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Jack and the Beanstalk Day: A Fun STEM Learning Adventure

ByAnna Cannelongo
A children's book titled 'Jack and the Beanstalk' placed beside a wooden cutout figure and decorative golden eggs on a textured surface, surrounded by scattered coins.

My son loves Jack and the Beanstalk. He was gifted a Leap Frog On-The-Go Story Pal (aka Story Bunny or Bun-Bun) for his third birthday. (It’s like a cheaper version of the Yoto player or Tonie box as it comes uploaded with a lot of fairy tales on it.)  Through Story Bunny he fell in love with fairy tales—especially Jack and the Beanstalk. He would listen to it on repeat over and over again and started becoming obsessed with stories of giants. We have probably read over twenty books on Jack and the Beanstalk alone.

For our favorite books about giants, read Our 16 Favorite Picture Books about Giants post.

Because of my four-year old’s love for all things Jack and the Beanstalk, we decided to have a Jack and the Beanstalk Day that connects to math, science, STEM, ELA, art, music, and drama concepts. Plus, Jack and the Beanstalk Day incorporates some outdoor learning activities because the story mostly takes place outside. We invited his little friend over as well who just finished kindergarten. These are all the activities we did on our Jack and the Beanstalk Day. This learning activity is perfect for Preschool, Kindergarten, First Grade, or Second Grade in a traditional or homeschool setting.

Note: The grade-level content standards will be listed at the end of the post.

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Art

Painting a Pot

A painted terracotta flower pot filled with soil, resting on a paved surface.

I knew we wanted to plant our own beanstalk. Since it was still early April, there was a danger of a frost. That meant we had to start the beanstalk inside. So why not exercise our artistic skills by painting a pot?

Science

Life Cycle of a Plant

We started this activity a few weeks prior, so we started the science concepts before the actual Jack and the Beanstalk Day. We read some books about seeds and planted a beanstalk plant indoors. I also placed a seed in a wet paper towel, so we could see the growing process that typically takes place underground.

English Language Arts

Reading Jack and the Beanstalk

a boy sitting on the green grass holding a book
Photo by Mikhail Nilov on Pexels.com

We read a lot of Jack and the Beanstalk stories. So I told my son to pick out two of his favorite stories. His little friend wasn’t familiar with Jack and the Beanstalk so on Jack and the Beanstalk Day we read her his favorite story. Then I had them retell the story in their own words. If you have time, you could read the second story and have the kids compare the two stories.

For those of you who are interested his favorite Jack and the Beanstalk books are Jack and the Beanstalk by Ed Bryan and It’s Not Jack and the Beanstalk by Josh Funk. We didn’t use it on our Jack and the Beanstalk Day, but there’s also a fun You Choose Books Jack and the Beanstalk: An Interactive Fairy Tale Adventure by Blake Hoena.

Reading Informational Texts about Beans and Plants

A potted bean plant with several leaves, placed between two children's books titled 'Watch a Bean Grow' and 'A Seed Grows'. The background includes green foliage.

Before Jack and the Beanstalk Day we read several books on the lifecycle of beans and plants to help my child understand the growing process of plants in the context of planting the beanstalk. We read Watch a Bean Grow by Bullfrog Books and A Seed Grows by Antoinette Portis, but there are many other similar books that you can find at your local library. Then we choose one informational text to read again on the actual Jack and the Beanstalk Day to review the growing process.

Math

Measuring PLants

A young green plant in a terracotta pot with soil, measuring growth with colorful blocks beside it. Hands of children are visible in the background, indicating engagement in a gardening activity.
A child places a stick to support a small plant in a flower pot, while an adult assists. Various colored building blocks and craft sticks are scattered on the table.
A potted plant with green leaves supported by wooden sticks, with children playing with colorful building blocks in the background.

We had both kids measure with non-traditional units: Duplos and Popsicle sticks. The kids had to wrestle with if they just wanted to measure from the table to the top of the plant (which would include the roots) or measure from the top of the soil. After measuring with Duplos, we asked them whether it would take more or less Popsicle sticks. Then we had the measure using Popsicle sticks so we could compare the Duplos measurement to the Popsicle stick measurement.

Counting Beans

My son is four, so he’s still learning to count to 100. Therefore, for this activity his math skill was to count the golden magic beans. We’ve done this activity before with other small object like noodles or beans (not gold) and it helped hi learn to count by 10s. I take 10 dixie cups and label them so each one says ten on them. Then he practices counting by filling each cup. It helps develop place value. Plus, if he gets distracted, he doesn’t have to start all over again. Jack and the Beanstalk Day was the magic day after all! He finally was able to count to 100!

