Little Hands Learning – March 2022: Magic Box

Little Hands Learning is a children’s activity box subscription service that supports your child’s learning and development through the magic of books. March’s box contained the 32-page book, ‘The Magic Crayon’ written by Amy Sparkes and illustrated by Ali Pye. A rhyming tale that celebrates the power of imagination – with a difference! When Chloe’s silvery crayon develops magical powers, it sparks a thrilling chase through a fairytale world – an unbelievable adventure where her drawings spring to life…

The multi-sensory activities that accompany this month’s book (which are carefully selected by experienced teachers) are designed to inspire creativity and a love for storytelling amongst children. The Magic Box included the following materials: detailed activity cards with easy-to-follow instructions, tips, keywords and interesting talking points, a magic crayon, dice, whiteboard pen, wooden stylus, two scratch art cards, a comic strip, dried lavender, pixie dust, dried cinnamon, beetroot powder and blue and purple wool. There are also extra activity ideas inspired by the book and using the resources provided on the Little Hands Learning website by scanning the QR code on the lid of the box.

There were four activities included this month:

• How to craft a magic wand
• Create a scratch art character profile
• Brew a magic potion
• Become a storyteller

Penny loved creating her own comic strip. This month’s box inspired her to be creative and really promote her love for storytelling. It encouraged her to think about different settings, invent her own characters and look at ways to build and extend a story. She then used the special scratch paper to draw them, paying attention to specific details and using interesting adjectives to describe them.

Our favourite activity was creating our own magic potion. Penny took what she learned about storytelling and threw herself into role-playing while combining all the ingredients to make a wonderful, colourful, fizzing concoction. I think she like this activity as it was so tactile and interactive. She took her time smelling the cinnamon, scattering the dried lavender, stirring the beetroot powder and watching the ‘pixie dust’ (a combination of cornflour, citric powder and bicarbonate of soda) fizz and effervesce.