Tag: creative writing

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Teaching Young Children About The Gingerbread Man

If you are teaching early years children about trust in others then at one time or another you may be focussing on the story of The Gingerbread Man and specifically issues of trust. You will need comprehensive key stage 1 resources, material about issues of personal safety as well as top quality teaching resources looking specifically at the story of The Gingerbread Man.

The Gingerbread Man is one of a number of classical fairy tales that engages children from the very outset. This is an especially well-liked story for children in the age range of 3 to six years old.

To create the best program of work with The Gingerbread Man you will benefit from teaching resources for The Gingerbread Man. This tale is one of a series of very useful key stage 1 teaching resources.

The story tells the tale of a gingerbread cookie made in the shape of a man who comes alive and determines to make his escape. He evades a multitude of pursuers, taunting them as he is going. He meets his demise by the hands of a cunning fox who manipulates The Gingerbread Man into relaxing his guard. The tale makes in depth use of rhythm and repetition. In some versions The Gingerbread Man cries out as each quarter of him is devoured.

The Gingerbread Man may be used to draw out standard features such as story language, characters, plots and offers many options to cover objectives for conversation and listening. Young people can re-tell the story orally using photographs as visual cues. As children become acquainted with the text and repetition of The Gingerbread Man they will be able to re-tell the tale themselves after having had it read to them a number of times.

It is good practice to provide puppets and other interactive objects related to the story so the children can re-tell or re-enact the tale using using pictures, puppets and story props in small groups. Children could use masks and act out the story outside or in the role-play area. Young children are sometimes enthusiastic to perform this kind of activity independently, without adult intervention.

Allowing children to re-tell stories themselves helps to develop their story telling abilities, builds their self-esteem and develops the social skills for working in a tiny group. To form extra interest, the story might be recorded, filmed or said in some other way to what’s left of the class.

Fairy tales are useful tools for identifying basic story elements the beginning, the middle and the end. There are a few versions of The Gingerbread Man and they can form the root of an exercise in comparing one with another.

There are lots of activities of a creative nature that early years children can indulge in. Collages and paintings can be created and once displayed the lecture room will look vibrant and full of colour. Every child will be able to have their work displayed.

One specific activity that is inspired by this story is for children to cook their own real gingerbread men following a time-honoured recipe and decorate their culinary masterpieces using a spread of icing and fruits.

The Gingerbread Man inspires many different ideas for creative writing. The process of making different versions and endings can be a valuable exercise. Telling the story of The Gingerbread Man from a different character’s perspective can also be challenging and a good stimulus for inspiring extra creative story writing abilities.

It is sometimes useful to perform in a dramatic stage setting and use drama in advance of creative writing and hot seating some of the characters gives a good understanding of character portraits. The children can create their own versions using different settings, characters and props. All of these practical ideas and activities inspire young children to think in a theatrical way and act as a stimulus when it comes to writing. It is widely thought that boys in particular gain from active drama and role-play experiences before being asked to write.

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How To Use The Three Little Pigs In The Classroom

If you are educating young children about how to stay safe and forward planning then at some point you may be taking a look at the story of The Three Little Pigs and in particular issues of trust. This story provides a good starting point for introducing the subject of materials and how they relate to constructing reliable buildings. You will need comprehensive key stage 1 resources, material about issues of personal safety as well as first rate teaching resources looking specifically at the story of The Three Little Pigs.

The Three Little Pigs is a traditional fairy tale. The story is excellent for teaching about materials and structures. It also offers opportunities to discuss bad behaviour and how those who are kind and friendly get on much better. There are several different versions of The Three Little Pigs and depending on the age of the children engaging with the texts the children can compare and contrast the different versions of the tale. Just as the story has evolved into an several different versions of its own accord, children can enjoy a creative writing challenge by creating their own different versions. Writing the story from a different character’s perspective can be a useful additional exercise in creative writing for children in need of a further challenge.

On occasions children will be looking at pigs in general and The Three Little Pigs makes an ideal backdrop. Tales such as these with such a focus on materials and their properties are an excellent link for technical skills. The children can create houses of sticks, wood, straw and bricks whether made from clay or construction bricks such as Lego or Duplo. They are able to be taught the design, build, test and evaluation sequence. The blowing of the wolf can be simulated with a fan or a hair dryer and children can be introduced to the practice of fair testing in this manner.

The Three Little Pigs is a wonderful book that engages children straight away and offers many opportunities to cover objectives for speaking and listening. If you need a story that is ideal for three to six year olds then this fits the bill perfectly. After having had The Three Little Pigs read to them a number of times, the children should achieve sufficient familiarity with the tale to be able to re-tell it by themselves. It is good practice to have available puppets and interactive objects related to the story so that the children can re-tell the tale using the story props in discrete groups.

Children can re-enact the story in the role-play area or outside if they have access to a supply of masks. It is particularly popular with young children to be allowed to perform this kind of activity on their own without the supervision of adults. Permitting children to re-tell stories with story props helps to develop their story telling skills, builds their confidence and develops the social abilities of working in a small group. Making a presentation to the remainder of the class, filming or otherwise recording the story can add substantially to the excitement.

There are various creative activities that can be carried out with young children related to The Three Little Pigs. Children can engage in the production of artistic creations such as painting pictures of pigs, creating pictures of pigs using computer graphics programs and even create mobiles to hang from the ceiling. The end result will be a vibrant and bright classroom where every single child will be able to have their own work on show. Children can create words that rhyme with the word pig and learn the phonetic sound of the letter p.

Numerous non-fiction books are available and there are also many other stories about pigs. A visit to a farm would be ideal to give children first hand experience of farm animals and children can learn about pigs in their daily routine. The Three Little Pigs delights generations of children day after day and will continue to do so for many years to come.