The Three Billy Goats Gruff is one of those stories that we have read over and over again since my oldest son was a toddler. Even as my kids grow, we have found that this story has continued to capture their interest.
Recently, my 4 year-old received some Lego for Christmas. It’s amazing to watch him play and tell stories while playing ALL those bricks. We decided to take two loves and merge them into a wonderful literacy play idea.
If you have a Lego lover in your house this will be a great idea to try.
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Three Billy Goats Gruff Activity
Materials Needed
copy of the Three Billy Goats Gruff (click to see our favorite version of the story)
various colors of Lego bricks (green for grass, blue for water, brown/white/gray/black for goats, white/black/brown/tan for bridge and any color will work for the troll)
Get Building
This turned into a great family afternoon project for us. You will need to build three goats in three sizes, a troll, a bridge, a grassy pasture and a stream. Increase vocabulary while building. Here are a few questions to ask.
If the small billy goat needs 10 Lego bricks, will the middle billy goat need more or less bricks?
What features can we add to the troll to make him ugly?
How can we make a sturdy bridge?
It was so fun to see each member of our family create the different characters. This guy was my favorite troll out of the three we made.
Although, the three goats turned out pretty well too.
Story Retelling
Now it’s time to read and retell. Share a version of The Three Billy Goats Gruff story. Then, use the Lego creations to retell the story. Retelling stories help children to sequence events, determine beginning, middle and end and identifying details.
It’s even more memorable if you video record the storytelling session!
Related Three Billy Goats Gruff Posts
The Three Billy Goats Gruff Sensory Bin
The Three Billy Goats Gruff Retelling Blocks
Our wheels are really turning now. We are trying to think of the next story to recreate. What story do you think we should do next?
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Science Kiddo says
Such a fun post! My daughter loves this story. She has finger puppets that she uses to retell it, but we’ll have to try out Legos next time. Thanks for linking up at STEM Saturday!
maryanne @ mama smiles says
Very clever! My kids make up all sorts of stories with their legos!
Jodie Rodriguez says
Thank you Mary Anne! I can’t wait to see all the creative things my kids do with Lego.
Stacie says
I really like the idea of retelling the story with legos. I love using legos when we can. I haven’t used them enough. I think I am going to start using them more.
Jodie Rodriguez says
Thanks Stacie! We’ve been have so much fun with them.
Stacey says
Such a great story for retelling. I love the Lego twist! Great idea…
Jodie Rodriguez says
Thank you Stacey!
Amber {Laptime Songs} says
This is TOTALLY cute! And one of our favorite stories, too.
Jodie Rodriguez says
Thank you so much Amber. It was a lot of fun and I’m excited to see how we can adapt it for different stories.