The 3 Billy Goats Gruff

This month’s Virtual Book Club for Kids is highlighting books by Paul Galdone.  He has retold and illustrated numerous classic stories including The Little Red Hen,  The Gingerbread Boy, and The Three Little Pigs.  We chose one of our favorite stories- The Three Billy Goats Gruff to showcase.

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The Three Billy Goats Gruff is a story of three goats who need to cross a bridge to reach the nice green pasture where they can feast.  However, a troll lives under the bridge and is hungry.  Each goat tries to outwit the troll and safely cross to the other side.  The last and biggest goat ends up pushing the troll off the bridge.

The 3 Billy Goats Gruff Literacy Extension

Last fall, we had to cut down my favorite tree in our yard.  I asked my husband to cut some of the branches for me so that I could still keep a part of the tree.  They were sitting in a box in our garage and my 3 year-old kept getting them out while he was playing.  One of his favorite things to do was to build bridges and then draw water with sidewalk chalk underneath.

So, as I eagerly await warmer temperatures, I got the idea to create some characters on the wood slices that he could use in his bridge play!

All you need is four slices of wood, Modge Podge, a foam brush, and cut-outs of three goats and a troll.  For the cut-outs, I just Googled coloring page images and then colored them myself.

Apply multiple thin layers of Modge Podge over each image on the wood.  Let them dry completely for 72 hours before using the character pieces outside.

Draw your setting (bridge, river, green pasture) with sidewalk chalk on the concrete outside.  You are now ready to retell the story of the The Three Billy Goats Gruff.   Now, if it would just warm up so that we can return to outside play!

There are lots of versions of The Three Billy Goats Gruff and some are more scary and violent than others.  Galdone’s version is on the tamer side.  Although some young children may find the troll a bit scary.  If you are looking for a very tame version of the story, I highly recommend The Three Billy Goats Gruff by Stephen Carpenter.

Be sure to also check out our The Three Billy Goats Gruff Sensory Activity Bin too!

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Check out the other great activities featuring the work of Paul Galdone below.

Toddler Approved– The Educators’ Spin On It– Rainy Day Mum– 3 Dinosaurs– Learn~Play~Imagine– Crafty Moms Share– Reading Confetti– Inspiration Laboratories– Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas– Kids Yoga Stories– Enchanted Homeschooling Mom– Ready-Set-Read– Boy Mama Teacher Mama– PlayDrMom– Fantastic Fun and Learning– Growing Book by Book– Royal Baloo– The Outlaw Mom® Blog– Kitchen Counter Chronicles– Teach Preschool