Cranky Chicken | A story about using our hands in helpful ways

Are you the parent of a preschooler who often uses their hands to push, hit, or grab? First, take a deep breath and know this is completely normal behavior for young children! Second, did you know using stories can help address more challenging behaviors like this? It’s true! Pedagogical, or teaching tales, are wonderful ways to address topics including sudden changes, upcoming transitions, or challenging behaviors.

When you sit down with your child to enjoy this audio episode from our Waldorf-inspired early childhood program, you’ll learn nature-based, seasonal songs and poems during circle time, and then you will hear a pedagogical story about using hands in helpful ways (instead of harmful ones).

I wrote this story when one of the young children in my program was struggling to find his place in the group.  He wanted to be included in the play and tried to get involved in less-than-helpful ways. He was a strong and determined child who, unfortunately, received much negative feedback about these parts of himself. He had developed shame around these issues that further affected his confidence and ability to join groups of children. 

I worked with the child’s parents and the parents in the program to ensure the language surrounding this child was positive and inclusive. I also told this story for four weeks, ending with a puppet show and ultimately having the children act it out with the puppets themselves.

The magic of the story went to work, and several things shifted:

• The group of children began to praise this child for his strength.
• The boy’s confidence grew and he was soon at ease and part of the group.
• The boy stopped using his hands to push, knock, hit, or grab and took pride in using them to build, create, help, and repair. 

The biggest shift was inside the young boy himself. After hearing this story, he realized that his strength and determination were things to be proud of.

About the Story: The Cranky Chicken

By Becca Lane

There was a young chicken who would become excited or frustrated and use her sharp beak to peck, peck, peck at things around her. Sometimes, even her friends! She was given the nickname “Cranky Chicken” because she made her friends cranky when she pecked them. Her friends became so cranky they often didn’t want to play with the little chicken. One day, her friend the cow got a bur stuck on her back and needed help removing it. None of the other animals could help, and the little chicken knew her beak could help. She used her beak as gently as possible to remove the burr. Then, she gave the cow a gentle scratch on her back with her beak. Her beak was the perfect tool for the job! 

After that, the chicken knew how to use her beak in helpful ways instead of hurtful ways.

“I’m a cranky chicken and I want you to see

My strong beak is the best part of me.”

“Use your beak in helpful ways, not hurtful ways.”

“I’m no longer a cranky chicken, and I’m here to say

I use my beak in helpful ways.” 

Listen to the audio episode of Purple Day above to hear a spring circle time and the story of The Cranky Chicken.

Make a Chicken to Go with the Story!

I have two fun chicken projects to share! I have made both of these patterns with all ages--preschool through adult. Send me a message if you need help adapting them to a specific developmental age.

Handsewn Chicken Ornament

[Picture from annwoodhandmade.com.]

This quick and simple hand-sewn chicken from Anne Wood Handmade would be an easy beginner project for children and adults alike. If you love this craft, subscribe to Anne’s newsletter, and you won’t miss out on her future free patterns.

Click here for the free pattern: Chicken Ornament. 

Embroidered Felt Chicken

 [Picture from www.shinyhappyworld.com]

Make a simple chicken out of felt or follow the details of this tutorial and embroider beautiful designs on your chicken. This project is a great way to learn many kinds of embroidery techniques. It includes links to videos demonstrating all the embroidery methods.

Click here for the free pattern and tutorial.

Interested in Hearing More Pedagogical Tales? Try These:

Tidy-Up Teddy: a pedagogical tale about tidying your room

Wilson Wild Wind: a story about balancing moments of big energy with moments of calm

Free Seasonal Sampler

Love this approach to rhythm and storytelling? Download our free Storytime Sampler—a curated week of videos from each season to help you begin building your family rhythm.

Discover the Magic of Storytime's Rhythm—Download the Free Sampler Today