The Gruffalo brings the beloved book by Julia Donaldson to life in a mesmerizing movie that will delight children. The book and movie together make an excellent gift that is both entertaining and enriching. Kids can read the book, which is a great repetitive rhyming story for early readers, and compare it with the movie, which uses elements like music, movement and narration to bring the story to life. In the forest setting of the movie, there are also creatures going about their lives in the background, highlighting concepts like the food chain and animal homes in nature.
The book is hugely popular all over, and if you live in the UK, you can find a plethora of adorable related merchandise. In the United States, however, not so much...yet. I wanted to give the movie and book to my nieces and nephews for Christmas, but I thought it would be even more fun to add some related crafts and activities. So, I found a couple of forest crafts and some printables from the Gruffalo website to create a gift box that will provide kids with hours of fun and get their creative juices going. Here is what I included in my gift:
- The Gruffalo story book by Julia Donaldson
- The Gruffalo movie, narrated by Helena Bonham Carter
- The Gruffalo Card Game (from University Games)
- Gruffalo finger puppets: I printed these on card stock from the Gruffalo website, laminated them, and affixed velcro to make them easy to use and adjustable (cut out the tabs that go around the finger a little longer if you want to do it this way). I also affixed the circular Gruffalo website logo from the finger puppet page to the baggie. That way my nephews know they can go to the website to find more games and activities.
- Materials to make a forest diorama: kids can use the gift box (I used a shoe box covered in a paper bag from the store) to make their diorama.
- Materials to make a pine cone mouse: I affixed a picture of the craft on the front of the baggie and the instructions for making it on the back.
- Plush squirrel stuffed animal (Helena Bonham Character narrates the movie as a mother squirrel telling the story to her babies).
- Mouse Christmas ornament to decorate the gift.
