Here’s a fun activity based around the card, Angry Giant.
STEP 1: Download the PDF of the giant’s castle and “Jack” ( 8.5″x11″ or A4 ).
STEP 2: Gather up the materials you’ll need:
– A large cup or pot.
– Some potting soil
– Scissors, Scotch Tape, & Colored Pencils
– A long stick
– Some Mung Beans or similar fast-growing beans
– Some Cotton Balls and Latex Glue
STEP 3: Read the story of Jack and the Beanstalk with your child (or you can watch a video. Here’s a good one on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VCpAYajmvo )
STEP 4: Color the giant, his castle and “Jack” (we’re using Ferris, the Wild Kid).
STEP 5: Cut out the giant/castle & Jack. Then tape the giant/castle to the top of the stick and Jack somewhere in the middle of it.
STEP 6: Cover the cloud in a thin layer of latex glue, and then pull apart the cotton balls and put them on the cloud to make it fluffy.
STEP 7: Take the cup or pot and fill it with potting soil. Use your finger to push three shallow holes into the soil, and then drop a few beans down each hole.
STEP 8: Cover the holes and put the stick into the soil along the side of the cup.
STEP 9: Wet the soil thoroughly, but don’t drown the beans. Place near a window with plenty of warm sunshine.
STEP 10: Give the beans two spoonfuls of water every day. They should start to sprout within a few days.
Extend the lesson! Your child may ask why Angry Giant looks different than the Giant in the story. Tell them that different places and people have different cultures. There are some differences, but also many similarities. The giants may look different, but both cultures have stories about giants. You can then explore the internet for different kinds of giants or dragons or fairies from other cultures. Ask your child to pick their favorites and then you can draw pictures of them or find and read stories about them.
Extend the lesson! Plants need 4 things to grow: Soil, Water, Sunlight, and Air. You can make a wall poster with a flower on it and each one of these things surrounding the flower. You can also run some simple science experiments with more beans in cups of soil. Deny each cup of beans one of these essential things (put one in a dark place, don’t give water to one, don’t give soil to one, and put one inside a tightly sealed plastic bag) while giving them the other three things. Make predictions about what will happen and then compare how the beans grow. Analyze your results and discuss how they differed from your predictions.
CategoriesLesson Plan