The Three Bears

 The story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears has been a favorite of every group of children that I have read it to. There are so many versions of this classic tale available. Some of my favorites are The Three Bears by Byron Barton, Goldilocks and the Three Bears by Valeri Gorbachev, and The Three Snow Bears by Jan Brett. We have been reading these three books in the classroom this week.

Two and three year olds in particular seem to enjoy reading and rereading this story. The two year olds, who are learning about personal possessions and sharing (think of all the declarations of,"it's MINE!"), can really identify with baby bear. Looks of horror and shock spread across their faces as Goldilocks not only eats baby bear's food, but also breaks his chair and falls asleep in his bed! The three year olds, who are all about obeying the rules or at least everyone else obeying the rules (think tattle tailing), are quick to point out all the rules that Goldilocks is breaking. At the end of The Three Snow Bears, Alooki, the Goldilocks character, runs off still wearing baby bear's shoes, and the children, who were quick to notice this, seemed to be really upset. They could not believe that she hadn't given them back!

As part of our Goldilocks and the Three Bears theme, we set up a three bears house in the dramatic play area. 

 We added the three bear's chairs, a great big Papa Bear chair, a medium sized Mama Bear chair, and a wee little Baby Bear chair. 

We used different sized boxes for the bear's beds. 

And different sized bowls and spoons for their porridge. 

 The children spent the morning feeding the bears, trying out the chairs, and putting the bears to bed. When they noticed that there was no Goldilocks, we added a doll to play the part.