Don’t Worry Little Crab

 

Chris Haughton
Walker Books
Age 0-3 years

Little Crab lives with Very big Crab in a tiny rock pool. One day Little Crab is very excited because they are going to see the sea. When they get there Little Crab is not so sure about the sea – the waves are very big. With a bit of encouragement Little Crab is persuaded to get in. In no time at all he finds himself in a colourful undersea world where he makes new friends and has exciting new experiences.

An appealing story about having the courage to try new things, with a little help and encouragement along the way.

 

Share the story

Read aloud
Read the story aloud to your child pausing to talk about what is happening in the story or illustrations when your child wants to.

Join in
When children become familiar with the story encourage children to join in for example with the sound effects on their journey to the sea ‘tic-a-tac,’ ‘splish-splash,’ ‘squelch-squelch’ and the ‘whoosh’ of the waves.

Talk about the book

• Talk together about how little crab feels at different points in the story.

• Discuss what you can see and what little crab did in the under the sea pictures

• There are lots of words about size in the story – little, big, bigger, huge, enormous – talk about these words – Very Big Crab is bigger than Little Crab, you are bigger than your baby brother, the waves were enormous an elephant is huge etc

Watch the story read aloud by Tom Hardy

Watch a performance from Little Angel Theatre Company in Association with Folder Feather 

Things to make and do

Play the story
When you go out together imagine you are little crab and big crab going tic a tac, splish splash , squelch squelch on the way to the sea. If you go to a beach this would be perfect to do there – you could watch for big waves too and try to find a crab in a real rock pool. But you could also make this an imaginary game – in the garden, park or splashing in the bath!

Make a rock pool
Use a shallow bowl to make a rock pool together. You could put in some sand at the bottom then add some shells and pebbles. Add water and you could make a junk model crab with a round lid for the body and pincers cut out of card.

Paint a colourful under the sea picture
Look again at the bright colours in the undersea illustrations. Give your child a large piece of paper and some brightly coloured paint or crayons. If using paint, your child could help you mix oranges and greens. Then suggest they make their own colourful under the sea picture.

Make a huge tower
Make towers of different from construction material, wooden blocks or cardboard boxes. Which is the biggest/smallest. Can you make an enormous tower as big as you or bigger? Use lots of size words while you play together.

Find out more

Read more books by Chris Haughton. Titles include:
A Bit Lost
Oh No George!
Shh! We have a Plan
Little Owl Lost
Goodnight Everyone

Make a crab puppet

Little Angel Theatre have produced a great instruction sheet for children 4+ on how to make a crab puppet ( see the link to their production of Don’t Worry Little Crab above.

Find out about real rockpools
Here is a useful videosRockpools – KS1 Science – BBC BitesizeIf you decide to go rock pooling here is some useful advice from The Natural History Museum to help you prepare. How to go rockpooling | Natural History Museum (nhm.ac.uk)