Book of the week
Stick Man by Julia Donaldson and Alex Scheffler.
Synopsis
Stick Man lives in the family tree with his Stick Lady love and their stick children three. But it's dangerous being a Stick Man. A dog wants to play with him, a swan builds her nest with him. He even ends up on a fire! Will he ever get back to the family tree? A wonderfully funny story from the author and illustrator of The Gruffalo and ZOG.
Weekly Activities
Before discussing this weeks activity, we made a stick man and hid it in a suitable ‘family tree’, somewhere within the nursery. We explained to the children that there was a clue to this week’s story and activity, hidden somewhere that they had to try to find. After giving them the clues, we said if the children were getting ‘warmer’ or ‘colder’ as they searched.
After reading ‘Stick Man’, we explained that we would be making our own stick people, just like the characters in the story i.e. either a stick man, a stick lady or stick children. The children made their chosen characters using sticks, twigs and other natural materials. We encouraged each child to find a thick stick about the length of their arm or shorter for the body, then more for the arms and legs. If they were lucky enough to find a ‘y’ shape stick then they only needed to find one more stick for the arms. We helped the children to attach the twigs and other natural resources using twine or wool. Some of the children whittled a face on their sticks using a potato peeler to create a smooth, flat surface so they could then draw on facial features with a pen. Others cut out round cardboard discs for the head and then attached it to their sticks.
During the day, we encouraged the children to re-enact the story or use their Stick Man characters in their imaginative play.
Aims and Objectives
Use their imagination as they consider what they can do with different materials
Explore natural materials and tools
Handle tools with increasing confidence
Develop manipulation and control
Re-enact a story
Join in with imaginative play
Home Activity
Make your own Stick Person from recycled materials.
Follow the link to the 'Sun Hats & Wellie Boots' blog and help your child create their favoured Stick Person using recycled materials:
