Whimsical Adventures: "The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales" Activities & Snacks for Kids by Jon Scieszka
The Book We Love
My kids are ridiculous, and they love these ridiculous stories! Both Brandon and I remember reading this book when we were little, and the insane, erratic behavior of the narrator is what truly animates the whole thing. You may feel a little dizzy after finishing the book, but you love it.
The Activity We Did
Giant Stories
The giant from the book wanted to contribute so badly, that he created his own story! The original idea and homage to the giant for our activity morphed a few times trying to find the right fit, so now you have a plethora of options to choose from!
You Will Need:
- (2) Dice - Borrow them from a board game, or buy a separate set I think our large assortment of dice is from an old version of Yahtzee we threw away.
- Notebook - Or pieces of printer paper. Something you can write on.
- Pens - These are some of my favorite pens, but whatever writing instrument you have will suffice!
- Glue sticks (Version 3)
- Scissors (Version 3)
How to Play - Final Version (Version 4): If/Then
I remember playing this game back in college, but my husband was the one that connected it to our fun Giant Story idea. Give each player a piece of paper, and everyone writes down an "If" statement, keeping it hidden from everyone else. Fold the paper backwards under your statement and then pass it to your left, still keeping the original idea hidden. On your new piece of paper, answer your original question with a "Then" statement. Pass the stories to the left again, and unfold your masterpiece. Read aloud and laugh when you find out that the boys both included bathroom humor in their questions.
How to Play - Version 1:
Roll the two dice. Whatever number you get, turn to that page in the book. Roll the two dice again. Whatever number you get, count to that sentence on the page (if you run out of sentences on the page, just restart at the top of the page. Write down that sentence, and then start the process over (five times in total). Now you have a ridiculous story that doesn't make sense!
Note: Since this book doesn't have writing on both pages most of the time, we counted in sets, so pages 1 and 2 was considered page 1, pages 3 and 4 were considered page 2, etc.
The less sense the story made, the harder the kids laughed, so whatever works for your family, go for it! Our examples...
Faye's Story
9:6 The Princess was about to jump up and run, but she felt sorry for the frog with the sad and pathetic voice.
7:6 The really ugly duckling heard these people, but he didn't care.
4:5 "I know," said Jack the Narrator.
5:4 The Table of Contents was.
8:4 Well, as it turned out, he was just a really ugly duckling.
Aedan's Story
3:6 Chicken Licken ran to her friend Ducky Lucky and clucked, "Ducky Lucky!"
8:1 Well, as it turned out, he was just a really ugly duckling.
6:2 And this Prince's dad and mom (the King and Queen) somehow got it into their royal heads that no princess would be good enough for their boy unless she could feel a pea through one hundred mattresses.
10:6 He tricks her into taking the long way while he takes the shortcut.
8:3 The End.
How to Play - Version 2:
Follow the same process as in Version 1, but instead of writing down the complete sentence, count down the number of lines on the page instead, using those words instead. Another bit of nonsense to go around! But if you read the Giant's story again from the book, his is utter nonsense as well!
Faye's Story
9:6 pathetic voice. "I wonder if you could help me."
7:6 Everyone used to say, "What a nice-...
4:5 "I know," said Jack the Narrator. "But I came to...
5:4 squashed...
8:4 ugly duckling.
Aedan's Story
3:6 We must tell the President!"
8:1 Well, as it...
6:2 mom (the King and Queen) somehow got it into their royal heads that...
10:6 long way while he takes the shortcut. Now this is the good part because...
8:3 was just a really...You could even take it further and make it individual words. It would take a good amount of time to get a full story together, but it would be crazy!
How to Play - Version 3:
Follow the same process as in Version 2, but instead of writing down the lines, cut them from a magazine you have around the house. We used some Scholastic My Big World magazines that we had from Aedan's school, and they turned out a lot more scientific than originally planned. Faye ended up adding some of her own writing and made hers into a much more coherent story about animals in the forest, while Aedan took another creative approach and made it more just large strips of paper in shapes that he liked.
The Food We Ate
"TELL ME A BETTER STORY OR I WILL GRIND YOUR BONES TO MAKE MY BREAD."
"The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales" by Jon Scieszka
Banana Bread
Along with everyone else in quarantine, we needed to make some banana bread! Aedan always begs for bananas at the grocery store and then never eats them. They make my mouth itch when I eat them raw, and Faye won't eat anything straight from the ground, so this was the solution.
You Will Need:
- Flour
- Sugar
- Butter
- Eggs
- Bananas
- Baking Soda
- Salt
- Milk
- Vinegar (to make buttermilk)
- Vanilla
How to Make:
- Recipe from Betty Crocker - This is our go to recipe, and we LOVE it. You can also get the full cookbook here.
Before Brandon's cinnamon allergy hit, our one delicious thing we would add to banana bread was cinnamon sugar to the top of the batter before it went in the oven. As it cooked the cinnamon sugar would crystallize and it just made the most delicious topping ever. And then add cinnamon into the batter too! I still keep some cinnamon sugar in a glass pourer for when I'm making something just for me. Otherwise, we're a cinnamon-free house!
We made Faye read the recipe -- so we counted it as her reading lesson. Aedan helped with the measuring and counting -- so that worked as his math lesson. And with five people in the house, the one loaf didn't last long!
Other Fun Ideas
Pin the Kiss on the Frog
When planning my kids' birthday parties, "Pin the Tail on the Donkey" or some variation is always one of the quickest games that comes to mind. I'm not sure if it's nostalgia, or that it's a pretty simple game to keep kids in order, but we keep it around in some form every year. Well, for this book, we're helping the frog get some kisses!
You Will Need:
- "Pin the Kiss on the Frog" Printable
- Eye Mask or Bandanas - or a tie, or a strip of fabric, something to cover the player's eyes
- Scissors
- Tape - My kids go through this stuff like water for all of their imaginative crafts, and then when I need some, there's none to be found. Buying tape in bulk is an absolute necessity.
How to Play:
Play just like your standard "Pin the Tail on the Donkey" -- but using pink lips instead of a tail, and try to get them to match up to the white lip outline on the frog's face!
Other Activities
Some other fun resources for the book, and other crafty ideas that we didn't do... yet.
- Cheese Tasting or Cheese of the Month Club: Eat a variety of cheeses and find out which one is your favorite and which ones you dislike. I was really excited about this, but then I realized that my kids wouldn't participate. Maybe I can talk Brandon into having a date night with this idea.
- Write a Letter to the President: Chicken Licken is upset and nervous about the future, and wants to visit the President. Currently a meeting with the President and a trip to D.C. may not work, but you can always write a letter to explain how you are feeling and how you would like to see the future!
- Relay Race: Kids love to run around, and let them be like Little Red Running Shorts, having them run through obstacles to escape the clutches of the Big Bad Wolf! Things like running around chairs, spinning in circles, balancing a water bottle on their head.
- Online Word Search from Reading is Fundamental: Click the link and play a quick game of word search, looking for words related to the story.
- Perform a Play: Grab the script for the play based on this book, and entertain your family and neighbors with your own telling of these crazy stories!
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