Jack in the Beanstalk is a fun read in pre-k! May I suggest you read this version in Pre-k. I also enjoy reading the version seen below.
Before reading… show the class some seeds and ask them to tell you what they know about seeds – “You plant them, they grow into a flower, they need water…”
Tell them that today’s story is about some magically beans. I spray kidney beans with gold paint and show the class my magical beans. I let each child hold a bean as we read the story.
After I finish the story, I have them plant the magic bean in soil I have brought in… For a little magic, the next class I plant a full grown flower in the pot … The kids think it is magic just like the story! It’s fun to watch their wheels turn when they see the same pot with a large flower in it after only a day or so!
Also, after we read the story, it is fun to retell with my magnetic characters (found here). I print them on cardstock, laminate, and add a magnet. We retell the story as a class and later I leave out the board for the children to manipulate and recreate the story with.
Preschool aged children love these little puzzles (found here). This one you can program with any sequence skill (A,B,C’s, numbers, skip counting…)! They use the sequence to put the pieces in order to reveal a picture.
Here is a picture of the sensory tub I made. I had three wash bins (dollar store) at the center. Each child worked at his own bin. I told the children that they were Jack in search of the Giant’s treasures… They needed to find all of his gold (gold sprayed Kidney Beans), all of his harps, and all of his Golden eggs. They placed the items they found in the cups. Once they think they have found it all, I do a quick check and tell them that they would be a great Jack in the story! Preschool aged children always have fun with a sensory bin of any type. This one was great for working on sorting. They also wanted to count all the “gold” they found.
We also created our own Jack and the Beanstalk to take home to retell the story to our family. The castle and jack seen in the picture can be found here.
We used a long lollipop stick to attach the castle too. The vine was pipe cleaner that the students wrapped around the stick. To have Jack move up and down the vine, I cut two slits through him (he was printed on thick cardstock). I then strung him to the vine so he could move up and down it. The children enjoyed moving him up and having him run down quickly to escape the Giant.
Just another fun day with a great classic Fairytale.
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