Jack and the Beanstalk

This week with Miss Nessa, the children and I will be discussing some of our favorite books. Earlier this month, while talking about Dr. Seuss and his birthday, we had the kids come up with a list of the books they enjoyed. We wrote the list out for the children to share with their parents, and each day we read a new book. In addition, we highlighted some of the events in the books by creating activities that showcase them. 

Today we told the story of Jack and the Beanstalk! It was extremely fun to watch the children interact with the felt board as the story was being told. One of the most important parts of storytelling is knowing the story beforehand. Stumbling and bumbling can be fun, but you could also lose the children's attention. Felt board storytelling is unique, as you are able to come up with an improvised story if you forget parts of the tale. Which was exactly what happened today.

After our class enjoyed a discussion about some details from the story, and talked about what it was that the beanstalk needed to grow, we explored Jacks adventure to the castle in many different ways:

Art-

Now knowing what the plants will need to grow the children got a chance to make their own greenhouse by wetting paper towels, folding seeds inside the towel, and taping the baggie to the window for a little sunlight.

After they were finished, it was time to create a pot for the seeds to live in. This activity was fun because the children were able to make predictions on how long it would take for their "magic" bean to grow. They practiced one-to-one correspondence and writing, as well as the practical knowledge of sowing a seed.

The children were given a rainbow of sharpies (I have learned this is the only thing that works on most paper cups) and told to design their pot how ever they choose. Some chose to write letters, faces, names, and even circles.

Math-

This is an activity I have been using for a few years when discussing Jack and the Beanstalk SO.... needless to say, this game has seen better days. All you need to make this game is a paper plate, cotton balls, a castle cutout, and a paper towel tube (sadly I couldn't find my tube this morning and had to choose one that did not look quite like a bean stalk).

The children took turns rolling and counting the number of dots on the dice, after which, they placed a specific number of beans onto the clouds up in the sky. I like to mix this game up sometimes depending on how advanced the children are, by giving the child a die that has numerals on it instead of dots to promote number recognition.

Blocks-

The block area is one of our kids favorite areas. Today the children really enjoyed creating castles for the giant to live in. Most of the children created tall tower structures, some with stairs, and even a mote. Here are some of our favorites!

I like to add pictures to the block area to get the children's creative brains going. Having this extra fluff around the classroom allows you to have real-life structures, people, and things that the child may not have gotten a chance to come in contact with before. I have also had kids show their parents some of the things they have been learning, by using some of the new language they have learned in that activity.

Overall we were extremely pleased with the way our planned activities turned out, and we hope that you'll enjoy them just as much as the class did!