Additionally, this cup helps kids confront the misconception of thinking that thirty is twenty-ten and forty is thirty ten etc.. You may have noticed this when your child is counting. He or she may say twenty-six, twenty-seven, twenty-eight, twenty-nine, twenty-ten, twenty-eleven etc. It takes a little practice, but this activity will help them turn past each multiple of ten to count correctly.

Adding Two-Digit Numbers Using Beans

Three paper cups containing seeds arranged on a table, with some seeds scattered nearby and handwritten calculations on a piece of paper.

Since our kindergartner friend already knew how to count to one hundred, I challenged her to add two-digit numbers without carrying. It was easy for her to do since she could count by tens. She knew that each cup had ten beans in it. So first she would tell me what the problem represented. (Although, I could have also given her a problem and asked her to represent it as well.) Then she grouped them together and then added the tens and then added the ones. Since she did it so easily, we also experimented with her adding with regrouping to make ten (aka as carrying). She was able to do that as well! The math portion of the day was a success for both kids!

Music

Building and Playing a Harp

Two children working together on a cardboard structure, using rubber bands and craft materials on a wooden table.

Since Jack steals a harp, we had the kids make a harp out of cardboard and rubber bands. I tried it two different ways. The first way I took a small shoe box and had each child pick out three rubber bands. My son picked out a skinny one, a short fat one and a longer fat one. We put them on the box and then talked about which rubber band produced the high, low and middle sounds and why. Then his friend picked out three skinny rubber bands of different lengths again we discussed which was the high, middle and low sounds and why.

I also made a second harp to more represent the harp in Jack and the Beanstalk. I spray painted it gold. We were going to explore what sounds the same size rubber band when stretched to different lengths. However the cardboard wasn’t strong enough to hold the rubber bands. (You can see it in the cover picture of this post.) If I was going to do it again, I’d have to glue several layers of cardboard again.

STEM

Building a Beanstalk

Our STEM activity was building a beanstalk out of toilet paper rolls. The activity didn’t go quite as planned as the kids were more excited about decorating the tubes then building a tall one. So after they built theirs, I tried to show them how to build it taller. We experimented with attaching them using pipe cleaners but then we found it was just as easy to stuff them together.

Lunch

Beans, Beans, Beans

We had bean themed lunch. In our sandwich maker, I made a grilled baked bean and cheddar cheese sandwich. I made a white bean and avocado sandwich based on this recipe. We had baked beans, plain white beans, and Kroger’s baked bean sandwich. The kids also had tomatoes and cucumbers. My son wouldn’t eat the baked bean sandwich. I made him try one bite, and then I made him a PBJ.

Outdoor Learning

Drama and Physical Activity

We all know that kids love playing outdoors and pretend play, so why not combine the two. Nearby our house we had the perfect playground to act out Jack and the Beanstalk. It had a tree with leaves to climb and another climbing wall that looked like a beanstalk. It was the perfect place for the kids to climb and run and do large muscle activities and act out Jack and the Beanstalk. To help facilitate the drama I brought the golden beans that we used for the counting activity, golden easter eggs (stuffed with jellybeans), gold coins, and the golden harp. My friend and I were the mother/bean seller/giant. Whoever played the giant hid the items on the top of the playground, then the kids acted out the story. Although, we used a playground that looked like a beanstalk, you could do this on any playground structure.

Movies

family sitting on blue sofa eating popcorn
Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko on Pexels.com

After a fun day of learning and play, we ended the day with some Jack and the Beanstalk videos. We watched both Disney’s Mickey and the Beanstalk (on the video Fun and Fancy Free) and Tom and Jerry’s Giant Adventure which is basically Jack and the Beanstalk. I also checked out Abbott and Costello’s Jack and the Beanstalk Movie from the library, but I haven’t had a chance to preview it yet for its appropriateness.

Conclusion

This is the perfect cross-curricular fairy tale lesson for your preschool, kindergarten, elementary school classroom, or homeschooling setting. After all most kids love fairy tales and giants. This lesson incorporates math, science, STEM, music, drama and free play. It’s the great outdoor learning activity and is aligned to the Common Core math and ELA standards and the Ohio Science Standards which are based on the NGSS standards. I hope your kids will have as much fun as mine did!

More Fun Lessons!

