Cooperation: Using the Little Red Hen

In the book, The Little Red Hen, children witness the effects of being uncooperative and lazy. When the Red Hen needs help making a cake, the animal friends living with her are uncooperative and refuse to do their part. However, when the cake has been baked, everyone wants to eat it. The animals learn the hard way that if they do not cooperate and help with the work they cannot join in the fun. Children can learn the importance of working together, the consequences of not being cooperative and the spiritual foundation for being a cooperative person.

Fun Activities to Do:

1. Creative Play:

Pretend to do all the things the Red Hen did to make the cake: plant some wheat seeds, water the seeds, pull the weeds, watch the wheat grow, cut the wheat, take it to the mill, bring a bag of flour home, mix the flour with other ingredients, pour it into a pan, bake it in the oven.

2. Drama:

Act out a family not being cooperative when loading a car for a trip. Now act out the family cooperating and everyone helping to load the car.

3. Nature/Cooking Activity:

Look online at the process of growing wheat seeing each step mentioned in the book. Then, start with flour and make a cake from scratch. Make sure that the child cooperates with the work and the clean- up.

4. Dialogue:

When we cooperate we make other people’s lives easier. Sometimes we feel lazy or in a bad mood and we do not want to cooperate. What happens when we will not cooperate?

5. Family Outing:

Go to the grocery store. Try to find 10 different food products made with wheat.  Take a picture of each one. Work together to find them.  Practice cooperation by making a collage with the pictures once home.

6. Game:

Play beat the clock. Set the timer and call out a task such as picking up a room or cleaning the kitchen. Everyone works together to get the task completed before the timer goes off.

7. Snack: Make Red Hen Strawberries.

Ingredients: Fresh strawberries, raisins, peach slice.

Wash the strawberries. Hull and cut in half. Arrange the strawberries on a plate to resemble the Little Red Hen. Use the book for a guide. Use raisins for the eyes and peach slice for the beak, comb and wattle.

8. Bible Stories:

In a children’s Bible story book, read the stories of the Israelites building the Tabernacle or Nehemiah and the Wall. Talk about how the people had to cooperate in each story.

9. Bible Verse:

“Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!” Psalm 133:1 When we “dwell in unity” we are cooperative with one another. Why is it good and pleasant when we do this?

10. Craft: Make a  Red Hen Cup.

Supplies: Red plastic cup, red feathers, red felt, googly eyes, yellow paper, glue

Glue the feathers to the side of the cup for wings. Glue the eyes to the front of the cup. Cut a beak out of yellow paper and glue below the eyes. Cut the red felt into a 2 inch square. Make a hole in the bottom of the cup and stuff the felt into the cup to hold it in place for the hen’s comb.

For more ideas on how to use classic children’s literature to teach spiritual concepts, check out Dr. Seuss and the Bible. Church version and parent version.