat?
o The next time it rains, find a puddle and time how long it
takes for it to evaporate. What kinds of weather conditions
were present? Compare it to other days with puddles of
It Looked Like Spilt Milk 8
the same size. What makes the water molecules jump out
of the puddle? (Sunlight and windy conditions make
evaporation happen most rapidly.)
o Build a terrarium using recycled soda bottles. Cut the top
off the bottle and keep the cap on it. Place small pebbles
in the bottom of the container, place a layer of top soil on
that, plant some small plants which like a humid
environment in the soil, and water the soil. Cap the
terrarium with the top of the bottle. The plants’ leaves will
transpire unwanted water into the air, and it will rain
down the sides of the terrarium. (You will have to
occasionally replenish some water, because this is not a
totally sealed environment.)
Dramatic Play


Have various tempos and
rhythms of music and
have children move as if
they were different kinds
of clouds (for example: a
slow-moving cloud on a
summer day, a fast, strong
thunder cloud, etc.)
Do movement activities
with each child waving a
wind catcher.
Art Area



Cloud Prints
o Have children dab white tempera paint on a sheet of blue
construction paper or have them drop paint with eye-droppers.
o Have them fold the paper in half like a book, press it together
and open it up to see the shape that is formed.
o With white crayon, write down what the child thinks it looks
like (the child can write on the paper too).
o At snack time or circle time, have each child hold up their
picture and ask the group what they think it looks like.
o Laminate the pictures and make them into a class book to keep
in the book area.
Finger Painting
o The Eric Carle book Little Cloud has beautiful finger painting
clouds on the frontice piece. Show it to the children to preview
this activity.
o Put a big sheet of paper on the floor and have children finger
paint in the style of Eric Carle. After the paper dries, teachers
and children can cut it into shapes that represent clouds.
Mount these on blue paper on a bulletin board.
Cloud Wind Catcher
o Supplies: cloud shapes cut from white card stock or a white
paper plate, crepe paper streamers in rainbow colors cut in
lengths of 6-8”, hole punch, yarn, white school glue, cotton
balls
o Directions: Give each child a paper cloud (older children
can cut out their own shape). Punch two holes near the top
for a loop of yarn. Children use a dot of glue for each
cotton ball they attach to the cloud shape. Help each child
select six crepe paper streamers (one for each color in the
rainbow). The teacher may put a dot on the children’s
cloud for each color to guide them in creating the correct
order of the rainbow. This is a good time to use prisms to
It Looked Like Spilt Milk 9
identify the order of a rainbow’s colors (ROY G. BIV).
Music and/or Movement



Rain Circle: Form a circle. The leader of the group starts a motion/sound and in turn,
each person copies the leader’s motion until it comes all the way around. Then the
leader starts the second motion and so on until “the sun comes out.”
The motions: hand rubbing (wind starts), finger snapping (little raindrops), thigh
clapping (big raindrops), feet stomping (thunder), high clapping (big raindrops),
finger snapping (little raindrops), hand rubbing (wind), hands over head (“the sun!”).
If the children have made cloud wind catchers (or you have other wind catchers),
play music with a variety of tempos. Direct the children to swing high, swing low,
swing fast, swing slow.
Go outside and observe how the wind moves wind catchers (use the cloud wind
catchers or pinwheels if you’ve made them). Talk about what direction the wind is
coming from and how strong or gentle it is.
Sensory Table

Small Group Activity
Kids can finger paint with shaving cream or
float mounds of shaving cream on water like
clouds in the sky.

Field Trip or Special Guest
 This is a great book to incorporate into a trip
to your neighborhood park. While you walk
and play, look at the sky and talk about what
you see and what the clouds look like.
 Even if you’re inside the classroom, you can
always look out the window and talk about the
clouds and the weather.
 Draw and Write: What does the sky look
like today? What does your favorite sky
look like?
 Draw and Write: It looked like__________.
But it wasn’t________. (picture prompt paper
available from the FLRC)
 Using realistic photo kits, create matching,
sequencing, and bingo games. You can make
them using this website:
http://www.eslactivities.com/picturebingo.php
#
Make color copies of cloud photographs and create
a lotto or matching game for children to play in a
small group (FLRC has cloud photographs).
Bus Curriculum


Have kids look out the window of the bus and talk
about what they see in the sky.
Take along a field guide to clouds and weather
(FLRC) to inspire and answer questions.
Adaptations of Activities
Assessments
Social/Emotional

Shaving cream and finger painting can be very therapeutic in calming children
It Looked Like Spilt Milk 10
with social/emotional needs.
Needs
Infant/Toddler


School-Age
This book is highly recommended for infants because of the strong contrast
between the white and dark blue on each page. You can mount pages of the
book on the room’s walls, especially near the changing station, to stimulate very
young children’s minds.
Many infant books are not used beyond the age of infancy due to their content;
this book is versatile enough to be used from infancy through kindergarten.
Meteorology, the weather, and the study of clouds offer many tie-ins of interest to
school-age children.
 The Science Area activities in this curriculum also engage older children.
 Bring in weather maps from the daily newspaper to look at forecasts and guess
whether they will come true. Later, talk about whether the forecasts were
accurate. Alternatively, use the weather predictions in The Farmer’s Almanac
(FLRC).
Cultural
Adaptations