A STEM lesson display featuring two children's books about roller coasters, with a homemade roller coaster model made of pipe cleaners and marshmallows on a wooden surface.

If you like this STEM activity, check out some of my other K-2 math and STEM activities:

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Standards

Kindergarten

Science

These standards are aligned to Ohio’s Science Learning Standards which are aligned with the NGSS standards.

  • K.LS.1: Living things have specific characteristics and traits. Living things grow and reproduce. Living things are found worldwide.

For the NGSS Engineering and Design Standards for Grades K-2 see the following chart by the chart: K-2-ETS1 Engineering Design | Next Generation Science Standards.

English Language Arts

These standards are aligned to the Common Core ELA Standards:

Literature
Informational Text
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.K.1: With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.K.2: With prompting and support, identify the main topic and retell key details of a text.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.K.4: With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about unknown words in a text.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.K.7: With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and the text in which they appear (e.g., what person, place, thing, or idea in the text an illustration depicts).
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.K.9: With prompting and support, identify basic similarities in and differences between two texts on the same topic (e.g., in illustrations, descriptions, or procedures).

Math

These standards are aligned to the Common Core Math Standards:

  • CCSS.Math.Content.K.CC.A.1: Count to 100 by ones and by tens.
  • CCSS.Math.Content.K.CC.B.4: Understand the relationship between numbers and quantities; connect counting to cardinality.
  • CCSS.Math.Content.K.CC.B.4.a: When counting objects, say the number names in the standard order, pairing each object with one and only one number name and each number name with one and only one object.
  • CCSS.Math.Content.K.MD.A.1: Describe measurable attributes of objects, such as length or weight. Describe several measurable attributes of a single object.

First Grade

Science

These standards are aligned to Ohio’s Science Learning Standards which are aligned with the NGSS standards.

  • 1.LS.1: Living things have basic needs, which are met by obtaining materials from the physical environment. Living things require energy, water, and a particular range of temperatures in their environments. Plants get energy from sunlight. Animals get energy from plants and other animals. Living things acquire resources from the living and nonliving components of the environment.
  • 1.LS.2: Living things survive only in environments that meet their needs. Resources are necessary to meet the needs of an individual and populations of individuals. Living things interact with their physical environments as they meet those needs. Effects of seasonal changes within the local environment directly impact the availability of resources.

For the NGSS Engineering and Design Standards for Grades K-2 see the following chart by the chart: K-2-ETS1 Engineering Design | Next Generation Science Standards.

English Language Arts

These standards are aligned to the Common Core ELA Standards:

Literature
Informational Text
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.1.1: Ask and answer questions about key details in a text.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.1.2: Identify the main topic and retell key details of a text.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.1.4: Ask and answer questions to help determine or clarify the meaning of words and phrases in a text.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.1.5: Know and use various text features (e.g., headings, tables of contents, glossaries, electronic menus, icons) to locate key facts or information in a text.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.1.6: Distinguish between information provided by pictures or other illustrations and information provided by the words in a text.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.1.7: Use the illustrations and details in a text to describe its key ideas.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.1.9: Identify basic similarities in and differences between two texts on the same topic (e.g., in illustrations, descriptions, or procedures).

Math

These standards are aligned to the Common Core Math Standards:

  • CCSS.Math.Content.1.OA.A.1: Use addition and subtraction within 20 to solve word problems involving situations of adding to, taking from, putting together, taking apart, and comparing, with unknowns in all positions, e.g., by using objects, drawings, and equations with a symbol for the unknown number to represent the problem.1
  • CCSS.Math.Content.1.MD.A.2: Express the length of an object as a whole number of length units, by laying multiple copies of a shorter object (the length unit) end to end; understand that the length measurement of an object is the number of same-size length units that span it with no gaps or overlaps. Limit to contexts where the object being measured is spanned by a whole number of length units with no gaps or overlaps.
  • CCSS.Math.Content.1.NBT.B.2: Understand that the two digits of a two-digit number represent amounts of tens and ones. Understand the following as special cases:
  • CCSS.Math.Content.1.NBT.B.2.a: 10 can be thought of as a bundle of ten ones — called a “ten.”
  • CCSS.Math.Content.1.NBT.B.2.b: The numbers from 11 to 19 are composed of a ten and one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, or nine ones.
  • CCSS.Math.Content.1.NBT.B.2.c: The numbers 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90 refer to one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, or nine tens (and 0 ones).
  • CCSS.Math.Content.1.NBT.C.4: Add within 100, including adding a two-digit number and a one-digit number, and adding a two-digit number and a multiple of 10, using concrete models or drawings and strategies based on place value, properties of operations, and/or the relationship between addition and subtraction; relate the strategy to a written method and explain the reasoning used. Understand that in adding two-digit numbers, one adds tens and tens, ones and ones; and sometimes it is necessary to compose a ten.

