I love reading The Nutcracker with preschoolers, because it is about imagination, music, movement, emotions, culture, and the warmth of tradition. So many wonderful things included for our young learners.
This page really got the attention of the children.
Always the most favorite scene! The battle.
Brave Marie.
Land of the Sweets!
I have an old toe shoe that I showed the children.
Our vocabulary word:
This book is a bit longer than most two-year-olds can sit through, so I adapted it for the younger classes. We looked at the pictures together and talked about what was happening in the story. Then we wrapped it up with a fun scarf-dancing activity!
On the Projector. All ages loved the battle between the Mouse King and the Nutcracker Prince:
My after school classes made mouse masks and swords.
We then re-enacted the fight scene.
We danced with scarves.
We also tried a “sound” science experiment. The pipe cleaners were supposed to “dance” with any kind of noise. We tried singing and yelling. Hahah, they did not. We then tried putting the speaker in the bowl. It worked but we had to turn it up really high. Even when a science experiment doesn’t work, it still teaches us something. The children learn that experimenting means trying new ideas and seeing what happens. What a great way to grow as learners.
Happy Nutcracker Christmas!
OK, so I might not look like The Sugar Plum Fairy, but the kids loved it.
Here is another Nutcracker story:
Find more ideas to go with the story here: