Jack and the Beanstalk Easy Crafts for Kids

Your little one enjoys listening while you tell or read fairy tales.
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“Tell me the story of Jack and the beanstalk again, Mommy. I want to be like Jack and take care of you.,” your toddler or preschooler affirms. Adding crafts to the story gives him something to remember. It also provides an enjoyable and interesting way to share the story with friends and family.

1 Bean Crafts

Your little one can grow her own beanstalk, but it probably won’t grow as large as Jack’s. Give her a flower pot to decorate with various elements of Jack’s stories, and let her cut out (or help her) pictures of a chicken, harp, castle or cow. Decoupage these onto the flower pot with a decoupage medium. Germinate some dried pinto or kidney beans on a moist paper towel and place in a small glass of water. Place the glass of water out of her reach. Let them germinate for two or three days. Plant the bean sprouts in soil in the flower pot she's decorated. Alternatively, she can string fresh green beans onto yarn or string to make bean jewelry. After she strings the fresh beans, bake at 125 degrees for 8 hours or hang the beans in the sun to dry for a week or more to preserve the jewelry.

2 Share the Story

Your preschooler can make his own Jack in the Beanstalk book by illustrating the story, ordering illustrations or coloring pictures based on the story. Slip the pictures into page protectors to create a favorite fairy tale book or staple the pages together to create a story book that only includes this fairy tale. Provide toilet paper rolls to create dolls for Jack and his mother and use paper towel rolls to make larger dolls to represent the giant and his wife. Alternatively, he can create stick puppets to dramatize the story.

3 Set the Stage

The giant and his wife living in a castle is an idea your child can replicate using blocks. Your can help your little one can build a diorama of the castle in a large shoebox or packing box. Form the castle and other story elements out of modeling clay or construction paper. Your little one could use small crackers with peanut butter or spreadable cheese to form the giant’s table and chairs and the oven jack hid in.

4 Jack's Treasures

Jack stole three treasures from the giant – a bag of gold, a chicken that laid golden eggs and a magical harp. He can make a chicken using tangram pieces and add a small golden oval for the golden eggs. Provide gold pipe cleaners and help him make a golden harp. He needs two pipe cleaners to make the upper portion of the harp and a third pipe cleaner to connect the two ends of the harp outline for the base. Gold string, wrapped from the top of the harp to the harp base will form the strings of his harp.

Rev. Kathryn Rateliff Barr has taught birth, parenting, vaccinations and alternative medicine classes since 1994. She is a pastoral family counselor and has parented birth, step, adopted and foster children. She holds bachelor's degrees in English and history from Centenary College of Louisiana. Studies include midwifery, naturopathy and other alternative therapies.

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