Daycare Lesson Plans on “It Looked Like Spilt Milk”
This page may contain affiliate links. Learn More.
Daycare Lesson Plans on “It Looked Like Spilt Milk” by Charles G. Shaw are simple, engaging, and fun! This fun book is wonderful for daycare lesson plans because it supports early literacy, imagination, observation, art, and science. You can build weeks of simple activities around clouds, shadows, shapes, weather, and storytelling.
“It Looks Like Spilt Milk” is a simple, classic children’s book that captures imagination with just one idea: clouds can look like anything. The repetitive storytelling and bold blue-and-white illustrations make it perfect for toddlers and preschoolers.
With every page, children guess what the white shape might be: a rabbit, a tree, a birthday cake, a bird, or a flower. The surprise ending reminds kids that it might look like something familiar, but sometimes…it’s just a cloud.
If you want some printable lesson plans with the Oklahoma ELG’s for 2 weeks of “It Looked Like Spilt Milk” lessons, including 8 days of activities for the QRIS requirements that has a supply list and daily schedule, check out our listing on Etsy and TPT. Lesson plans on Teachers Pay Teachers.
Read Aloud and Shape Guessing
I love to start every lesson plan with a book. You can build so many great things around a story. “It Looked Like Spilt Milk” is a favorite around here. Begin your lesson by reading the story aloud. Read slowly and pause before turning each page. Ask children, “What do you think it looks like?” Even toddlers love pointing and guessing. You can also give kids simple cloud shape cards to hold up when they think they know the answer.
Repetition builds vocabulary and prediction skills. After reading, talk about how everyone sees something different in the same cloud. This teaches creativity and perspective.
Cloud Art With Paint or Glue
Cloud art projects let kids create their own shapes just like in the book. Try one of these simple ideas:
- Use white paint on blue paper and let children dab, smear, or sponge clouds
- Drip watered-down white paint and blow through a straw to make cloud shapes
- Use glue and cotton balls to create fluffy clouds
- Paint with shaving cream mixed with white glue for a puffy texture
When the clouds dry, ask children what their picture looks like. It’s a wonderful conversation starter and a chance to build language: lion, marshmallow, dragon, ice cream, snowman—anything goes.
Outdoor Cloud Watching
If the weather is nice, take the children outside and lay on a blanket to watch the sky. Point to clouds and ask what they see. Some might see animals, others might see shapes, and others may just enjoy watching clouds move.
For windy days, show how clouds drift and change shape. This builds early understanding of weather and nature.
If you can’t go outside, show cloud pictures or videos. Children can still practice describing shapes and using their imaginations.
Shape Matching and Math Play
Make simple cloud shape cards based on the pictures in the book. Children can:
- Match clouds that look alike
- Sort clouds by size
- Count how many “animals,” how many “objects,” etc.
- Trace cloud outlines with a finger or crayon
Even toddlers can participate by pairing identical shapes.
Cotton Ball Science Exploration
A sensory bin with cotton balls offers playful science. Add tweezers, cups, bowls, spoons, and toy animals. Cotton balls become pretend clouds that children can scoop, squeeze, and stretch. Talk about how real clouds look soft, but are actually made of tiny drops of water.
For a simple weather science activity, spray cotton balls with a dropper of water to show how clouds fill up. When they get too heavy—just like rain—they start to “drip.” It’s a gentle introduction to how rain forms.
Cloud Science
This fun experiment at Little Bins for Little Hands-Cloud in a Jar would be fun to do with kids. All you need is a mason jar, some ice, warm water, and aerosol hair spray. Check it out!
Dramatic Play: Weather Station
Turn dramatic play into a weather center. Add:
- Toy binoculars
- Pretend weather charts
- Cloud pictures
- Umbrellas and rain boots
- Cardboard microphones for “weather reporters”
Kids can pretend to forecast the weather or report what the sky looks like. Dramatic play builds language, cooperation, and imagination.
Weather Study
Show kids pictures of different weather or take pictures during different weather during the week, and talk about how clouds form and make rain, how they give shade on hot days, and how they have different textures.
You can also do the same with different positions of the sun, wind speeds, and more. Making a wind sock to study wind is always fun. You can just use a paper cup, a hole punch, and some string, ribbons, yarn, or streamers threaded through the holes. Hang it outside the window and watch the wind patterns.
Cloud Snack
Give kids different pieces of cut up fruit and let them dip it in whipped cream “clouds”. You can use cool whip, or whip up some whipping cream with a dash of honey and a dash of vanilla for the dip. Plop it in a cloud shape on a small plate and arrange some fruit to dip, you could even use different colors of fruit and make a rainbow.
Sliced grapes, strawberries, blueberries, bananas, apples, oranges, peaches, pears, and more would be great dipped in whipped cream.
Literacy Extensions
Help children make their own class book. Give each child a blue page and let them create a white cloud shape. Under each picture, write what they think the cloud looks like. When you bind the pages together, you have your own “It Looked Like Spilt Milk” story to read again and again.
Singing cloud and weather songs also supports literacy:
Daycare Lesson Plans on Children’s Books
For more home daycare lesson plans based on children’s books, check these out:
- Daycare Lesson Plans on “Goodnight Moon”
- Daycare Lesson Plans on “The Very Hungry Caterpillar”
- Daycare Lesson Plans on “Where the Wild Things Are”
Simple, Creative, and Full of Imagination
It doesn’t take a lot of supplies to bring this book to life. The magic comes from imagination, observation, and playful learning. “It Looked Like Spilt Milk” reminds children that creativity lives in everyday moments—even the sky. When children paint clouds, watch weather, sort shapes, or act like weather reporters, they’re learning science, literacy, art, and language all at once.
With simple, hands-on lesson plans, this classic book becomes a week full of wonder, discovery, and storytelling—just right for busy little learners.