Second Grade

Science

For the NGSS Engineering and Design Standards for Grades K-2 see the following chart by the chart: K-2-ETS1 Engineering Design | Next Generation Science Standards.

English Language Arts

These standards are aligned to the Common Core ELA Standards:

Literature
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.2.1: Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.2.2: Recount stories, including fables and folktales from diverse cultures, and determine their central message, lesson, or moral.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.2.3: Describe how characters in a story respond to major events and challenges.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.2.5: Describe the overall structure of a story, including describing how the beginning introduces the story and the ending concludes the action.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.2.6: Acknowledge differences in the points of view of characters, including by speaking in a different voice for each character when reading dialogue aloud.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.2.9: Compare and contrast two or more versions of the same story (e.g., Cinderella stories) by different authors or from different cultures.
Informational Text
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.2.2: Identify the main topic of a multiparagraph text as well as the focus of specific paragraphs within the text.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.2.3: Describe the connection between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.2.4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases in a text relevant to a grade 2 topic or subject area.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.2.5: Know and use various text features (e.g., captions, bold print, subheadings, glossaries, indexes, electronic menus, icons) to locate key facts or information in a text efficiently.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.2.6: Identify the main purpose of a text, including what the author wants to answer, explain, or describe.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.2.7: Explain how specific images (e.g., a diagram showing how a machine works) contribute to and clarify a text.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.2.9: Compare and contrast the most important points presented by two texts on the same topic.

Math

These standards are aligned to the Common Core Math Standards:

  • CCSS.Math.Content.2.OA.A.1: Use addition and subtraction within 100 to solve one- and two-step word problems involving situations of adding to, taking from, putting together, taking apart, and comparing, with unknowns in all positions, e.g., by using drawings and equations with a symbol for the unknown number to represent the problem.1
  • CCSS.Math.Content.2.MD.A.1: Measure the length of an object by selecting and using appropriate tools such as rulers, yardsticks, meter sticks, and measuring tapes.
  • CCSS.Math.Content.2.MD.A.2: Measure the length of an object twice, using length units of different lengths for the two measurements; describe how the two measurements relate to the size of the unit chosen.
  • CCSS.Math.Content.2.MD.A.3: Estimate lengths using units of inches, feet, centimeters, and meters.

Third Grade

Science

These standards are aligned to Ohio’s Science Learning Standards which are aligned with the NGSS standards.

  • 3.LS.3: Plants and animals have life cycles that are part of their adaptations for survival in their natural environments. Worldwide, organisms are growing, reproducing, dying and decaying. The details of the life cycle are different for different organisms, which affects their ability to survive and reproduce in their natural environments. Note: The names of the stages within the life cycles are not the focus.

English Language Arts

These standards are aligned to the Common Core ELA Standards:

Literature
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.3.1: Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.3.2: Recount stories, including fables, folktales, and myths from diverse cultures; determine the central message, lesson, or moral and explain how it is conveyed through key details in the text.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.3.3: Describe characters in a story (e.g., their traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.3.6: Distinguish their own point of view from that of the narrator or those of the characters.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.3.7: Explain how specific aspects of a text’s illustrations contribute to what is conveyed by the words in a story (e.g., create mood, emphasize aspects of a character or setting).
Informational Text
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.1: Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.2: Determine the main idea of a text; recount the key details and explain how they support the main idea.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.3: Describe the relationship between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text, using language that pertains to time, sequence, and cause/effect.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.4: Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases in a text relevant to a grade 3 topic or subject area.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.5: Use text features and search tools (e.g., key words, sidebars, hyperlinks) to locate information relevant to a given topic efficiently.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.7: Use information gained from illustrations (e.g., maps, photographs) and the words in a text to demonstrate understanding of the text (e.g., where, when, why, and how key events occur).
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.8: Describe the logical connection between particular sentences and paragraphs in a text (e.g., comparison, cause/effect, first/second/third in a sequence).
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.9: Compare and contrast the most important points and key details presented in two texts on the same topic.

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2 Comments

  1. Wow. What an amazing amount of educational material from one fairy tale. Great work as usual.

    Reply
  2. Pingback: Fun Ways to Count to 100 with Children's Picture Books

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