“The Enormous Turnip”
Hands-on experiential play with soil, vegetables, and plants, followed by the classic folk story of pulling together.
The Garden & The Tale
The session starts in a garden as we plant seeds to grow food, and the Grandparents soon need help from everyone!
With hands-on experiential play using compost, real root vegetables, and living plants, children enjoy a 30-minute messy play session playing with soil and planting baby vegetables in nursery trays so they are all cosy and ready to grow.
Then the traditional European folk tale is told using a combination of different puppet styles, toys, and interactive rhymes. As we watch, we can smell the fresh earth and examine the vegetables. The story of the farmer and family all pulling together culminates with children acting out pulling up the giant turnip, and taking their baby vegetable home for the story to be retold again and again.
Features specially composed acoustic music by musician Sarah Collins.
Session Details
Recommended Age: 2–5 years
Duration: 1 hour (30 mins gardening play + 30 mins performance & pulling)
Season: Ideal for Autumn harvest themes
Early Years Learning Objectives
- Natural Cycles: Learning how plants grow from a tiny seed into nourishing vegetables.
- Storytelling & Memory: Engaging in cumulative narrative structures and repeating refrain rhymes.
- Critical Thinking & Sensory Discovery: Tactile handling of soil, spades, pots, and roots.
- Cooperation: Physical enactment of collaborative effort (“heave, ho!”).
Practitioner Feedback
“Excellent session. Children loved feeling the vegetables. The story kept their interest and was a very good way to get the little ones interested in vegetables.”
— Joanne and child (aged 2), Wade Hall Children’s Centre
Safety & Risk Assessment Protocol (Click to view)
Risk Assessment Summary for The Enormous Turnip
Certified by Rachel Riggs (Creative Director, Imaginary Leaps).
| Hazard | Potential Harm | To Whom | Control Measures | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Compost handling / ingestion | Irritation or sharp particles | Children | Commercial clean compost used; supervised continuously by staff and parents. | Low (3) |
| Slipping on spilled compost | Falls, bumps | All participants | Floor tarpaulin laid down; swept promptly with dustpan and brush. | Low (2) |
| Small craft pieces | Choking hazard | Small children | Supervised 1-to-1 during crafting; age-appropriate non-toxic materials. | Managed (8) |
| Turnip pulling game | Tumbling backwards | Children | Conducted gently on padded soft mats under direct facilitator control. | Low (4) |