What We Learnt from The Three Little Pigs

Last Sunday, I read the classic story "The Three Little Pigs" to my 3-year old. After we read the story, she pretended to be the big bad wolf, and went around huffing and puffing trying to blow down things. 

Watching her do that gave me an idea to extend the story into a little playtime activity. We made clay figures for the three pigs. Then, we decided to build a house for each of them. We looked around the house for material that could be used to build the houses. We zeroed down on three items - Popsicle stick house, Lego block house and a Straw (drinking straw) house.

We spent a few hours building each house and then placed the pigs inside it. Then, the little one pretended to be the big bad wolf, and huffed and puffed, and tried to blow down each house. Needless to say, the Straw house was the easiest to fall followed by the Popsicle stick house. And, the Lego block house stayed put.

The story and activity were a fantastic way to spend the Sunday afternoon. And the little one learnt some basic fundamentals of construction. Our next step will be to figure out how we can make the Popsicle and Straw houses stronger, maybe use a combination of building material.

There's no limit to how we can use a story to teach concepts. The Three Little Pigs story can also be used to teach about weather. For older children, it can be extended to learn about why people in different parts of the world construct houses differently. It could also lend itself to a math activity, where you determine the amount of sticks or blocks needed to construct a small or big house.

So, the next time you want to teach your child some concepts, read them a story and extend it into an activity. They will enjoy their reading and activity time and will also learn concepts incidentally.