Jack & the Beanstalk – Story Basket

We’ve been busy over the last few weeks sorting & planting out our Spring seeds. Amongst our selection of veggie seeds are runner & broad beans. These are great to observe as they grow at an amazing rate, & produce quick results for eager little gardeners.

We’ve been measuring the height of our beans daily & making a note of their progress too.

Minnie has found it fascinating to compare beans (like those we planted) next to our growing beanstalks & observe just how quickly they’ve changed. She’s also been considering what the beans have needed to help them grow, & eagerly checked, watered, & protected them by covering them every night.

As we’ve watched the beans grow taller, it’s got me thinking about that classic fairy tale ‘Jack & The Beanstalk.’ Although Minnie knows a variety of classic fairy tales we were yet to share this one, so after a trip to the local library, & a quick search around the house I came up with this story basket for her to explore this well known fairy tale.

We read the story together at bedtime, & the following day I left the basket out for Minnie to discover.

Our ‘Jack & The Beanstalk’ Story Basket contained:

2 small world play figures – Jack & Jack’s Mother
1 slightly large play figure – The Giant
Cotton wool – Cloud
Green shoelace with green buttons threaded along – The Beanstalk
Plain cardboard box – House/Castle
Woolen chick – Hen/Goose
2 plastic Easter eggs
5 Broad beans
Small dish
6 small pebbles

Minnie has had much fun exploring the story…
Here’s Jack selling his cow for some magic beans!

His mother is unhappy & sends him to bed…

… and throws the beans out of the window!

The beanstalk grows & grows…



.. and grows up through the clouds to a castle where a Giant lives!

In the castle Jack discovers a hen that lays golden eggs



The Giant discovers Jack & starts to follow him. Minnie looped the ‘beanstalk’ over our washing line so it hung down to the ground for Jack to climb down & escape the Giant!

Jack finds an axe (clothespin) & chops the beanstalk down! 

Jack’s mother is clearly overwhelmed by the golden eggs! 😉



The woolen chick enabled the golden eggs to be ‘laid’ again & again (which proved very popular) & encouraged some fine motor skills too! 🙂

The golden eggs were solid in the original story, but in Minnie’s version the eggs were filled with seeds, leaves & other natural goodies from the garden.

Using the basket to hold the story props proved ideal for outdoor play as it could be hooked over a bike (or arm) & transported around the garden fast! The basket itself was also used as a prop.

This little story basket offered endless opportunities for imaginative play & story telling, the house/castle even became a camera at one point!

This proved a fun way to explore a classic fairy tale, & enabled Minnie to retell & act out the narrative as well as discover & share her own stories. I know this is something we’ll explore again & again.

If you like this check out Make Your Own Story Tree with Story Baskets