Weekly Schedule Collage Activity and “Marigold Bakes a Cake” Book Review

by Ashley Beecher

In Marigold Bakes a Cake, by Mike Marlbrough, the main character is a perfectionist cat. He likes his schedule just so and Mondays are his baking days. The book tells the story of one Monday when Marigold sets out to bake a perfect cake.

Needless to say, his day does not go as planned. Some birds show up (in chef’s hats and aprons) which throws his perfectly planned schedule and recipe out of whack. Instead of the quiet day alone creating his perfect cake, he ends up with unwanted visitors and a giant mess, which leads to a big meltdown. Then he tries adjusting his plans to include the birds, instead of holding onto the perfection he intended.

We love this book for a lot of reasons. First of all, my kids think the havoc caused by the birds is hilarious and we all laugh at the silliness.On a more serious note, I’m a perfectionist and so is my oldest. Marigold is a wonderful example of perfectionism gone wrong and we can both learn to be more flexible from him. It also depicts Marigold’s emotional reaction when things don’t go the way we want. It’s a great opportunity to talk about how we react when things don’t go our way and strategies we can use to cope with that.

To buy this book on Amazon, click here.

Create a weekly schedule collage that shows which activities your kids do on each day of the week.

Supplies:

Weekly Schedule Collage Activity Printout (see below for download), colored construction paper, crayons or other coloring utensils, scissors, glue, magazines (optional).

Directions:

1. Print the weekly schedule provided and cut out each column.
2. Glue two pieces of construction paper together on the short end.
3. Glue all seven columns in order onto the construction paper.
4. raw or cut pictures from magazines that depict what your child does each day. Includes events like school, daycare, or grocery shopping. Encourage your child to add some of their favorite activities, like cooking dinner, reading, or playing with toys. Add something for each day of the week.
5. Display your child’s schedule where they can see it to remember which activities they want to do on each day.

Different Variations:

• For Younger Children: Keep things simpler by only including one main activity that will help them identify which day of the week it is. Practice the names of each day to help your child learn them.