Room on the Broom Activities

Julia Donaldson is this month’s featured author for the Virtual Book Club for Kids. I love the way Julia Donaldson writes. She is a talented storyteller and her books have a lovely sing song rhyme. Today we are sharing two activities to go along with Room on the Broom: a reading game and a sensory science activity. Affiliate links are included in this post. Thanks for supporting Inspiration Laboratories.

Room on the Broom

Room on the Broom is a fun little story about a witch and her cat flying through the air. When the witch loses her hat, bow, and wand, a dog, a bird, and a frog help her out. And then along comes a dragon. Will the witch be eaten or will the animal friends help her out?

You can also find the story of the Room on the Broom movie on DVD. If you liked the Gruffalo movie {see my Gruffalo movie review}, then you’ll like this movie, too. It has a similar feel and does a nice job of animating Julia Donaldson’s story.

Broom Race to Learn -at Words

Aiden has been practicing rhyming lately. He seems to like the -at words right now, so I created an activity for practicing them some more.

First, Aiden and I made a list of -at words. I typed them into a document on the computer, printed them out, and cut them apart.

Next, I placed the -at words on one side of the room.

Aiden stood on the other side of the room with his broom {a walking stick}.

I called out an -at word and Aiden “flew” across the room to find it. He brought the word back to the start.

We repeated this for a while.

I also printed some of the pages of the -at CVC Word Family printable from 3 Dinosaurs. Specifically, the pages with the pictures and the missing first letter. Aiden looked at the picture {for example: the cat}, flew across the room, and found the cat card.

He returned with the cat card. Then, he wrote the letter c in the blank before -at.

I like that these games practice reading, writing, and got him moving around a bit.

Witch’s Potion

Next, we turned to some science and sensory play. At the end of Room on the Broom, the witch fixes her broom by making a potion. Each character in the book contributes something to the cauldron. The bird adds a twig, the cat adds a cone. The frog adds a lily, and the dog adds a bone.

Our first task was to head outside to collect some things to add to our potion. Aiden found dandelions, leaves, a twig, etc.

I mixed some baking soda, flour, and water together {1/3 cup of baking soda, 1/3 cup of flour, and a couple tablespoons of water} making a quick baking soda play dough. I cut the dough with a bone shaped cookie cutter.

I filled a large bowl half full with water and vinegar.

Outside, Aiden put together the potion adding the flowers, a leaf, and a twig. Then, he added the baking soda dough bone. Fizzy bubbles.

Aiden stirred the potion with a star shaped bubble wand.

He continued adding things from outside to his mixture stirring and watching for the bubbles. He said the bone dissolved. {I was excited to hear him use the science words dissolve and mixture correctly.}

We have done a lot with baking soda, so I didn’t talk much about on this day, but you could. The baking soda in the bone-shaped dough reacted with the vinegar in the bowl to produce carbon dioxide {the bubbles}.

Download more fun activities from the Room on the Broom website. There’s even an app. Play games along with the characters from the story.

More Julia Donaldson Inspired Ideas from the Virtual Book Club for Kids

See more ideas to go along with Room on the Broom.

Room on a Broom – Ordinal Numbers from Rainy Day Mum
Witch Hat Halloween Treat from The Pleasantest Thing
Witch Shape Craft from Toddler Approved
Room on the Broom for a Rhyme from ready-set-read
Counting Ingredients in the Caldron from 3 Dinosaurs
Witch Hat Cupcakes for Kids from Coffee Cups and Crayons
Room on the Broom Sensory Bin from Still Playing School

Take a look at these ideas to go along with The Gruffalo.

Gruffalo Rhyming Tic Tac Toe Game from Royal Baloo
DIY Gruffalo Inspired Mouse Costume Headband from The Educators’ Spin On It
Roll a Gruffalo Game from Playdough to Plato
Gruffalo Themed Shape Animals from The Educators’ Spin On It

Check out these ideas to go along with Stick Man.

Books for Kids: Stick Man from Growing Book by Book
Fancy Stick Crown from Mama Miss
Going on a Stick Hunt from Playing with Words 365
Recycled Stick Man Craft from Laly Mom

Be sure to see our past featured Virtual Book Club authors here.

What’s your favorite book by Julia Donaldson?