Adding Beauty to the World with Miss Rumphius

Posted by Jan 2, 2017 Book Based Activities, Books

adding-beauty-to-the-world-with-miss-rumphiusAs we start the new year and leave the old behind, it is a great opportunity to make changes in our own lives and in our communities. After the holidays, it’s especially important to remind kids of their role in helping others and making the world a more beautiful place!

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Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney tells the story of Alice Rumphius, or the Lupine Lady. When she is little, Alice tells her grandfather of her plans for when she is grown. She wants to travel the world and live by the sea. He insists that she do one other thing, which is to make the world a more beautiful place. She makes good on her plans and travels the world. When she is old and living by the sea, she finally discovers a way to make the world more beautiful. This story is a great way to talk to your kids about how they can make the world a better place.

Spreading Beauty – Talk to your kids about how they can spread goodness and beauty in the world like Miss Rumphius. From small actions to bigger projects, help them come up with a list of things they can do. Make it a goal to do the things on the list together.

Lupine Inspired Snacks – To mimic the tall and colorful lupines, dip pretzel rods into melted blue, purple and pink colored chocolates. You can add sprinkles or streaks of white chocolate to make them more decorative. You can also make candy coated popcorn in lupine colors. The blog, Making Life Blissful has an easy recipe for it.

Lupines

Paint Lupines – Using the beautiful illustrations in the book, or using photos of lupines, show kids what lupines look like and have them create their own. Draw or paint a green stem and have kids add petals with their fingerprints.

Make the world a more beautiful place like Miss Rumphius did!

Make a Beauty List – Take a walk or a drive around your neighborhood or town with your kids and come up with a list of all the beautiful things that you see. You can also come up with a list of things that they think they could make more beautiful. Use this list to come up with a project that you can do together to help beautify your area! You could plant a community garden, or pick up trash in a local park.
Miss RumphiusShop on Amazon

things-to-consider-for-writing-a-wish-letterWish List – Alice and her grandfather share their hopes for her future. Use this opportunity to tell your children what your hopes and dreams are for their lives. You could tell them, or you could write them a letter to be opened later. There are many great examples of these letters online if you need inspiration (obviously you should write your own and not copy someone else’s, but sometimes we have a little brain block or don’t trust our own writing!). Check out this printable list of prompts to give you a jump start!

How did you decide to make the world a more beautiful place? Did your kids enjoy the story?

44 comments on “Adding Beauty to the World with Miss Rumphius”

  2. Miss Rumphius was always one of my favorite books growing up as a child. I love the pretzel stick lupine inspired snack to go with this – such a cool idea!

  4. Oh my daughter would love this book! I really like how you make story time so enaging and fun with these activities. What a great way to foster the love of reading and actually get them understanding the take away of the story itself!

  5. What a wonderful story and ideas to reinforce the message! I think that the basis of the story is that we all have goals we’d like to reach in our lives but it’s so important to give back to others and leave a legacy before we go. I will definetly be checking this book out!

    • I hope you enjoy it! I think it’s a great way to introduce kids to the idea of the legacy they will leave behind.

  6. Sounds like a really awesome book with a great lesson! I’m making a list of books for when my son is older and this one will be on it for sure!

  9. I have been looking for a book like this for my kids!! Teaching them to spread love and beauty is so important to me!! Plus I am a fan of fun activities that go along with the book!

  11. This seems to be a wonderful idea of engaging kids and also teaching them love compassion and empathy towards fellow beings. I loved the colouring part of the book too, kids would learn easily and when more activities based on a story is done they would remember for a longer period of time.

  13. This is beautiful. If we all left the world a more beautiful place, imagine the possibility. Great post. I have to find this story for my littles or maybe order at amazon.com =) Thank you!!

    • Aw thank you! I agree the world would be so much better if we all tried to do something to add beauty to it. I hope they enjoy it!

    • That is a beautiful list. I pinned it for future post ideas! There are some on there I haven’t read yet. Thank you for sharing!

  17. I don’t think I’ve ever read this one… I am going to have to keep my eyes out for it next time I’m at the library. It looks beautiful, and I know my kids will love the activity extensions you’ve suggested!

  18. I never heard of this book but it does look very beautiful. I like to show my kids color and wonder in the glory of the things around them. This book seems fitting and I like your suggestions on applying it to the real world. Kids never say no to painting!

  22. I always loved the story of the Lupine Lady. It was one of my favorites to read to you when you were growing up.

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