Goldilocks and the three bears shoebox stories!
Have you ever thought of crafting your own favourite nursery story, with a shoe box and some cardboard inner tubes?
It’s a great project to do with your kids over the holidays!
In this post I shall show you how to craft Goldilocks and the Three Bears as one of many ‘Shoebox Stories’, so read on!
Techno-gadgets!
With all these kids’ tech gadgets, singing, toys and light-bursting toys currently available, have you ever wondered what happened to our ordinary down-to-earth reading books?
HELP KIDS AND HOLIDAYS!
The question is “What do you do with your kids over the school holidays?”
OUTDOORS!
Making arrangements to go out to the local park, or an event within a park. Use the kid’s park activities, slides, swings roundabouts, and let them wear off some of that energy.
PICNIC TIME!
Choose and child-friendly park, and meet up with friends and their kids. Pack a fun picnic not too far from kids’ toilets and restaurants for top-up.
LESS SCREEN TIME!
Well, there’s watching the TV, and we know too much of this can’t be good for their eyes!
DIFFERENT SCENE!
Getting plenty of fresh air and experiencing the outside a bit more, is fundamental for your kids’ development and social interaction.
HAVE ADVENTURES!
Allow your children to run around and make discoveries. Please encourage them to use touch, and experience the beautiful colours that nature has to offer.
A NICE ACTIVITY TO DO!
When you are back at home and stuck for something to do with your kids, how about checking your recycling and having a go at the activity coming up next?
CRAFT A FAMILIAR STORY!
In this post, I will recreate a kid’s favourite story Goldilocks and the Three Bears using a shoebox and some cardboard inner tubes.
We will be crafting shoebox stories in a fun animated way.
WHERE DO IDEAS COME FROM?
All stories and ideas begin somewhere, often in a book. From there, they shape our world and influence what resources we have available for our children.
This means that cool robot toys that talk and light up with nursery rhymes, fairy tales, songs, and numbers all started as ideas on paper.
WHAT ABOUT BOOKS?
Isn’t it great when a kid picks out a book they want? It could be about anything they’re interested in, like animals, heroes, police, firefighters, or dinosaurs.
“They would then act out and interact with each other. Even if they are not yet at the right reading level, the pictures tell a story and inspire them to create their characters!”
WHAT WE NEED TO DO!
Reading to your kids has many benefits. It’s not just about a storybook, but time together to talk and share ideas while you turn the pages. Holding a book is also different and lets you escape into the story. Childmind.org shows research on why reading is important.
BOOKS AND MORE BOOKS!
This brings me back to the parents and carers to become more proactive and simply do a lot more reading with their kids.
WHAT ABOUT TABLETS?
KIDS TABLETS AND PHONES!
Studies suggest that preschool children who are exposed to tablets or mobile phones are at a higher risk of poor concentration, hyperactivity, and friendship issues.
Let’s consider, that some people might think tablets are better for entertaining their kids while they do their chores. However, we must consider what is essential for preschool children’s education. They start with books and build their knowledge from there.
TOO MUCH TV AND ITS RISKS!
Exposure to screens for prolonged periods of time is not only detrimental to one’s vision but also causes them to lose touch with reality. To regulate your child’s screen time and avoid potential damage to their vision and development, I recommend using the helpful information from “All About Vision” provided in this link.
HOW TO READ?
So when you begin to read to your child, they may not be interested at first, but as you read they become curious and want to see what’s in the book.
PLAY-ROLE.
You continue with the story reading with characteristic voices becoming the subject in the story, although, after a while, they loose concentration and wander off.
DON’T GIVE UP.
You persevere and continue reading where they settle until you capture their concentration again.
SUBLIMINAL MESSAGES.
Ultimately they will be picking up something, building up their vocabulary, sentence-making, and expression becoming more empathetic to the outcome of the story. They carry this experience with them and in hand developing their feelings.
MY INTENTION!
I want to take a familiar children’s story and bring it to life!
You will need to gather some cardboard inner tubes and a shoe-box as mentioned earlier and some brown packaging cards, and put them aside.
These will be the main resources you will need to make your characters and their home, as well as some other resources shown below.
WHAT STORIES?
Fairy tales are the familiar type of books you would find in a Nursery, in the early years or have become classic tales that little ones start with.
Do you remember stories like:-
Snow White and the seven dwarfs.
Cinderella.
Red Riding Hood.
Goldilocks and the Three Bears.
Rapunzel.
The Three Little Pigs.
Jack and the Beanstalk
WHICH STORY?
As mentioned earlier, the story I will show you how to craft in this activity is… Goldilocks and the Three Bears, one of the Shoebox Stories.
But first, let’s imagine we are reading Goldilocks and the Three Bears, so let’s take a look!
Oh dear, do you think Goldilocks learned a lesson in this story?
The moral behind the story is, that one should never enter someone else’s home without their permission!
We know that would be regarded as trespassing right?
ARE YOU READY?
Resources.
