The activities I’ve shared below will help you extend the learning in fun hands-on ways. Which will you try first? The Enormous Turnip Activities The dog took hold of the granddaughter, the granddaughter took hold of the old woman, the old woman took hold of the old man, and the old man took hold of the turnip. They pulled and pulled, but could not pull it out. So the dog called over the cat. Plan a Garden: To extend the lesson in a tangible way, let your kids plan and plant their own garden. My daughter is doing this over the next few weeks, and she’s already talking about tasting the new vegetables that she plans to grow! Try reading them to your children or getting them to read them out loud. What is The Enormous Turnip about? One of my new favorite spring books is The Enormous Turnip. It is an old folktale about a farmer who plants a turnip seed. The turnip grows so big that the farmer can’t harvest it himself. So, he enlists the help of friends and family in a story that points out the importance of teamwork.

This makes a good marching song. Give children instruments to play (e.g. drums, shakers) and go outdoors to march, sing and play. Once upon a harvest time... Appoint children to take the parts in the story, holding each other around the middle to pull. Help children innovate the story by retelling it with a different vegetable and different characters – use people the children know. Growing Vegetable Soup Sequencing: These sequencing cards were made specifically for Growing Vegetable Soup, but they’re great for sequencing “how to plant a garden”, as well. Fill your book basket with a great collection of The Enormous Turnip. Most of these books can be found at your local library or used bookstore.The story has been rewritten and adapted numerous times in other languages, for example Polish by Julian Tuwim; [7] Bulgarian by Ran Bosilek, [8] and English by Jan Brett. [9] Plot [ edit ] The Giant Turnip Activities: This story sequencing activity is based on one of the variations of the story, The Gigantic Turnip. Garden in a Glove: When my kids were younger, we put bean seeds in a plastic baggie with a wet paper towel. We taped the baggie to the window and waited for the seeds to sprout. But, here’s a unique twist on that activity! Have your kids start a garden in a glove.

A Vegetable-Themed Sensory Bin: Kids will love this fun sensory bin. You could use real or plastic vegetables in this one. Suwyn, Barbara (1997). Kononenko, Natalie (ed.). The magic egg and other tales from Ukraine. World folklore series. Englewood, Colo: Libr. Unlimited. pp.xxi. ISBN 978-1-56308-425-6. {{ cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year ( link)The granddaughter took hold of the old woman, the old woman took hold of the old man, and the old man took hold of the turnip. They pulled and pulled, but could not pull it out. Equally that no amount of help is too small not to matter as it is the mouse that clinches them being able to remove the turnip.

Then tell them to try to get to 'their' treat - with you acting as referee to avoid any injuries. It's natural for them to work against each other - to begin with at least - with neither being able to get to the treat. Eventually, they may well work out that if they go together to one chair, then together to the other, they will achieve more than if they pull against one another. If this doesn't happen, you might need to suggest a way forward - eg 'What if you worked together?' The Great Big Enormous Turnip– This is a story about a farmer who planted a turnip. The turnip grew so large that is took a “team” to harvest the turnip.

The old man started to pull the turnip out of the ground. He pulled and pulled, but could not pull it out. So he called over his wife. a b c Suwyn, Barbara J. (1997). Kononenko, Natalie O. (ed.). The magic egg and other tales from Ukraine. World folklore series. Englewood, Colo: Libr. Unlimited. pp.41–43. ISBN 978-1-56308-425-6. {{ cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year ( link) With a variety of topics and supporting activities, exercises and even full lesson plans to support them they might well inspire the next great story in your children. The old woman took hold of the old man, the old man took hold of the turnip. They pulled and pulled, but could not pull it out. So the old woman called over the granddaughter.

Follow up with: 'We are going to share a story together now. It's a very old story that many of you will have heard before. It comes from the country of Russia - a long way from here - but it's also a story that is told all over the world.' Garden-Themed Process Art: After reading the story, cut up some vegetables – be sure to include a turnip – and let your little ones paint a picture with veggie stamps. Vegetable Garden Watercolor Painting: This is a beautiful project for your artistic kids. It is a great way to highlight all of the parts of a vegetable, too. When I teach book-based lessons, I love to dig in and discover other fun “rabbit trails” to follow. The Enormous Turnip is the perfect lead into discussions about seeds, gardening, farming, vegetables, healthy eating, teamwork, and more.

To listen and join in with a story

This spring, explore this collection of The Enormous Turnip activities with your young readers. They’re perfect for kids in preschool through elementary.