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Preschoolers and kindergarteners will love these Big Red Barn book activities. Discover printables and hands-on fun!
Farm animals are so fun to learn about. That makes Big Red Barn a wonderful story to read with your kiddos as spring arrives. These book-based activities to do alongside this fun book.
Watching the horses gallop across a field or a cow nibbling on some hay brings kids such joy. Not to mention roly-poly pink pigs and clucking chickens flapping around the farmyard.
Margaret Wise Brown’s Big Red Barn is a fun little story that your little ones are sure to love. The animals explore the barnyard when no one else is around. The short, rhyming text is just right for little listeners and beginning readers.
Big Red Barn Activities
Fun connections to make with the story:
• Colors: Pink pigs. Golden weather vanes. Red barn. There are lots of opportunities to talk about color throughout this story. Name an object, and ask your little one to tell you its color. Or, name a color, and have your child name an object of the same color.
• Action words: Action words are called verbs. Can your child act out some of the actions mentioned in the story?
• Moms and babies: What are different animal mom/baby names? Pig and piglet. Horse and foal. Cow and calf.
• Where does our food come from? Talk about milk coming from cows and eggs coming from chickens.
•What is a farmer’s job? Farmers grow crops, tend animals, etc. Have your preschooler list all of the jobs they can think of.
Books to Go Along with Big Red Barn
• Milk: From Cow to Carton – Aliki takes readers on a guided tour that begins with grazing cows, proceeds through milking and a trip to the dairy, and ends with some different foods made from milk.
• Mrs. Wishy Washy’s Farm – Uh-oh. Mrs. Wishy-Washy is at it again. Rubbing and scrubbing all the animals on the farm. But this time they aren’t standing for it. Duck, Cow, and Pig are leaving mean old Mrs. Wishy-Washy for good!
• Farming – Farms are busy places throughout the year. Animals are born; fields are plowed and planted, and crops are harvested. The winters are quiet, but there are always chores to be done . . . and soon spring will come again. Here Gail Gibbons describes the activities and special qualities of life on a family farm.
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Hands-On Activities
After reading Big Red Barn with your little ones and completing some of the activity pages, choose one or more of the activities below to bring the story to life.
• Your little ones will love this printable barn craft.
• Your littlest ones will enjoy creating a Big Red Barn Small World.
• A farm-themed sensory bin will keep the kiddos entertained.
• Create a flannel board so little ones can retell the story.
• Shredded paper sheep – how “ewe”nique!
• With a small box and some craft sticks, kids can make their own red barn.
• Here’s a fun chicken craft your kids can make.
Teaching Resources for Big Red Barn
• Little ones will love manipulating the felt pieces in this Old MacDonald Had a Farm felt board activity.
• These wooden farm lace and trace animals are a wonderful resource that will help your preschoolers build fine motor skills.
• Preschoolers can build fine motor skills while practicing cutting with these farm-themed cutting practice worksheets.
• Sensory bins are great for little ones. They’ll love exploring this farm-themed sensory bin as part of your farm activities.
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Snacks and Treats
These snacks and treats are super fun and go perfectly with a farm theme.
• Little lamb donut hole treats
Here’s a fun new printable for preschoolers and kindergarteners. While it was designed to be used with Big Red Barn, it would go perfectly with any farm-themed studies you are doing. Inside this learning pack, you’ll find the following activities:
• ABC and number matching cards: Laminate these pages, and then cut them out. Mix them up, and have your child match the pieces.
• Handwriting practice: Preschoolers will practice writing the featured letters.
• Shadow matching: Preschoolers will work on visual discrimination as they match each image to its shadow.
• Puzzles: Laminate these pages. Cut apart the puzzles. Have your preschoolers reassemble.
and more!
DOWNLOAD YOUR PRINTABLES
These printable Big Red Barn activities are only available to my readers. Click the button below to download your printables.
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love the activities