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One dark night the Gruffalo’s child disobeys her father’s warnings and ventures out into the snow. After all, the Big Bad Mouse doesn’t really exist … does he?
Teaching Ideas and Resources:
English
- Look at the rhyming words in the story. Can you find other words that rhyme with these?
- Look at the use of speech marks (and other types of punctuation) within the story. Can you make your own sentences which have this punctuation in them?
- Exclamation marks are also used regularly in the story. Think of an exciting sentence which will need an exclamation mark at the end.
- ‘Terrible’ is used repeatedly in the story. Can you think of synonyms for this word? Can you find the other adjectives in the story?
- Retell the story from the point of view of the stick man toy that is carried around in the Gruffalo’s Child’s hand.
- Think about the different voices / accents that the characters might have? Can you perform the story and read it with enthusiasm and expression?
- Write a set of instructions telling someone how to make ‘gruffalo cake / pie / tea’.
- Make a menu for the Gruffalo’s Child’s midnight feast.
- Make your own shadow puppets and perform a play for others. Could you retell this story (or another one) using shadow puppets?
- Think of some speech / thought bubbles for the illustrations in the book.
- Watch some of the narrated versions of the story. Could you narrate your own version and record it?
- Watch the animated version of the story. How is it similar / different to the book? Which do you prefer?
- Could you perform the story yourself and / or with a group of friends?
Science
- Look at the animals hiding in the illustrations. Think about what camouflage means and why animals might need to hide themselves.
- What other animals might live in the wood? Can you think of other types of habitat? How are the animals / plants adapted to living in those environments?
- Find out about the different footprints of different creatures. Can you draw some of these?
- Try to make some shadows using a bright light. Can you explain how they are created using scientific language?
Design Technology
- Can you design / make some toys for the Gruffalo’s Child to play with? Look at the illustrations for some ideas of the toys that she currently has.
- Create some shadow puppets to scare away the Gruffalo’s Child!
Art
- Draw a picture of a baby brother / sister for the Gruffalo’s Child.
- Draw an illustration of the Big Bad Mouse based on the Gruffalo’s description.
- Look at the cave pictures in the Gruffalo’s cave and find out about other cave paintings. Can you create your own?
Geography
- Think about the weather in the story. Can you find out about different types of weather and what causes them?
- Draw a map showing the Gruffalo’s cave, the woods, the mouse’s house and the different animal tracks in the snow.
History
- Create a family tree for the Gruffalo’s Child. Does she have any uncles / aunts / grandparents etc?