Three Little Pigs Houses
What you need
- a handful of scrunched-up scrap paper as the straw
- a few short sticks
- building blocks as the bricks
- three soft toys or small toys as the pigs
How to do it
- Tell the story of the three little pigs together, or read it, stopping to ask what each pig builds its house from.
- Build three little houses on the floor: one of paper straw, one of sticks and one of blocks, with a pig beside each.
- Take turns being the wolf. Huff, puff and blow at each house, and see which ones fall down and which one stays up.
- Ask your child why the block house didn't fall, and let them tell the end of the story with the pigs safe inside.
Why it matters
Blowing on the houses tests the story for real, so the ending makes sense, and retelling it with the pigs in their hands keeps the order clear.
What they're learning
- Retelling a story
- Straw, sticks, bricks, in the right order.
- Testing materials
- Which house stands up to a big blow?
- Why it stayed up
- The brick house and the big blow.
What to look for
Notice them saying the wolf's words with you: I'll huff and I'll puff.
A tip
Give the wolf big puffed-out cheeks and a sneeze at the end instead of a growl, and let the pigs win.
Make it easier or harder
Easier: build only the straw house and the brick house
Harder: let them choose a fourth material to test, like a cushion or a box, and add a fourth pig to the story
