Shoebox Barn

LESSON PLAN

Saddle up

Watch: Jack - episode 2: Starting Now...,I Mean Now...and Grace - episode 6: Everyone Love Jodhpurs

In these two episodes, Jack and Grace both spend some time in a barn where the horses’ stables are. That’s a pretty important place when you’re a horse or a horsecrazy kid! Notice what Jack and Grace do in the barn in these two videos.

Barn talk

Why are barns important to horses? What do you think a horse would like to have in its home?

Take a ride

A barn isn’t just a barn – it’s where the horses’ stables are, their homes. And horses need to have certain things in their homes. Time for you to build one!

You’ll need

  1. Several small toy horses.
  2. Several small boxes, could be shoeboxes, but make sure they are in the correct scale for the toy horses (as per directions below).
  3. Pencil and scissors.

Directions

  1. Break children into teams with one horse and one box per team.
  2. Explain that the children will use the boxes to make stables for their horses. And they have to follow these rules so the horse will be comfortable in its home:
    • The horse has to have enough room to turn around comfortably and not bump its head.
    • The doors should be wide enough for the horse to get in and out easily.
    • The windows should be high enough so the horse can’t jump through them, but low enough so the horse can look outside.
  3. Have children decorate

Horses and standards

Common Core Standards for Math – Geometry (Grade 2). Reason with shapes and their attributes.

  1. Distinguish between defining attributes (e.g., triangles are closed and three-sided) versus nondefining attributes (e.g., color, orientation, overall size); build and draw shapes to possess defining attributes.
  2. Compose two-dimensional shapes (rectangles, squares, trapezoids, triangles, half-circles, and quarter-circles) or threedimensional shapes (cubes, right rectangular prisms, right circular cones, and right circular cylinders) to create a composite shape, and compose new shapes from the composite shape.

Download PDF printable version of lesson plan (125KB)