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Nursery rhymes · Direction words

Jack and Jill up and down activity

Move Jack and Jill up and down a paper hill as you retell the rhyme.

Try the activity
Jack and Jill precut felt characters, a well, and pail pieces from the nursery rhyme set.View this felt set on Etsy Opens in a new tab

Up the hill and down again

Prep · About 3 minutes   Play · About 7 minutes

Gather · Paper, a marker, and two small figures or quick sketches for Jack and Jill. Draw a hill and a well, or use the matching felt pieces.

  1. Start at the bottom. Point to the bottom of the hill and put the well at the top. Say the rhyme once and show where the children start.
  2. Move up and down. Let one child move Jack and another move Jill. Pause for everyone to say “up” as they climb and “down” as they come back down.
  3. Tell it again. Reset both pieces. Ask a child to lead the retelling and use a direction word as each figure moves.

Try saying · “Where is the well? Show me which way Jack and Jill go to reach it.”

Make it easier · Use one figure and practice moving it up and down before adding the second.

Keep it going · Draw a second hill and let a child give directions from one hill to the other.

Get the materials

Storytime Club · Annual library

Print it for your next storytime

Find the Jack and Jill worksheet bundle PDF in the annual library. Print the worksheets to revisit the nursery rhyme after moving the pieces.

Bring more stories to life with printable story pieces and themed worksheets. The annual pass gives you instant access to the full Storytime Club library for $97 a year.

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