A Squash and A Squeeze Small World Play

A Squash and A Squeeze, by Julia Donaldson, is a firm favourite book here. The story is brilliant, the repetition makes it enjoyable to read and very memorable, and the illustrations by Axel scheffler are fabulous.

I thought it’d be fun to bring the tale to life for the children with some really simple small world play. This has been one of the fastest activities I think I’ve ever set up and they did enjoy playing with it.

A Squash and A Squeeze Small World Play

You’ll need:

Farm animals – hen, goat, pig and cow

A figure for the old lady

Lego/Building Blocks

The Activity:

The children are then set the task of constructing the old lady’s house. This can be as basic or as complicated as you want, depending on the ages of your children. You may use wooden building blocks, or huge piles of Lego to include and build every feature of the house for older kids.

My two went for Lego and built their walls and the table, ready for a jig to be danced on it.

A Squash and A Squeeze Small World Play 1

A Squash and A Squeeze Small World Play 3

A Squash and A Squeeze Small World Play 2

Once built, the story can be read and the characters can come to play.

This one had the kids in fits of giggles as they operated the goat nibbling at the table leg and the hen flapping around!

This one was so easy to get ready for them, was mess-free and brought together construction, reading and imaginative play. It got a thumbs up here.

What do you think? Can you see your children enjoying this one?



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21 thoughts on “A Squash and A Squeeze Small World Play”

  1. This was one of my favourite books when I was a preschool teacher! I forgot about it o will have to order one asap!! Great idea to turn it into a small world.

  2. Pingback: So many activities for kids. One children’s author. - Wild About Here

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