The Little Orange House is a fun interactive story that makes a great listening activity to do with the kids near Halloween! Have them listen and follow along by cutting a piece of paper while you read the story! For school-age kids, I often set up the activity as a barrier game with the parent or a sibling. Parents can help preschoolers with the cutting but the little ones must listen and instruct the parent based on what they heard.
The Little Orange House story begins with a witch who is searching for a suitable home for the winter when a piece of orange paper magically lands at her feet. Read aloud the story while the child listens, folds, and cuts a piece of orange construction paper by following the directions. It is made into a home by cutting a roof, windows, and doors from the paper. When completed kids open the orange paper they find a surprise!
My Mom taught elementary school and shared this activity with me years ago. I have used it each October in Auditory Verbal Therapy for a variety of ages. This story originally appeared in the 1982 issue of Highlights Magazine.