1 Shoebox/packaging card.
12 Cardboard inner tubes.
3 smaller boxes (going down in size)
Acrylic paints/brushes.
Coloured felt-tip pens.
Scissors, large/small.
Coloured papers.
Glue stick/double-sided tape/masking tape.
Felt fabric/cotton wool balls.
LET’S CRAFT SHOEBOX STORIES!
SOME TIPS!
- Keep hold of any shoe box this will come in handy.
- Look for any saved pattern papers or use any wrapping-up paper.
- Failing this, you can have fewer or more designs on the outside of your box.
- Inside of the box, you are creating a standard room, that is used to play out the porridge eating, then set up for the chair trying, and finally the bed scene.
TUBES.
- Find cardboard inner tubes that you can slide another thinner tube inside it.
- The inside tube will represent the mouth, so when extended and pushed back up again, this motion will be for when the bear is talking.
HOW TO DRAW FACE.
- Draw an elaborate sketch of a bear’s face. I started with the nose and drew around it, the white part of its face, and then I drew the eyes set on top of the outline of the white-shaped section.
- Once you have drawn the face, cut a section under it, this will show the pink part that represents the mouth.
HOW TO COLOUR.
- When colouring the bear use different colours to give the rough texture of the fur.
- First paint the white bits, like the eyes, then around the nose.
CLOSE-UP OF FACE.
- Click on any image to enlarge it. Then you can see a close-up of the bear’s faces to see how you can replicate this on your tube.
- Finally, I will make a short video demonstrating the tubes in action.
ATTENTION ATTENTION!
I feel passionate about kids having a chance to read books and likewise, as a learning tool from the start, but there are other ways to show reading material to entice your child even though it might be gimmicky, but fun too.
WHAT I CAME ACROSS!
In order to get our kid’s attention, I guess we would resort to anything fun and eye-catching so take a look at this option!
BOOKS ARE CATCHING UP!
We all know books have been around for a long time and still hold their place, and there is also a lot of competition out there, but take note, books are catching up in a different way.
CAPTURE YOUR CHILDS ATTENTION!
PERSONALIZE OPTION!
Have you ever considered Personalizing your kids’ book with their very own name within the story? Well……..
Bang On Books can do this for you!
WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO!
All you need to do is fill in a few details, like….
- Add a photo of your child or choose a mirror to reflect your child’s face.
- Then enter a name or hero.
- Finish off by writing a short message.
- On top of that, your child’s name will also appear on the front of the book!
Here’s a sample of their collection!
Click on any of these books to take you to a world of fantasy stories that any child from 0-10 would love!
You can read together and enjoy the adventures ahead, or simply look at the lovely colourful illustrations which have been beautifully drawn and portray the essence of the story.
Hello Julia
Thank you for this great article. I don’t have kids but it was interesting to read and It will come in useful for anyone who does have kids. I like all the ideas you discussed especially the shoebox stories. It’s a cool idea and I might even try it myself one day. Thank you again for this great article.
Regards
Timothy
Thanks for your comment Timothy, I am glad you got alot out of my post, and if anything you could
pass on any information to someone who does have kids and who could benefit from some of the research!
and whose kids would enjoy doing the shoebox stories project too! and if you do jump into crafting
I can tell you now, that its quite relaxing and very rewarding to see your accomplishments, especially
when you have made something out of junk!
Happy Crafting Timothy!
Julia?
Hi Julia,
I had to drop by and see what new project you had in store for my grandkids! Low and behold I wasn’t disappointed. This is a fine project for those rainy days when everybody is bored. Of course, sometime we have to drag them away from the video games! Once they get started, they enjoy doing it. Some of the things they create are hilarious and adorable at the same time.
Then I get to read them a story! I enjoy reading to them every chance I get anyway! Thank you for creating another fun filled day together with my grandkids.
Hi Chas, glad this project appealed to you! I do try not to disappoint, and also happy to hear that you can introduce to your grandkids, something creative to do!
I always like to craft something thats probably a bit more challenging and fun to make with your recycling, and a project that kids can do in stages, keeping them busy, other than watching the box all day lol.
You sound like a really cool granddad, keeping on top of things and just like us try to entertain our grandkids one way or another, and ultimately calming them down, after a few rounds of energetic play, by reading them a book or two, I find always does the trick!
Thank you for your super comment and happy you are finding activities for your grandkids to do!
Happy crafting.
Julia?
Crafting shoebox stories seems like fantastic way to encourage imagination and hands-on learning during the holidays. Any specific tips for parents who want to try this activity with their kids?
I am glad you liked this activity, as parents and depending on your childs age, simply gather all resources, lay them out to make it easy for them to determine whats what, and you can start them off by modelling the first part,then they can take over.
If the making of the shoebox is a little complicated, then just do the Three bears and Goldilocks with the inner tubes that alone is quite fun to make, and they can have a laugh acting out the scenes with their little characters!
Thanks for your comment, and happy crafting?