Guest author Roisin, has been linking STEM and procedural writing with an Easter themed twist. Using the book “How To Catch The Easter Bunny”, the class design and make their own traps (humane of course!) to catch the nifty creature!
Whilst this read aloud story is generally geared towards younger learners, it opens up lots of rich and wonderful opportunities for learning through play across various curricula and across all ages. It is easily adjusted from the youngest of classes to the oldest.
I have found that the colourful & engaging picture book by Adam Wallace lends itself to any amount of Easter themed lessons. Whilst all listeners and readers can enjoy the tale of how this nifty little creature can weave its way in and out of many traps, it can sprout genuine curiosity in children of all ages when designing their own traps! Children can really engross themselves in how exactly they’ll catch the Easter Bunny.
Not got a copy of the book?
If you do not have a copy of the book in school, you can find read aloud versions on YouTube that last for just 3 or 4 minutes.
Here is one: How To Catch The Easter Bunny (read aloud) You can stop and start the video to discuss ideas or talk about what the children can see in the pictures.
Other Easter Bunny themed stories can also work, if you introduce the idea of catching the bunny.
Preparing for the activity
Allow the kids to gather recyclable materials in the classroom and allocate an afternoon to designing and engineering some creative contraptions!
Materials to consider could be;
- sticks and skewers,
- cardboard boxes,
- plastic tubs,
- string,
- paper cups,
- fabric or netting material.
To attract the rabbit you will also, of course, need some bait! Some ‘carrots‘ could be real or made from some orange paper cones.
You may also want to plan some ‘prizes‘ – Chocolate mini-eggs are ideal.
Developing their ideas
In integrating other curricular areas, your class could explore some procedural writing on how exactly their master plans in this mission to catch the Easter Bunny may work using decoys, ambushes & devices.
Let imaginations run wild! Artistic processes could also feed in here during the mapping process.
After they have brainstormed ideas and thought about the bunny trapping process, they can perhaps complete a formal design.
Here is a trap design template they can use if you do not have a design and make activity template or student book of your own.
Time to trap an Easter Bunny!
In testing the kids’ STEM work, you could place the traps outside around the school grounds and design an Easter Egg hunt for the last day before the Easter break.
The day before, allow the kids to explore the grounds and decide where their traps will be best placed. This could involve some debate work if your class made traps in pairs or groups. This activity alone lends itself to lots of rich language exploration & exposure and can be easily differentiated to class levels. Older classes could even lend a hand and model processes for younger classes in helping them choose a suitable spot for their trap.
Next up is where a little sprinkle of seasonal Easter magic comes in!
Traps could be used during the Easter Egg hunt to see if the kids have caught “The Bunny” (maybe a little prize of a Golden Egg/mini Bunny Teddy, mini trophy, etc.) or an Easter Egg, or two!
The traps that the “Easter Bunny” thought were most creative or hardest to escape or dodge from could have a few more eggs in!
My own class had great fun in planning their traps!
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