The Five Chinese Brothers / by Claire Huchet Bishop and Kurt Wiese

"The first chinese brother swallowed the sea."

The Five Chinese Brothers
by Claire Huchet Bishop and Kurt Wiese

Another favorite book of mine, and highly approved by 7 of my preschool boys!  The 'powers' these 5 chinese brothers possess save them from certain death!  The activities, I will share in this blog, are so much fun to participate in WHILE reading the story!  I will walk you through it…but it's pretty easy to figure out!

Supplies needed:

water balloons 

thick stick (hard to break)

measuring tape or ruler

tea or votive candle

small glass jar

marshmallow's (I recommend the big ones)

Sit down in a circle, so you can see everyones face.  Ask a couple questions…."If you had a special power, what would it be and why?" "What special abilities do you use each and every day that make you unique?" Begin to read the story.  

Read until you arrive at page 15.

Have your child pick a water balloon.  Attach it to the end of the kitchen faucet or outside hose and fill it full of water until it bursts!   (This activity can obviously be messy…you have been warned!)  Ask your child, "How big did your balloon get before it exploded?" "Why did it explode?"  Discuss that the similarities between the balloon and the First Chinese Brother.

Read on….to page 26 and stop there.

  

Have the children grab their heavy sticks.  Ask them to break it in half.  Can they do it?  Some might and some might not, that's OK.   Ask some obvious questions, "Was it hard to break the strong stick?" "How hard did you work your muscles to break that stick?" Explain that iron is a strong material that doesn't break (or cut)!

Read on…to page 32.

Tell the children to lay on the ground and stretch!  Remind them to feel the stretching from the tips of their fingers to the end of their little toes!  Measure how long each child can stretch…reveal the "longest" stretcher and ask all, "How long did your stretch measure?" "What is something you are taller than?" (*great little math activity*)

Read on…stop on page 36.

Perform the little science experiment below…I provided a video for this one, just so you can see how it works!  Then ask, "How long did it take for the flame to go out?" "What are the rules about playing with fire?"

Read through page 41.

OK, you will need to get out your bag of marshmallows.  Stuff your mouth full of marshmallows.  "How many did you fit in there?" "Could you hold those in your mouth until tomorrow morning?" Of coarse not!  That's a super power only Chinese Brother number Five has!

Go ahead and finish the story…while munching on marshmallows and M&M's, pretzels or crackers (whatever you have in the pantry).  "What did you think about this Chinese tale?" "Which brother had the very best 'power', do you think?" This story creates a lot of discussion.  So go ahead and dig into all those curious little thoughts and questions.  

**When I have used this book for activities, in both preschool and book club, I have made sure to emphasize the importance of knowing the difference between "REAL" and "PRETEND".  Stories, like this one, are derived from old ancient tales, these are called Fable's (explain what a fable is).  Focus more on the moral of this story so that the children understand the meaning of it**

Peace as always!

Lisa