Activities for
Volunteers

Tomie de Paola’s The Cloud Book goes through sayings or beliefs about the
weather from various cultures, such as “Red skies at night, sailor’s delight/Red
skies in the morning, sailors take warning” and “Rain by seven, clear by eleven”
(pages 19 – 28).
Read the book using the tips in the “As you read” and “Reinforce what’s
learned” portion of the teachers’ curriculum.
 Have the child/children retell the story using flannel board pieces (available from
the FLRC).
 Use the open-ended questions “What does the sky look like today? Are there
clouds? What do they look like?” and “What do you think clouds feel like? What
do they taste like?” Ask students to share their responses through drawing and
writing.
 Draw and Write: Draw and Write: What does the sky look like today?
What does your favorite sky look like? (picture prompt paper available at
FLRC)
 Draw and Write: It looked like__________. But it wasn’t________.
(picture prompt paper available from the FLRC)
For the Parent-Child Activity
Group Read
Aloud


Take Home or

This is a fun choral reading for the whole group, works out well as a transition
from the meal to the classroom. Use the big book version or posters to be sure
everyone can see the illustrations.
Instruct adults to pause and read the response: “But it wasn’t spilt milk” with
their child. Have the audience predict what each cloud represents.
Create homemade binoculars out of two toilet paper roles or a telescope out of a
It Looked Like Spilt Milk 11
Table-Based
Activities


paper towel roll. Or, with older children, use real binoculars. These are great for
using while playing “I Spy.”
Make pinwheels out of paper, (FLRC).
The FLRC has templates for flannel board figures. Trace each shape onto milk
filters, coffee filters, or white felt and cut the shapes out to retell the story at
home.
For Parenting Education
Parenting
Message

Help your children notice and appreciate things in their own environment that
are often overlooked. It is a great gift for your child to be able to enjoy the
simple things in life and to exercise their imagination.
Home Visit


Bring a copy of the book, the related Parent Book Letter and recipe card.
You may wish to bring materials for making flannel board figures or a mini book
so that families can retell the story at home (FLRC).
Parent Group
Note: One of the best ways for parents to learn is through sharing their strategies
with each other, because the most relevant and useful ideas often come from the
parents themselves. Be sure to listen and record ideas from the group itself, giving
the majority of the time to their thoughts; they will usually bring up the points you
want to mention naturally, and you can just fill in any gaps at the end.
 Talk about the game “I Spy.” Ask who has played the game, and if someone has,
ask them to explain it. During the game, an adult starts by saying, “I spy with my
little eye,” (using hands to represent binoculars) or, “I hear with my little ear,”
(cupping a hand around an ear) and then describes the sight or sound. For
example, “I spy with my little eye something green.” Then the child asks
questions to figure out what that something green is. Switch roles to have the
child lead the game.
 Ask parents to share their ideas on the following:
o What are some ways you can foster your child’s interest in the
environment?
o Have you gone, or could you go, on a walk and find shapes in nature and
play “I Spy”? Where are good places to walk?
For Adult Education
ESL



Introduce the function of “but” in English. Write a few sample sentences (“She
was nice, but lazy,” etc.) and have students brainstorm more. Give them sentence
strips to pair together with “but” in-between them.
Talk about contractions: start with I’m, you’re, he’s and she’s and then move on
to negative verb contractions: can’t, won’t, wasn’t, shouldn’t, wouldn’t,
couldn’t. Have students pair up; have partner A ask the other to do something
and partner B refuse using a contraction (this can be simple, “Can you dance?”
“No, I can’t” or more complicated, “Can you dance?” “Yes, but I won’t”).
Play “Pictionary” using common nouns. This will give students a chance to draw
things in their own way and others to guess what it is they are trying to depict.
It Looked Like Spilt Milk 12
GED



Financial
Literacy
Personal /
Professional
Development
What are clouds made of? What different cloud shapes are there? An
assignment could be charting different clouds that the students see, either
individually or as a group.
Discuss how meteorologists come up with forecasts. How accurate are they?
Why?
Explore information about the atmosphere around the earth.
It Looked Like Spilt Milk 13
It Looked Like Spilt Milk 14
Vocabulary from
It Looked Like Spilt Milk
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Find the following words and circle them:
CIRRUS
GREATHORNEDOWL
SPILT
CUMULUS
IMAGINE
STORM
FOG
RAINBOW
STRATUS
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It Looked Like Spilt Milk 15
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(Over,Down,Direction)
CIRRUS(6,14,NW)
CUMULUS(7,1,SW)
FOG(7,11,E)
GREATHORNEDOWL(1,15,E)
IMAGINE(2,1,SE)
RAINBOW(13,1,S)
SPILT(6,11,N)
STORM(6,13,NE)
STRATUS(7,7,W)
References
Teachers and Staff of Dane County Parent Council, Inc.
Smith, Roberta. “A Cosmopolitan Cubist With a Wandering Eye.” The New York Times 20 December 2007.
It Looked Like Spilt Milk 16
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/20/arts/design/20shaw.html?_r=0