Meet an artist who found colour, courage and happiness in cats, flowers, houses and the everyday world around her.
£6.99
Digital download · a printable Parent Guide and Wonder Companion Journal for your child
Digital downloadMaud Lewis became one of Canada’s best-known folk artists. From her small home in Nova Scotia, she painted cheerful scenes of animals, flowers, boats, villages and changing seasons.
This printable Wonder Lesson helps children look closely at her visual language, consider the challenges she faced and create an original happy memory using bright colour and simple forms. The Parent Guide and Wonder Companion Journal invite families to notice beauty in familiar places while making room for thoughtful conversations about kindness and creativity.
Use simple materials and paint the things your family knows and loves. The Parent Guide supports the story and conversation while the journal creates space for a child’s own memory, colours and way of seeing.
There is no need to copy Maud’s paintings perfectly or produce a finished masterpiece. A familiar cat, a favourite flower or one happy moment can become a starting point for making and noticing together.
The free companion resources include three videos about Maud’s life and art, including a guided folk-art project, plus a read-aloud of A Tulip in Winter. Explore her preserved painted house, read a short biography and try the family Kahoot.
Paint an ordinary place with brighter colours and one playful surprise, then wonder whether a small, ordinary life can create something extraordinary. Watch the documentary together, as it discusses illness and hardship.
Can’t find what you’re looking for? We’re always happy to help.
There is no fixed age recommendation. Choose the looking, drawing and discussion activities that suit your child, offering help with reading and writing where useful. An adult can guide any conversations about illness or hardship at an appropriate level.
Two printable PDFs: a four-page Parent Guide and a three-page Wonder Companion Journal, seven pages in total. This is a digital download, not a physical book or art kit.
Printing provides spaces for the fact file, happy-memory art and reflections. You can read the guide on a screen and use your own paper or sketchbook for drawings and written responses if you prefer.
There is no fixed completion time. Explore Maud’s story, one painting or one creative prompt at a time, or return across several days. You do not need to complete every activity.
No specialist painting skills are needed. Use paper and pencils, crayons or paints you already have. The lesson invites simple shapes, bright colour and your child’s own memories rather than a perfect copy of an artist’s work.
Yes. The videos, read-aloud, quiz, links and further art prompts are free to access with or without purchasing the printable lesson. The Parent Guide and Wonder Companion Journal are the paid download.
Keep the conversation honest, gentle and appropriate to your child. Acknowledge that pain and hardship were real while noticing Maud’s art, choices and creativity. Children can ask questions and share feelings without being expected to feel cheerful or treat creativity as a cure. Watch the documentary together and pause when useful.
Maud Lewis is one of the wonder-led adventures in The Wonder Curriculum Volume One. The complete family set travels through science, nature, history, art and the wider world, with every adventure designed to be used in any order.
Download the Parent Guide and Wonder Companion Journal and explore Maud’s story, joyful art and your own familiar world together.
£6.99
Digital download · a printable Parent Guide and Wonder Companion Journal for your child
