The Resilient Little Red Hen
Once upon a time…
There was a hard-working Little Red Hen.
You know the drill. She asks her friends for help to plant the seeds; care for, harvest and mill the wheat; and bake the bread. Crickets, except for snarky responses.
But OF COURSE: everyone’s ready to EAT the bread (or in some versions, cake) when it’s done!
In this month of harvesting, preparing and sharing feasts, we’re going to be looking at some old folktales that focus on FOOD! And, of course, resilience!
The Little Red Hen
Retold and Illustrated
by Jerry Pinkney
Why this variant?
Authentic to original with a bit of explanation/context added via dialog
“Not I” refrain by first 3 animals; special request by hen to 4th who has skills matched with each specific task
Hen share the bread with her chicks
Detailed, large illustrations
Good for group sharing too!
Animals: short brown dog, thin gray rat, tall black goat and round pink pig
🐥🐥🐔🐥🐥
Or check your library for this classic version, which is shorter!
The Little Red Hen by Margot Zemach
The Little Red Hen:
An Old Fable
Retold by Heather Forest
Illustrated by Susan Gaber
Why this variant?
Distinct ending: “I will share my cake with those of you who help when there is work to do. For after all is said and done, working together makes working fun. Now…when the little Red Hen wants to bake, everyone helps to make the cake, and everyone helps to eat it.”
Last page depicts everyone helping…next time!
Beautiful, large illustrations
Gentle, playful dog, cat, mouse all live with hen
🐥🐥🐔🐥🐥
Or check your library for this classic version, which is shorter and has a bit more humor/snark in the animal’s facial expressions!
The Little Red Hen by Paul Galdone.
Baking and Breaking Bread
Cooking with young children can be a challenge in group settings.
But even simple recipes can whip up great results when it comes to resilience!
There is nothing like preparing and then sharing food with someone to build relationships!
Whether you are helping children pour ingredients, or demonstrating kneading, or watching together as dry flour magically transforms into cake batter: it is a bonding experience for everyone.
I’ve sifted through resources and found these to stir your interest even if you’ve never tried baking with kids!
Bread in a Bag
Say what? Yes!
This article takes you step-by-step through mixing up loaves of bread in a plastic bag!
Full Disclosure: Although I’ve baked bread with kids, I’ve never used this process! Lots of positive comments, though, and it seems like so much fun!
Plus: children get to use their (CLEAN!) hands to knead twice: once to mix the ingredients in the bag, and once out of the bag to ready it ready to bake!
Basket of Food Fun
This collection of kid-friendly baking recipes includes a great list of tips for basic baking with children.
There are 40+ recipes, all chosen to be simple enough to back with kids!!
Recipes include:
Muffins
Breads
QuickBreads
Cookies
Snacks
Quick Treats…
and MORE!!!!
But HOW Does The Little Red Hen Do It?
Unless children live in a rural farming community, they may not understand how the Little Red Hen transforms seeds into a loaf of bread.
Check out these videos if you have curious kids who want to plow into the details of how the wheat-to-loaf process works today.
Stirring the Story Pot
Storytelling is always a shared experience.
But when teachers and children (or just children!) join together to create a new story, the magic of relationships glows and grows!
One reason I love using folk and fairy tales with kids is the many versions available. Sharing these highlights the “loose parts” aspect of stories.
I call the process “frame story play” (and: songs work the same way!
The Little Red Hen is great for this!
Swap out the hen for a…dinosaur? Or a turtle! Or a warthog!
Swap out her slacker friends for an ant, or a lion, or a sloth: what animals are intriguing the kids right now?
And don’t worry about sticking to bread: my class changed it to pizza, and even French fries!
Frame story play can happen in circle time, if you have the basic plot written out with places to fill in the blanks.
Or try a flannel board or puppets…with LOTS of random characters from various stories available!
Creating at the Story Table with fewer kids is my favorite, especially with younger children.
This also inspires young storytellers to later draw on their own story schemes to re-construct them into new tales!
And don’t forget to act out the co-constructed tales during storytelling/storyacting times! (Another way to help the ordinary magic of resilience and relationships rise!)
What do YOU think?
What are YOUR favorite food stories?
Do you do any cooking with the children in your life?
Please share in the Comments below!
