Three Little Pigs, Part 2

Caroline, whispering conspiratorially: "I don’t think wolves cry; wolves live in the woods."

At meeting, we are continuing to enact a story that’s based on some children’s initial interest in the Three Little Pigs story. Here’s why:

As mentioned before, this originates in a number of children’s interest in the Three Little Pigs, and our awareness that the children are managing the transition from home to school. But this ritual also helps create a shared language among the children. The comfort level of the children’s parallel play in the blocks area is partly due to the shared scenario behind their play, involving one or all of the following:

pigs    wolves    houses    woods    danger

…as well as many other things, some of which are verbalized, such as boats, slides, holes, climbing up/down, making a bed or spot to sleep, jumping, and falling. The children are all VERY aware of each other. Parallel play is nothing like solitary play; there is a tremendous continual peripheral interest. 

Our latest story acknowledges indirectly the children’s recurring language about being “stuck” or “trapped.” When discussing this morning’s foggy weather at snack, one child explained it this way: You can’t see you, you can’t see me, and Caroline added, We’ll be trapped in the fog. Some are very interested in becoming trapped in the cluster of trees on the playground – a “danger,” as one’s shoe can indeed get stuck there.

Finally, as you’ll read, we felt that babies, an ever-present part of our curriculum, needed to be part of the story. Here’s Tuesday’s story and the children’s reactions:

As Mark sets up a forest of colored blocks and add three “pigs,” Thomas objects: No, you gotta make a house for them, and Mark constructs a house, too.

They’re in the house, and they came out the door because they had heard someone crying.

Travers A wolf! It’s a dinosaur!

And they went into the woods to find the wolf.

Travers No, it’s a dinosaur. No, it’s a wolf in the trees.

Oh, the wolf could be in the trees.

Travers Yeah, and there’s a dinosaur on the floor then.

Cal They’re hiding under the table. Under that big table.

They looked in the hole and they found…it wasn’t the big bad wolf, it was a little baby wolf, and the baby wolf was crying. (baby wolf represented by a block, a small brown cube) And they gathered around the baby wolf to find out why it was crying. Why is this baby crying?

Asha Cause she misses mommy and daddy.

Travers Yeah, they’ve gone out of a tree into a cave with the bears.

The mommy and daddy did?

Travers Yes. And the bears ate them!

Maybe the bears ate the mommy and daddy?

Caroline Wolves don’t cry.

One pig said to the other, “I thought wolves don’t cry, but I hear this baby wolf crying.” “Waa, waa.”

Sam Maybe because they went in the cave and the bears camed out and they ate them.

Cal Yeah, and they eat the wolfs.

Travers Yeah, and the daddy and the mama wolf.

? I can’t see him under there.

I had him under there (under the platform) because last time somebody said that maybe the wolf was underneath.

Kyla That’s the cave.

Cal They should all go under there (the pigs and baby wolf should go under the platform)

Asha No, they should go to their house.

So another idea is that they could take the wolf to their house.

Kaya brings over a wooden figure: This is the big bad wolf.

That could be the big bad wolf. And this (small cube) is the little baby wolf.

Kaya brings over two more wooden figures, explaining that these could be the mommy and daddy pigs.

Here’s some language of Ruthie’s block play previous to meeting:

Ruthie We’re making woods for the big bad wolf. And those are closing the door. So the three little pigs went up onto the woods and they walked down. So they opened the door and they went in and then they went on top. They jumped (on) the woods. Then they jump off. The wolves didn’t open the door … (Ruthie puts all the wooden figures on top of the “woods”) This one fall down – are you okay, piggie? I put all the piggies on the woods.
Later, Ruthie brings the pigs one by one down from the woods: Ladder, ladder, ladder, ladder, ladder, ladder. They’re going down the ladder to their home.

 

 Amelia explains: I was building a bed for the pig. Later she points out that she built two.

 

The video below shows the nature of the children’s parallel play around this theme.

On Wednesday we continue the story:

They heard the wolf crying.

Travers The tiny wolf.

Ruthie It’s under the table.

They went into the woods. Waa waa. They heard it. It’s right down there. I’m going to pull it out so we can see it. There’s the little baby wolf, and it was crying. One pig said, “Why is it crying? I thought wolves were scary.”

? Wolves are not crying.

But this is a baby wolf and it is crying. “What is wrong, baby wolf?” “I miss my mama and I miss my daddy.”

Ruthie These are the mom and dad.

These are the three little pigs. We don’t know where this one’s mom and dad is. Shall we ask it?

Ruthie Yeah.

Asha Let’s get them.

Travers No, the bears eat them.

Right, you thought the bears ate them, well let’s ask the little wolf. “Can we get your mom and dad, little wolf?” (Little wolf answers) “They, they went across the river.” (Piggies talk) “They went across the river? What are we going to do? We have to get across the river to get the mom and dad for this baby.”

Kaya (gets wooden figures) See? These are the mom and dad.

Right, but they’re not coming into the story yet, we’re going to have to get to them – but they’re across the river. And the baby wolf is on this side of the river. Hm. How do we do that?

Ruthie But the baby wolf has to go over to his mom and dad. He has to get across the river to get to his mom and dad.

Travers, pointing I know–the mom and dad are over there.

How are we going to get over there, across the river?

Travers We got to walk over the river and the bridge.

Cal I know how you get across the river, you can take a boat.

Ruthie Or we can take a boat to find the mommy and daddy to go with the baby wolf.

Cal  I was just talking about that.

Amelia  Maybe the pigs can go with the baby wolf to find the mommy and daddy.

“Can we come with you to find your mommy and daddy?” “That would be really great, thank you. We’ll have to get across the river.”