The Stick Man is a book by Julia Donaldson telling the story through rhyme of an adventurous stick that struggles to find his way home after going out for a jog. He encounters many challenges, including being played with by a dog and being used for a fire! The book is a great hit with preschoolers and features lovely illustrations you can explore with your child at home. If you are struggling for ideas on how to allow children to explore their creative side and keep them entertained, fear not! Here are some stick man activities you can create at home with your child to take them on their own stickman adventure!
Make your own stick man
Adventure out into your garden, local park or woods and ask your children to go on a hunt to collect the best sticks they can find. They can also collect other natural materials that have fallen from trees to add a bit of colour or depth to their stickman masterpiece. For example, pine cones or leaves. Once the materials have been collected, we can then start making your stick man.
What you need to do:
- Use a blank canvas or piece of paper as the background
- Place your sticks on the paper/canvas with glue, forming the shape of a man
- You can also create a house for your stickman, or anything else you can think of!
- Your children can use colouring pencils or paints to decorate the background
- In the end you should get a colourful, 3D creation!
Other stick man activities preschoolers and toddlers
After your child has read The Stick Man, they may be inspired to do more than just create their own main character. We have come up with some stickman activities that will not only be fun for the children but also support their early years development.
- Decorate a postcard that the Stick Man can use to send home to his family, telling them about his adventures. This will assist with their mark making, creative skills and imagination.
- Create a nursery rhyme or a song based on the story? You could also include actions which would help with your child’s physical and motor skills.
- If you have The Stick Man book at home, ask your child to count all the different animals they can see in the illustrations. This will help the children grasp the idea of numbers and adding up.
Get in touch
Here at All About Children, we encourage creative activities in all environments in our nursery setting. For more information about our nursery, contact our friendly team today.