It’s Cian’s fourth birthday today. Instead of a birthday cake, he requested, “All the Gruffalo parts to eat…” So his big brothers took up the challenge to make him some edible Gruffalo parts.

Resources

  • Chopping board
  • Child friendly knife
  • Tray

Ioan and Finny read through the book to identify all the elements they wanted to include for Cian. They then came up with a plan for how to make each of them.

Ingredients

  • terrible tusks = banana chopped in half
  • terrible claws = almond slices
  • terrible teeth = peanuts
  • knobbly knees = Cadbury’s crunchy rocks
  • turned out toes = mars bar cakes and almonds, see Gruffalo’s Turned Out Toes
  • poisonous wart = sliced green grape
  • orange eyes = dried apricots with a raisin in the middle
  • black tongue = black fondant icing
  • purple prickles = sliced purple grapes
  • roasted fox = dried mango
  • owl ice cream = ice cream with brown sprinkles and two icing eyes
  • scrambled snake = scrambled green jelly with two icing eyes

They also added their roasted fox, owl ice cream and scrambled snake around the edge of his tray.

This was when Cian first climbed up to see his ‘Gruffalo parts’.

Along with the scrambled snake, roasted fox and owl ice cream, Cian recognised the orange eyes, black tongue and knobbly knees. He wasn’t convinced by our turned out toes, being adamant they were the Gruffalo’s head.

He was happy with the purple prickles, poisonous wart and knobbly knees. But my favourite bit in this video was when Finny asked Cian what the ‘terrible tusks’ were and he answered, “Bananas”.

They all enjoyed tucking in to the Gruffalo parts after Cian’s birthday tea.

DfES Early Learning Goals (2017)

Communication and language

ELG 03 – Speaking:

Children express themselves effectively, showing awareness of listeners’ needs. They use past, present and future forms accurately when talking about events that have happened or are to happen in the future. They develop their own narratives and explanations by connecting ideas or events.

Personal, social and emotional development

ELG 06 – Self-confidence and self-awareness:

Children are confident to try new activities, and say why they like some activities more than others. They are confident to speak in a familiar group, will talk about their ideas, and will choose the resources they need for their chosen activities. They say when they do or don’t need help.

ELG 07 – Managing feelings and behaviour:

Children work as part of a group, and understand and follow the rules. They adjust their behaviour to different situations, and take changes of routine in their stride.

ELG 08 – Making relationships:

Children play co-operatively, taking turns with others. They take account of one another’s ideas about how to organise their activity. They show sensitivity to others’ needs and feelings, and form positive relationships with adults and other children.

Expressive arts and design

ELG 17 – Being imaginative:

Children use what they have learnt about media and materials in original ways, thinking about uses and purposes. They represent their own ideas, thoughts and feelings through design and technology, art, music, dance, role-play and stories.