Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Hair Dryer

When I began to focus on the summer theme of "Build a Better World," I knew the Three Little Pigs would need to make an appearance.  This story fits the theme perfectly  and is a personal favorite of mine, reaching back to when I would watch "Pigs in a Polka" from Merrie Melodies (Enjoy!), as well as a library favorite (we own over 20 variations of the tale!).

The original idea for this portion of our Busy Builder series came from Schroeder Page, but with some adjustments to fit our library.  We invited ages 5-8 for the storytime.

Then I'll huff... and I'll puff... and teach the kids STEM!

Supplies:

• The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka
• Large paper or white board
• Marker
• Paper plates (the foundations for each house)
• Pipe cleaners (straw)
• Marshmallows (sticks pt. 1) If possible, use another "sticky" material for this part (gum drops, etc.).  We selected marshmallows as they were allergen friendly, but they were a little too sticky...
• Toothpicks (sticks pt. 2)
• Sugar cubes (bricks)
• Hair dryer 
• Wiggle eyes (for hair dryer)

 

Step 1:

Discuss the story of the Three Little Pigs.  What do we know about the story?  Can we learn anything from the three little pigs?

Most kids were very familiar and happily relayed the tale.

Step 2:

Read The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka.  Though this book was published long before any of our storytime kids were born, it's a hilarious classic!

Step 3:

Introduce the activity.  We will be building our own houses of straw (pipe cleaners), sticks (marshmallows and toothpicks), and bricks (sugar cubes).  Discuss the problem of keeping out the Big Bad Wolf and hypothesize which house will be strongest.  If possible, have a large writing surface available to jot down the kid's answers.

Step 4:

Build!  We constructed all of our houses in order, setting each aside for its eventual meeting with our Big Bad Wolf (a hair dryer with wiggle eyes).

Step 5:

Huff... and puff... and blow that house down!  In the same order the pigs built their own houses, we lined up the kids' experimental builds and attempted to blow them down with the Big Bad Hair Dryer.  We made it clear that the destruction of the houses may occur, but that's part of the experiment!

Results:

The pipe cleaner houses blew right over the edge of the table, properly demostrating their inadequecy as a building material for shelter.

The marshmallows and toothpicks lead to a surprise for everyone, however.  Every construction stayed up because our hair dryer melted the marshmallows, sticking them to the plates!  This was a great time to discuss unexpected results in science and the importance of testing ideas.

The sugar cubes stayed strong even on the highest setting.  They were simply too heavy to move!

Social Media:

This is where I need to give a big thank you to the Library Aide who planned and hosted this event, Miss Cory.  With her at the helm, I got a little break and was able to take pictures and videos!  I composed the entire video (below) on my phone with the help of Google Assistant in Google Photos.  It's absolutely incredible what you can do on your small devices these days!  But I digress. 

This video was a big favorite on our Facebook and Instagram and was a great way to show the program in action.  Enjoy the view of kids celebrating their defeat of the Big Bad Hair Dryer!