I’ve always loved Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel by Virginia Lee Burton. Today, I want to share a number of Montessori-inspired activities that focus on concepts from the book. The Maestro Classics Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel CD would also be perfect as part of a music appreciation study along with a literature-based study.
Disclosure: I was given a copy of Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel CD from Maestro Classics. All opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links at no cost to you.
Montessori-Inspired Activities for Concepts from Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel
In the homeschool music curriculum guides at Maestro Classics, you’ll find a number of ideas for a unit study of Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel. Just look for Curriculum Guides under the Education tab at the top of the site! I’ll share some Montessori-inspired activities here for preschoolers through early elementary as well.
Check out the Five in a Row Link-Up at Delightful Learning with Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel Activities from a number of blogs. Montessori-inspired activity trays could be created with many of the activities linked up at Delightful Learning. And many of the blogs shared a fun food-preparation activity that would fit in perfectly with a Montessori-inspired unit.
Homeschool Share has free Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel Unit Study and Printables. The unit study and printables could be used with ideas from my post “How to Use Printables to Create Montessori-Inspired Activities.”
Land and Water Forms – (to go with landforms in the book)
Montessori-Inspired Fun with Land and Water Forms (my roundup post)
Square and Cube Activities – (to go with the four square walls and four square corners of the cellar in the book)
Inexpensive and DIY Geometric Solids and Extensions
Solid/Liquid/Gas Activities – (to go with the concept of steam energy from the book)
Solid, Liquid, or Gas Free Printable from The Hands-On Homeschooler
States of Matter Cards and Control Chart available for purchase from Montessori Print Shop
States of Matter Sorting available for purchase from Montessori for Everyone
Matter Materials available for purchase from Montessori Services
Simple Science: The Three States of Matter for Toddlers from Montessori Messy
States of Matter from Leptir
States of Matter Lesson from Just Montessori
States of Matter from Homeschool Escapade
Preschool Science {Introduction of States of Matter} from Carrots Are Orange
States of Matter Lesson at Trillium Montessori
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dlB4S9MZSo
States of Matter: Solid, Liquid, Gas from The Homeschool Den
The God with No Hands (Montessori Elementary) from Discovery Moments
First Great Lesson: God with No Hands from What DID We Do All Day?
“God Who Has No Hands”: The Foundation of Our Curriculum from We Don’t Need No Education
Great Lessons, Cosmic Education Links and More from Montessori Mom
The Great Lessons: God Who Has No Hands from Monteaco
The Beginning – The First Great Lesson from Miss Barbara
Music Appreciation
The Maestro Classics Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel CD (or MP3/PDF) is perfect for a study of Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel.
Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel
“Virginia Lee Burton’s classic American storybook, a childhood favorite for generations, is brought to life with this beautiful new music for orchestra and Irish bagpipes.
“In the story, Mike Mulligan refuses to give up his aging steam shovel Mary Anne as they travel to find one last job together. A tale of loyalty and friendship, perseverance and good ideas, this musical CD won a Parents’ Choice GOLD award.”
This CD is delightful! I always liked the story of Mike Mulligan and Mary Anne. I can’t think of many things more fun than sitting cuddled up on the sofa with kids, looking at the book Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel while listening to this CD. I really enjoyed the addition of the Irish bagpipes, which fit perfectly with the story.
“About the Author” by Bonnie Ward Simon is fascinating. I especially enjoyed the “About the Music” track by composer Stephen Simon. Although Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel is a book for young children, even adults will have fun learning why Stephen Simon made his choices of instruments.
Bonnie Simon also gives suggestions for actions to accompany the track with music without narration. The CD is recommended for ages 4+, although many 3 year olds would enjoy listening to the narrated music to accompany the book as well as joining in with the actions to the music alone.
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Jacquie says
What a fun unit! I love Mike Mulligan – one of my favorite vintage reads as it introduces a time long ago that most children haven’t experienced yet has such a great message.
Renae says
Wow! Once again, I could spend hours checking out all of your links. Thank you for all of your hard work! All of this will definitely come in handy as the year pushes forward!
Autumn Rennie ( says
Associating the Solid/Liquid/Gas Activities with steam energy from the train is such a clever idea. I am bookmarking the States of Matter video as we speak. I am also adopting the teacher’s phrase “Let’s control our bodies” into our activities!
Jolanthe says
Love these ideas, Deb – the landforms one is great!
Anna says
I never would have thought of all these things as an extension for one of our favorite books! Thanks so much for sharing at the After School Linky.
Rebecca English says
What an amazing resource. I’m not familiar with this book but it looks great.
I’ve featured it this week on The Sunday Showcase: http://www.herecomethegirlsblog.com/2013/09/07/10-activities-bring-books-life.html