8 Where the Wild Things Are Activities
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Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak is a classic picture book that is loved by children around the world. We started reading this story when my children were babies, but I have enjoyed revisiting classic stories with them even after they can read independently.
I like to plan a few activities to do together after reading stories. These activities can check for comprehension, introduce new literary ideas, and are fun. I think the educational magic happens when learning is fun.
Where the Wild Things Are Activities
1. Sequence the events of the story using pictures and text
The simplest way to sequence a story is to photocopy a few pages from the story. This is not a copyright violation because you are using the images for personal education. Just don’t sell or distribute the pages.
Make sure to include at least one page from the beginning, middle, and end of the book.
Ask your child to place the images in the correct order. If they get stuck, talk through the plot of the story. Sometimes talking through our reasoning can really help.
2. Build a Venn diagram comparing Max and the Wild Things
Picture book characters are a wonderful way to introduce Venn diagrams. How are Max and the Wild Things similar? How are they different?
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3. Complete a character web for Max, his mother, and the Wild Things
Where the Wild Things Are has very few characters – just Max, his mother, and the Wild Things. That makes it perfect for introducing the idea of character webs.
Making a character web is simple. Start by drawing a circle with one character’s name in the center of a page. Then draw lines away from the name circle. At the end of each line write an adjective to describe the character.
If we start evaluating characters with picture books it will be easier with complex characters in novels.
4. Make a crown for King Max
Max is the king of the Wild Things so he needs a crown. We made inexpensive crowns by cutting crowns out of cardboard. We covered the cardboard with gold paint and let it dry.
Next, we glued on plastic gemstones. I stapled elastic onto the sides so it will stay on.
5. Identify the verbs on each page and act them out
Grammar tends to be boring, but we can make it fun with physical activities. Verbs are a perfect grammar tie-in for active kids. Acting out verbs provides a chance to run off some of that energy.
They will certainly remember that gnash is a verb after acting it out on so many pages!
6. Create your own Wild Thing using clippings from old magazines
The illustrations in Where the Wild Things Are suggest that Wild Things are unique combinations of multiple animals. Ask your child to create their own Wild Thing by combining animal images from old magazines.
You can extend this into a writing activity by asking your child to describe their creature.
7. Watch the movie
There are two film editions of Where The Wild Things Are.
The Where the Wild Things Are cartoon version is probably best for the younger crowd. Those who are new to this picture book will likely appreciate this version the most.
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Where The Wild Things Are was made into a movie in 2009. This version is longer and not animated, so it is probably best for older fans who were fans of this classic book.
- Amazon Prime Video (Video on Demand)
Last update on 2026-11-01 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
We love to watch movies and compare them to books.
8. Make Wild Thing puppets
Save your toilet paper tubes and turn them into puppets! Simply paint each cardboard tube to look like a different character.
I think they would be a fantastic way to act out the story. Retelling stories is a typical kindergarten skill.
Related: How to Homeschool Kindergarten: What Do I Really Need to Teach?
Crafts are a great way to stretch a story. It let’s you check for comprehension while also having fun.
Have you read Where the Wild Things Are with your kids?
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