For Everyone
For Parents
For Teachers
Activities
Dreams and Wishes
Magic wishes and magic wands can inspire wonderful fantasy play.
Materials
- Wooden dowel or a cardboard tube (such as the one found on some wire clothes hangers) or a paper towel tube
- Bright colored ribbons
- Yarn
- Crepe paper streamers
- Feathers
- Cardboard
- Aluminum foil
- Scissors
- Tape (colored tape is nice)
Directions
Make "magic wands" with your child, using a wooden dowel or cardboard tube as a base. You may want to attach a cardboard star to the tip, and tie colored yarn and ribbons just below. With your child, make up rhyming chants like the ones below and pretend to transform family members into animals and objects as you wave your "magic wands."
"Bippety, boppety, brog,
I'll turn you into a... frog."
"Zippety, zappety, zay-ble
I'll turn you into a... table."
You may want to pause before the final rhyming word and let your child supply it as he or she pretends to transform into a frog or a table. Encourage your child to make up his or her own rhyming chants and be an obliging subject as he or she transforms you into a variety of animals and objects. Do not worry if your child's chants do not exactly rhyme. Rhyming is a skill that builds gradually as children listen to and chime in with nursery rhymes, songs, chants, and poems, and engage in rhyming word play like this.
Talk About It
If you had three wishes, what would you wish for? It's not an easy question to answer, as you can discover in the episodes "Something Fishy" and "Sausage Nose." Encourage all members of the family to share the three wishes they would request. Read some of the stories in Related Books to find out how other characters responded to the question.
Related Books
The Magic Fish by Freya Littledale
Three Wishes by Lucille Clifton
Whoosh! Went the Wish by Toby Speed
Age Range: 4-6
Skills/Subjects:
- Creative Expression (Storytelling, Art)
- Language and Literacy Development
Related Episodes:
