We used things from around the house to do some hands on learning all based on the fairy tale, The Three Little Pigs-affiliate link. To complete our activity I made some printable activities that include fun activities for sequencing, pre-writing, stick puppets to retell the story, and a page to color and design your own house to keep the big bad wolf out.
This activity took a few trials and errors for us to get it right. Now that we finally did, I am excited to share it with you. It was really fun waiting in anticipation for the building materials to break. They would make a big crunching sound that would make my daughter giggle with glee. I thought about trying to blow things over like the big bad wolf, but I think smashing was much more fun while examining the effects of durability, weight, and pressure.
Suggested Books:
Click photos: Affiliate links to more information on these books we love!
Three Little Pigs (My First Fairy Tales)The Three Little Pigs (Reading Railroad)
The Three Little Pigs: An Architectural Tale
The True Story of the Three Little Pigs
This activity is part of the Creative Preschooler Fairy Tale bi-weekly theme. For more fun ideas, make sure to check out the rest of the ideas at the bottom of this post and in case you missed it, our Creative Preschool themes have also included Shapes, Science Experiments, Learn About Food, Fine Motor Skills, Hair & Body, Ocean, and Maps/Geography.
The 3 Little Pigs Activity
Supplies:
Long noodles
Long pretzels
Building Blocks-affiliate link
Tissue box
Books
Scissors
You can mix up the supplies with what you have on hand. Basically you want a weak, medium, and strong type of supply to represent straw, wood, and bricks.
Directions:
1. Examine the supplies and explain what they represent (straw, wood, bricks). Have the child try to break each supply and then talk about their findings (This was the easiest to break, this I couldn’t break…)
2. Place a layer of straw on top of the tissue box. Place your flat object on the top of the straw, then place books one at a time at the very top. Keep track of how many books it takes until the straw finally breaks. Repeat with the wood. Our bricks didn’t break at all, we noticed that our tissue box was collapsing under the weight because the bricks where so strong. My daughter even hopped on top of the books to try to get them to break and nothing happened.
When we were done with our 3 trials, we tested out different amounts of material, combinations of material, and whatever else my daughter wanted to try out. It was fun watching her think of new things to try and guessing what she thought the outcome would be.
The 3 Little Pigs Printable
Free Printable:
Suggested Resources:
Click photos: Affiliate links to more information on these fun items!
Three Little Pigs Play Set, Book, & CD8Pcs Baby Three Little Pig Finger Story Puppets
The Three Little Pigs Toy House and Storybook Playset
Three Little Pigs Deluxe Felt Figure set
More Nursery Rhyme Activities by the Creative Preschooler Team:
Cinderella Carriage Craft by Artsy Momma
Fox Tale Soup Storytelling Bin by I Heart Crafty Things
Little Red Riding Hood Engineering Challenge by Hand Made Kids Art
Love, Katie & the Kiddos
Rachel Nipper says
February 20, 2015 at 4:07 pmSo clever using the tissue boxes! My little girl would have so much fun with this. I adore your printables too.
Jamie Hand says
February 21, 2015 at 2:06 amWhat fun! I know my preschoolers would love testing out the different materials. Love the printables too!
PinkStripeySocks says
February 24, 2015 at 7:09 amLove how you tested out the different materials. 🙂 Looks like fun!
Amanda Vasquez says
February 26, 2015 at 6:21 pmCute activities! Looks like she had so much fun testing and playing!
skubby1@aol.com says
March 24, 2015 at 2:06 amCan I ask where the download button is. This is awesome and would like to use it in my program. Your site is a true inspiration. Thank you.
Katie says
March 25, 2015 at 4:35 amHi, It is right above the "More 3 Little Pigs Resources". I just made it larger so hopefully it is easier to see. 🙂 Thanks!