Activities on Little Red Riding Hood for Children

"Little Red Riding Hood" Play

• The first activity that you could put together for your children is a reenactment of the events of the story. The children would use simple costumes; a red cape and basket for the title character, a paper wolf mask for the wolf, a fake ax and plaid shirt for the woodsman and a small gown and gray wig for grandma. Give the children liberty to act out the traditional story or make up an alternate version. Perhaps Little Red Riding Hood and the wolf could reach an agreement and share some of the food in the basket to learn a lesson about friendship.

Nutritional Basket Activity

• In this activity, children are each given a picture of a basket in which they must draw food items for Little Red to take to grandma. You may instruct the children to draw five healthy foods in the basket and explain why they are better than sweets and fattening foods. As an alternate activity, you could turn this into a math lesson by instructing the children to draw a certain number of specified foods in the basket; for instance, three apples, five oranges, two sandwiches and eight cookies.

Big, Bad Wolf Activity

• The third activity involves the infamous big, bad wolf. Give your children an encyclopedia or let them search the Internet for some factual information about wolves, including their eating habits, mating habits and the fact that some species are endangered. Then have them think of ways to change the story to portray the wolf in a more positive light. The children will act as the wolf's "public relations agent" and create campaign posters with actual wolf facts.

"Little Red Riding Hood" Party Games

• The last set of "Little Red Riding Hood" themed activities are best used in a party setting. Set up a basket toss game by having children toss fake food into a large basket. The child who lands the most items will get a prize. Draw a large picture of the big, bad wolf and play "Pin The Tail On The Wolf" as a new spin on "Pin The Tail On The Donkey." Lastly, have the children play a game of "Little Red Riding Hood" tag with an adult as the big, bad wolf tagging the kids before they run to grandma's house as the designated safe area.