At Home Activities

Pre-Show Discussion Questions

• This show uses puppets to represent the characters in the story. When have you seen/used puppets before? The puppets in this show are objects that can be found in a prop room. (Show students the picture of BYU’s prop room.) What are some objects in our classroom that could represent a pig? A sheep? A dog? A duck?

• At the start of the show, Babe is brought to the farm. Everything is unfamiliar to him, and he is a little scared. How do you feel when you’re in an unfamiliar place? What do you do when you’re in an unfamiliar environment? How do you make new friends?

Post-Show Discussion Questions

• Which character did you relate to the most and why?

• How do the characters change throughout the play?

• Babe dreams of being a sheep-pig, even though none has ever existed before. What are some of your big dreams?

Time: 5 minutes

Group Size: 3 or more

Activity Description: This activity is similar to "Simon Says." One person goes to the front and becomes the “leader.” The leader calls out actions for the class to do. However instead of “Simon Says” cuing the action, the person must say "please" to get the students to do the action. For example, if the student says, "Please stand on one foot," everyone must stand on one foot. If the leader says, "Stand on one foot" without "please," no one moves. If a student moves without "please" or doesn't move when "please" is said, they're out. The last student standing becomes the new leader.

Bonus Challenge: Students stop the action when the leader says, "Thank you!" If "Thank you!" isn't said, they keep doing the action while adding the next one. For example, "Please stand on one foot," then "Please stick your tongue out," means students do both until they hear "Thank you!"

Time: 30 minutes

Group Size: 1 or more kids

Activity Description: Give the children 30 seconds to choose one item from their bookbag. Once they have their item, have them think about what kind of personality their object might have. Have them draw eyes and give them a few minutes to cut out accessories from magazines or draw their own accessories and tape these to their object. Then, have them think about what kind of voice their object might have. Have them think about how their object might move around the room. Do they walk fast? Slow? If there are other children doing this activity, have them introduce their objects to each other.

Time: 15-25 minutes

Group Size: You can do this activity with only one kid, but we recommend doing it with at least two, so someone else knows your top-secret password. If you have a larger group, we recommend dividing into smaller groups of 4-5 kids and then having the small groups join together at the end to share what they made!

Activity Description: 

• Read this to your kids. "In the show, the sheep have a secret password that they tell each other to know that the person they are speaking to is a friend. The sheep’s password is top secret, so we can’t tell it to you yet, but you’ll see it when you watch Babe."

• The secret password the sheep use rhymes, this means that the words sound similar at the end. For example, cat and bat both end in an “at” sound, can you think of any other words that end in an “at” sound?" Have your kids brainstorm other words that rhyme. (Change/Range, Star/Far, etc.)

• In your small group, figure out what things you have in common, maybe you all like soccer or art. Then, create a little rhyme that represents your small group. If you are doing this activity with just one kid, have them think about what things they enjoy. They can always share their password with friends later. (Note: It may be helpful to create a little rhyme that represents you before doing this activity with your kids. Share the rhyme you created with them.)

• Have the small groups share their rhyme with the whole group.

• As a larger group, come up with a secret password to represent the whole group.

Bonus Challenge: As you watch the show, any time you hear a rhyme, touch your nose and your toes! Sneak a peak at the people around you, and see if they heard the rhyme, too!

Time: 15-25 minutes

Group Size: One or more kids

Activity Description: Have your kids choose their favorite character from the show. Fill out the character trading card for the character they chose. Explain that while the show may not explicitly say the character’s age or what the character likes, they can make their best guess based on things they do know about that character.

Discussion: Have students get into pairs and share what they wrote on their trading cards. As a class, discuss which characters the students related to the most. Then, discuss how the things a person does or says gives them certain “characteristics.” What do the things you do say about who you are as a person?

Grade: 2-4

Length: 30-45 Minutes

Materials: Paper and pencil

Standards:

English Language Arts Standard 3.W.3

Write narrative pieces to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, event sequences, and provide a concluding statement.

Drama Standard 3.T.P.4:

Use body to communicate meaning through space, shape, energy, and gesture.

Objective: Students will be able to write a narrative piece about a time they solved a problem by dramatizing this experience.

Warm-up Game: (5-7 minutes)

• At the start of the play, Fly tells the story of how Babe became a sheep-pig. Babe’s process of becoming a sheep-pig isn’t easy. He practices on ducks and fails miserably! Eventually, though, he learns what works for him and is able to be a sheep-pig. There can be many solutions to one problem.

• Give all the students the same problem. (Examples: You forgot your homework at the house. You just moved to a new school. You hate what your mom made for dinner.) Then, in small groups have students play concentration and list as many solutions they can to this one problem. See how many creative solutions your class can come up with!

  • Rules of Concentration: Stand in a circle, pat your legs and clap to this rhythm: pat your legs twice, clap once, snap with your left hand and then your right hand. After the second snap, a student will list a solution and you’ll go around the circle listing ideas after each second snap.

Group Work: (10 minutes)

Have students get in small groups and talk about a time they solved a problem. Then, as a group, have them create a picture with their bodies to represent a time they solved a problem.

Present: (5 minutes)

Have each group recreate this picture they made with their bodies one at a time. Then, have a student come up, tap the shoulder of someone in the group, and ask them a question to get them thinking about how they felt and what they experienced more in depth. (Example questions: What problem are you trying to solve? How are you trying to solve it? Were you successful? How many times did you try to solve the problem? How long did it take you to solve the problem?)

