Day 15: The Lion and The Mouse

I'm happy to share an activity inspired by a classic story today.  The Lion and the Mouse. 

READ.

By Jerry Pinkney

The Lion and the Mouse is such a beautiful story of kindness repaid.  When the lion traps a mouse in order to eat it, the mouse pleads for his life, suggesting that one day he might be able to repay him for his kindness.

The lion has mercy on the mouse and lets him go.

Later, the mouse finds the lion trapped in a hunter's net, and, in order to repay him for his kindness, chews the rope to let the lion get free.

This particular version of the book is beautiful, it is completely illustrated with no words, so you need to tell the story to your child yourself.  Better yet, you can have your child tell you the story by looking at the pictures!

    

PLAY.

First, create a Kindness Wall.

Brainstorm ways that your child can show kindness to those around him or her.  

Just as the lion showed kindness to the mouse in this story, your child, although they are young, can show kindness in their own ways as well.

We labeled our wall of ideas with the phrase, "Grace is a helper".  I also added a note saying "We love because God first loved us".

Next, have your child come up with ways he or she can show kindness to those around him.  If appropriate, draw a picture to help him remember what each piece of paper says.

My little girl is at the point of word recognition now, so she doesn't need pictures on every note.

I told her that every time she does one of these on her own, she gets to take down the note and put it into her kindness jar.  When she collects 10 pieces of paper, she will get some kind of reward to celebrate!

(I haven't decided what yet, but most likely a trip to the ice cream store for her favorite treat!)

EAT.

Create the lion from your story with some rotini pasta with marinara sauce for the mane, a slice of colby jack cheese for his face, and, strawberries cut in a triangle for his nose and two thin strips for his mouth area!  Add two raisins for his eyes, and you are done!

Just joining in? Make sure you check out the rest of the series!