Begin a lesson on The Little Red Hen with the book by Byron Barton (click here). It is perfect for Kindergarten and Preschool. Simple text and pictures kids are drawn too.
Before reading the story ask the students what they like to help their parents do.
List answers: make pancakes, put dishes away, clean the car…
Pose the question: What if you were outside having so much fun playing with your friends and your mom asked you to help her put away dishes? Would you want to help her? Why or Why not?
Tell the children that the Red Hen in this story would love some help from her friends. Let’s see what she wants help with and if her friends will help her.
After reading the story, turn through the book and discuss the things the hen wanted help with and what the response was from her friends… Preschool and Kindergarten aged children love acting out the story by saying, “Not I!” at the right spots. Ask, what DID the hen’s friends want to help with?
You can sequence the story on a large white board. I printed these pieces, laminated, and hot glues a magnet to the back. Students sequence what the hen did in the story. We also played with the word red hen. The file for this activity can be found here.
Later as an independent activity at a center, the children sequenced the pieces on a cookie sheet and then showed me their work…
Again, files for these activities can be found here.
We also made stick puppets so we could use them in class to act out the story. Once the puppets were colored the children shared a part of the story with the class such as;
The hen asks the pig, “will you help me plant the seeds?”
The pig says, “Not I!”
Later she asks him, “will you help me eat the bread?”
The pig says, “I will!”
The Hen tells him No.
Then ask the children why they thought the Hen told them no??? (Love their answers)
The puppet patterns can be found here…
We finished up our Red Hen fun with a Red Hen shape craft. Students create the craft using shapes. After they finish they answer questions about the shapes they used in the craft.
They also trace the words, “The Little Red Hen” and answer a question relating the text to self.
The printable patterns for this craft can be found here!
Just another fun day with a great classic Fairytale. I hope you can use these ideas with your students of child at home!!!
For more Fairy tale Fun – Click here
Check out our two Fairy tale Packets – here and here!
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