Practice: (20 minutes)

• Have students write a soliloquy expressing their thoughts at this moment when they faced this problem and came to a solution. Explain that a soliloquy is when a character speaks their thoughts out loud, so the audience can hear them. Then, have students perform these soliloquies dramatically to a partner.

• Example Soliloquy: Oh no, I can’t believe it. I forgot my lunch! Of all the days, why today? If only I had remembered to grab my lunchbox before I ran out the door. What do I do now? Wait—maybe I could ask my teacher for help. But that feels kind of embarrassing. Hmm... maybe if I just ask my friend—yes! I’ll ask my friend. And they gave me a granola bar! I knew they’d help. Crisis averted! But seriously, next time I’ll be more careful. My stomach can’t handle another day like this!

Debrief: (5 minutes)

• Ask students how they felt as audience members during the soliloquy performances. What emotions did they experience? Did anything surprise them?

• Did their partner write anything that was similar to what they wrote? 

Grade: 3-4

Length: 30-45 Minutes

Materials: Paper and crayons, colored pencils, or markers

Standards:

Social Science Standard 3.3.4

Describe some of the civic roles that people fulfill within their community, and explain the reasons why people choose to serve in those roles and how they benefit the community.

Fine Arts: Drama

Standard 3.T.CR.4:

Define roles, identify responsibilities, and participate in group decision making.

Standard 3.T.P.2:

Demonstrate the ability to work effectively alone and cooperatively, with a partner or in an ensemble.

Standard 3.T.P.4:

Use body to communicate meaning through space, shape, energy, and gesture.

Standard 3.T.P.5:

Use voice to communicate meaning through volume, pitch, tone, rate, and clarity.

Standard 3.T.P.6:

Use imagination to support artistic choices.

Standard 3. T.R.1:

Demonstrate audience skills of observing attentively and responding appropriately.

Objective: Students will be able to answer the question: “How do they get their food from the farm to the table?” by group discussion, creativity, and presentation.

Warmup Game: (5-7 minutes)

In our world, we are sometimes detached from the sources that our food comes from. It is increasingly less typical to go to a market for our food. So that begs the question: Where does food come from?

Have students get into small groups. Have them act out the places where they get food. Restaurants, grocery stores, friends, gardens, etc. are all great examples. As they act, ask them some of the following questions:

• What kinds of food do you get?

• Do you have a favorite restaurant?

• Where do you get your favorite food?

As they answer these questions and think about places food comes from, start writing down various parts of the supply chain that goes from farm to table in a visible place. The students are not trying to guess these prior to you writing them. This list will be for instruction. However, if you are pressed for time, you could write the list on the board earlier and have the students act out the list. We won’t get into explaining quite yet. Encourage them to be creative in finding ways for them to act out what it means to be a farmer or a cashier.

• Farmer/Farm (Planting, Harvesting)

• Processing (Cleaning, sorting, Pasteurization, milling, canning etc.)

• Packaging (Preparing food to move to storage)

• Storage (Cold Storage, Warehousing)

• Transportation/Distribution (Moving food from one place to another)

• Retail (Supermarkets, Grocery Stores, Restaurants)

• Consumer/Table (Person who buys the food and eats it).

Instruction: (15 minutes)

When the students finish, talk about the different places that they get their food. For the most part, the food will be from the “Retail” section, which also includes restaurants. Make a mark by each of the places where food comes from. If it comes from a garden, make a tally mark by “Farm.”

Then talk about how the food gets from one place to the other. Farmers often process their own food, but sometimes send them further to do so. After the food is processed, it needs to be packaged and then moved to storage. Some foods are kept in cold storage, like fruits, meats and dairy, while others do not require refrigeration.

Each of these needs transportation to get from one place to the other. This often happens in the form of trucks. After all this has happened, food is sold to retailers, the stores where people go to buy the food.

Then, ask the kids some of these questions. If they have any that come to mind, have them ask. As the class discussion goes on, direct them with these questions as needed.

• How does the weather affect what grows on a farm?

• Where do you think your favorite fruits and vegetables come from?

• What jobs do farmers have to do to grow the food we eat?

• How do plants get the water and sunlight they need to grow?

• What animals help us get food like milk, eggs, and meat?

• How do you think food gets from the farm to the grocery store?

• Why is it important to have fresh food?

• What happens to fruits and vegetables after they are harvested on the farm?

• Have you ever been to a farm or a farmers' market? What did you see there?

• Why do you think some foods come from different countries or states?

• How does a tractor help a farmer?

• What steps do you think are involved in making bread from wheat?

• What is the difference between fruits that grow on trees and those that grow underground or on vines?

Practice: (10 minutes)

Have kids pair off in groups of 4-5. Have them create their own farms. They can do this by drawing parts of the farm together, or by acting it out. Ask them what kinds of food they grow. Do they have fruit trees? Corn? Wheat? Cows? Chickens?

However they build their farm, have each of them work out a part of the farm. For example, have a kid be in charge of drawing the vegetables or the cows. As a group, have them figure out how they will get their food to the store from their farm, this can also be drawn in their farm. Let them get creative with it. If they want to use a spaceship, let them!

Before they present, tell them that when they share, they will need to convince the others in the class that their method of transportation is the best. This will encourage new and innovative ways of transportation.

Present: (10 minutes)

Have each of the groups share their farm and what they grow. How do they get their food from the farm to the table? What is their creative method of transportation? Have that exist as their prominent question to answer.

Debrief: (5-7 minutes)

Have students finish up. Discuss what went well for their farms. What were some of the challenges that would happen to their farms if the weather was not ideal for growing? What went well? Have students share what someone in their group did that went well.