The Sword in the Stone Movie: Educational Activities and Games for 2 to 5 Year Olds

Let's face it, kids love movies, but it's been proven that they should watch no more than 2 hours of TV a day. So why not combine their love of a movie and activities that will help them learn and grow? Following are suggestions for the movie The Sword in the Stone released in 1963. These activities would also work well for preschool classes and party games for this age group.

Watch the movie

Let your kids watch the show while you prepare the activities for the rest of the day or attend to other responsibilities.

Rhyme Activity

Teach your child these rhymes. They'll enjoy the actions and the rhythm.

Little Squirrel

I saw a little squirrel

Sitting in a tree. (Pretend to be looking up at a tree)

He was eating a nut (pretend to be eating)

And he wouldn't look at me. (shake your head from left to right)

Over in the Meadow

Over in the meadow in the sand, in the sun,

Lived an old mother frog and her little froggie one.

Croak! Said the mother; I Croak, said the one

So they croaked and the croaked in the sand, in the sun.

Over in the meadow in the stream so blue,

Lived an old mother fish and her little fishies two.

Swim! Said the mother; We swim! Said the two.

So they swam and they swam in the stream so blue.

Over in the meadow on a branch of the tree

Lived an old mother bird and her little birdies three.

Sing! Said the mother; We Sing! Said the three.

And they sang and they sang on a branch of the tree.

Read a Book

There are a lot of incredible books available to go along with the movie The Sword in the Stone. Pick one you think your child would enjoy and involve them while you are reading. Ask them questions about the pictures and story. Following are a few suggestions of books to read.

• King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table by Anne Rooney
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• The Sleepy Owl by Marcus Pfister
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• Magic Raincoat by Ryan David and Sibylla Benatova

Opposites

In the movie, Merlin teaches Arthur about opposites. Follow his lead and teach your child about opposites with these fun activities.

• Play red light, green light. Have your child stand at the opposite end of the room when you say green light they can move toward you, when you say red light they have to stop.
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• Write opposites on small pieces of paper. For example put in on one piece of paper, and out on another piece of paper. Put these in a hat or bowl. On other pieces of paper write action words like walk, crawl, jump etc. Put these in a different bowl. With masking tape put a square on the carpet. Have your child pick a piece of paper from each bowl and then follow the directions. For example if they pick in and walk, have them walk into the square you have made on the floor.
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