This Jack and the Beanstalk alphabet game is a super fun, fairy tale inspired activity! You can even use it to teach kids numbers, shapes and sight words.
- Jack and the Beanstalk. Old English Fairy Tale - version written and illustrated by Leanne Guenther. Once upon a time, there lived a widow woman and her son, Jack, on their small farm in the country. Every day, Jack would help his mother with the chores - chopping the wood, weeding the garden and milking the cow.
- An animated story of the fairy tale Jack and the Beanstalk in short video clips from the BBC. Multiples and Factors. A multiple choice game with two game modes. In the first you need to identify the Lowest Common Multiple and in the second the Highest Common Factor. Questions increase in difficulty depending on accuracy.
Jack and the Beanstalk predated the mobile gaming revolution and only existed as a desktop game for a long time. However, when NetEnt re-evaluated their back catalogue, it was rightfully adapted for a multitude of devices and is now one of the best slots you’ll find for your iPad, Android tablet or smartphone. Listen to or read the story of Jack and the Beanstalk. Excellent animation. Jack and the Beanstalk. A multiple choice game with two game.
My son absolutely loves Jack and the Beanstalk. It is probably his favorite fairy tale. He loved building a castle in the clouds when we did this Jack and the Beanstalk sensory activity. This time I decided to create a fun alphabet game to go with the story.
Jack And The Beanstalk Games Online
Supplies Needed:
Affiliate links below.
Jack And The Beanstalk Play
- Green construction paper
- A permanent marker
- A picture of each child who will be playing the game
- Green painters tape (optional, but it will make this much easier to set up)
- I laid a long piece of green painters tape down the middle of my table with the sticky side facing up. Then I taped the ends down with clear tape and put a rolled up piece under the middle to keep it in place. You could also just use long strips of construction paper taped together and to the table….BUT, you will have to tape down each individual leaf to the stalk.
- Fold 2 or 3 pieces of construction paper in half and then in half again. Draw about 3 leaves on the square facing up. Then cut the leaves out while cutting through all of the folded paper. This will give you a bunch of leaves for your stalk!
- Stick the leaves to the painter’s tape to make it look like a beanstalk. Or tape them to the paper.
- Pick 6 letters you want to reinforce and alternate writing them on the leaves from bottom to top.
- Take your foam cube and write each letter on one side of the cube with permanent marker.
- Print out a picture of each child who will be playing the game on cardstock or photo paper. Quality isn’t that important here. Cut their body out from the photo. I took a quick pic of my son pretending to balance on a leaf with my phone, emailed it to myself and then printed it. It was very quick.
Jack and the Beanstalk Alphabet Game
All players should place their picture at under the beanstalk. To play the game, each player will take turns rolling the game die and moving their picture to the next instance of that letter on the beanstalk. This continues until each player reaches the top of the beanstalk!
My son thought this was so fun! He got a real kick out of the fact that I printed his picture and he used it as a game piece. He loved how it looked like he was balancing on each leaf he landed on.
I think it would be neat to take a pic that looks like each player is climbing the beanstalk. Next time!
This was such a fun way to integrate letter learning and a classic fairy tale that kids adore!
Head over to my Alphabet Activities page for even more fun, hands-on letter learning ideas!
Here are some more fairy tale activities from the ECE Team!
Fairy Tales Short Vowel Activities: Little Red Riding Hood by Learning 2 Walk
Cast a Sound with a Fairy Tale Wand by Growing Book by Book
Mr. Lucky Straw, A Japanese Folk Tale-Book Extension Activities by Capri + 3
Cinderella inspired sorting activity by Rainy Day Mum
The tale of Jack and the Beanstalk first appeared in 1734, where it was known as “The Story of Jack Spriggins and the Enchanted Bean.” According to some researchers, however, the material thatinspired the story can be traced back thousands of years.
In 1890, Joseph Jacobs made history by creating the version that’s most commonly recognized today. Collected in English Fairy Tales, his take on Jack and the Beanstalk emphasizedentertainment over moral education, which made it more akin to the oral versions from long ago.
The story begins with Jack as a poor farm boy who lives with his mother. Their only source of income is a cow, and things look bleak when the animal stops producing milk. Jack’s mom dispatcheshim to the market to sell the family pet, but along the way he encounters an old man who offers to trade him magical beans in exchange for the cow. As you might imagine, Jack’s dear old motherisn’t happy with this development, so she throws the beans on the ground and sends Jack to bed without any supper.
During the course of the night, the seeds transform into a magical beanstalk that rises high into the clouds. Jack discovers this the next morning and climbs it to investigate. He finds afantastical land in the sky, with the most impressive structure being an immense castle. After sneaking inside, he comes to realize that a giant owns the castle and isn’t fond of intruders.
Jack first steals of bag of gold coins, but he later returns to swipe a goose that only lays golden eggs. He decides to return yet again, this time targeting a magical harp. When he leaves thecastle with the instrument, the giant wakes up and pursues him. Jack makes it home, gets an axe from his mother, and cuts down the beanstalk. The giant falls to his death, and Jack and his momlive happily ever after with their newfound treasure.
Jack And The Beanstalk Online Game
For some, this is a simple tale of a clever young man who uses his wits and bravery to get one over on a wicked giant. Of course, the giant was perfectly within his rights to try and slay Jack,as the tiny human had snuck into his home with the intention of robbing him blind. To make matters worse, the gigantic homeowner pursued Jack to prevent additional burglaries, and he wound upbeing murdered in the process. When you take a look at the basic facts of the story, Jack seems more like a felon and less like a lovable rogue. But I digress.