Bread of Life Activity Handout

In case you missed the October activity and/or the lesson handout, below is the story of the Little Red Hen and some ideas if you would like to make bread with your family.

Also, if you click on the red text, you will be linked to the Liahona article Lessons from the New Testament; Jesus Christ, the Bread of Life by Elder Won Yong Ko of the Seventy.

The Little Red Hen
(from Utah State University Cooperative Extension - Agriculture in the Classroom website)

Once upon a time, a little red hen lived in a small cottage. She worked hard to keep her family fed. One day, when the little red hen was out walk- ing
with her friends, the goose, the cat, and the pig, she found a few grains of wheat.

“ Who will help me plant this wheat?” asked the little red hen. “ Not I,” said the
goose, “ I’ d rather swim in the pond.” “ Not I,” said the cat, “ I’ d rather sleep on the hay.” “ Not I,” said the pig, “ I’ d rather lie in the mud.”

“ Then I’ ll do it myself,” said the little red hen. And she did. Time went by and the wheat grew, but so did the weeds. “ Who will help me pull the weeds?” asked the
little red hen. “ Not I,” said the goose, “ I’ d rather swim in the pond.”

“ Not I,” said the cat, “ I’ d rather sleep on the hay.” “ Not I,” said the pig, “I’d rather lie in the mud.” “ Then I’ ll do it myself” , said the little red hen. And she did.

All summer the wheat grew taller and taller. It turned from brown to golden amber. And,the goose, “ I’ d rather swim in the pond.” “ Not I,” said the cat, “ I’ d rather sleep on the hay.” “ Not I,” said the pig, “ I’ d rather lie in the mud.” “Then I’ ll do it myself,” said the little red hen. And she did.

At last, the wheat was harvested and put into a large sack, ready to be taken to the mill to be ground into flour. “ Who will help me take the wheat to the mill?” asked the little red hen. “ Not I,” said the goose, “ I’ d rather swim in the pond.” “ Not I,” said the cat, “ I’ d rather sleep on the hay.” “ Not I,” said the pig, “ I’ d
rather lie in the mud.” “ Then I’ ll do it myself,” said the little red hen. And she did. The next day came and the little red hen was hungry. “ Who will help me bake this flour into bread?” asked the little red hen. “ Not I,” said the goose, “ I’ d rather swim in the pond.” “ Not I,” said the cat, “ I’ d rather sleep on the hay.” “ Not I,” said the pig, “ I’ d rather lie in the
mud.” “ Then I’ ll do it myself,” said the little red hen. And she did.

At last, the bread was baked and the little red hen called to her friends once more. “ Who will help me eat this bread?" asked the little red hen. “ I will,” said the goose. “ I will,” said the cat. “ I will,” said the pig. “ Oh, no you won’ t!” said
the little red hen. “ I found the wheat, I planted it, I weeded it, and when it was time to harvest it, I did that too. I took with my family.” And she did.

Possible teaching ideas:
• Working together to do good things
• Being helpful
• Choice and accountability
• The value of hard work
• Sharing
• Christ’s free gift to us

Questions you could ask:
• How do you think the goose, the pig, cat, etc. felt when they didn’t get the bread?
• Did you think that it was fair they didn’t get any bread?
• How did you feel about the hen not sharing?
• What did Christ share with us?
• Does he expect anything in return?

Activities:
• Make bread together
• Make sack puppets for each of the characters and have the children take parts to play