Jack and the Beanstalk Sensory Bin and Story Retelling Activity

This month the members of the Poppins Book Nook are reading and sharing about fairy tales. We had so much fun with our Jack and the Beanstalk activities last year that I thought we’d revisit this story again in a different way. As usual I wanted to come up with something that both the toddlers and preschoolers could enjoy and learn from together. This Jack and the Beanstalk sensory bin and retelling craft was just perfect for all of the kids.

FIND ALL OF OUR JACK AND THE BEANSTALK ACTIVITIES IN OUR PRINTABLE LESSON PLANS.

I started with a 15 quart plastic bin to house sensory bin components. Then we added pinto beans, green glass  beads, lima beans painted gold to represent the magic beans, our alphabet leaves from last year’s Jack and the Beanstalk reading activities, and some green scoops.

The toddlers loved this sensory bin, and they both spent a lot of time throughout the week pouring, scooping, and digging for magic beans. Tinker also enjoyed searching for the alphabet leaves and asking us to name the letters for her. Of course, I supervised the kids closely to make sure none of the contents were put in their mouths.

For the story retelling and pretend play component we re-purposed the craft we used for our Jack and the Beanstalk math activities last year.

I cut a hole in the lid of an oatmeal canister and inserted the cardboard tube. Then I covered the canister with green felt and placed the whole “beanstalk” in a corner of the sensory bin.

The printable we used for last year’s games included retelling pieces that are great for classroom use and would have worked well for this activity, but when I saw these adorable Superhero Clothespin Wrap Dolls on Twodaloo I immediately wanted to make something like them for us to play with here. With a couple inexpensive materials I created the main characters from the story.

Visit the full tutorial here. You’ll want to see how easy it is to make your own. Mine are not nearly as crafty and fantastic as the ones at Twodaloo, but they held up to a lot of pretend play and I think they’ll get a lot of use as we create more friends for the girls to add to their collection.

Here’s our full cast of retelling characters…

The clothespins helped them stand up in the sensory bin, so that gave Lovey even more ways to play and interact with the characters.

The Giant kept watch over the castle, and Lovey had fun going back and forth between retelling versions where he was a nice giant and an angry giant.

Below are a few of our favorite versions Jack and the Beanstalk.

We repurposed some of the materials from this sensory bin in our Jack and the Beanstalk math activities. Here’s a quick glimpse.

GET A FULL WEEK OF JACK & THE BEANSTALK THEME LEARNING AND PLAY

Save time and get right to the playful learning with our printable lesson plan sets. Each set includes over 30 playful learning activities related to the theme, and we’ve provided different versions for home preschool families and classroom teachers so all activities are geared directly toward your needs.

This set includes active hands-on learning ideas and the following printables:

1) My Beanstalk science activity

2) Jack and the Beanstalk Shape Building Mats (in color and b/w)

3) Climb the Beanstalk Alphabet Game (4 versions in color and b/w)

4) The Giant’s Gold class book covers (in color and b/w) and page template

5) Hen and Eggs Beginning Sound Sort

6) Jack and the Beanstalk vocabulary cards (in color and b/w)

7) I Found Magic Beans counting activity and recording sheet (in color and b/w)

8) Climbing the Beanstalk counting and number sequencing activity

9) Shake, Drop, Add Math Game with game mat (in color and b/w) and recording sheet

GET YOUR LESSON PLANS

Jack and the Beanstalk Theme Lesson Plans

All of our products are also available on Teachers Pay Teachers if you prefer to shop there.