Activities at Home

What else can we do?!

Below you will find lots of other activities to do as a family for Gooseberry Park. Have fun!

Chapter Chat (Language Arts) –

Draw an * beside your favorite part each night as you read together. Share that part the next day with a partner in class. Explain why you picked that part.

Pet Persuasion (Language Arts) –

Write a letter to your parents trying to persuade them to get you a certain pet. Be sure to give them many good reasons that having a pet would be a great idea. You may even want to research some helpful information about pet care so you can be extra convincing.

Have your own food and conversation (Community) –

The best part for Kona and Gwendolyn of having Murray and the babies in the house is the late evening food and conversation in the basement. So, try it in your house – not late at night, of course. Eat some fun snacks (maybe Chips Ahoy!) and just have some time to chat. See where the conversation goes.

Glow in the dark fun (Art) –

Let children investigate phosphorescence and how it occurs in nature. What animals have it? Why? What purpose does it serve in the natural world? Then, give them some glow-in-the-dark paints and let them create their own phosphorescent fun.

Sock Dance (PE) –

Kona had a very difficult time maneuvering on the ice. Simulate his experience for children with a sock dance party. In a large, uncarpeted area, play music and have kids dance while wearing thick socks. Remind children to be careful, but they will get the general idea of Kona’s slippery trip. You can also give each child 2 thin paper plates to use as skates.

What comes next? (Language Arts) -

Cynthia Rylant wrote a sequel to Gooseberry Park so these fun characters could have more adventures. Have your students write a sketch of what they think would make a good story for a sequel for Kona, Gwendolyn, Stumpy, her babies, and Murray. What other characters might enter the story? Would the adventures happen in Gooseberry Park or somewhere else? Then, you can make Gooseberry Park and the Master Plan (another Read to Them title) your next classroom read aloud.

Activities provided by: https://readtothem.org/ for 'One School, One Book'