104A. The Mystery of the Disappearing Pie: Looking for Pieces of Pie

Activity Name: Looking for Pieces of Pie

In “The Mystery of the Disappearing Pie,” Sheep tries to find the pie that Pig made for Bear. In this fun activity, you can go on your own scavenger hunt to find a pie.

Related Episode: 104 A. The Mystery of the Disappearing Pie.
Age Range: 3-5
Skills: Recognizing that a word is made up of letters; Recognizing the word pie.
Subjects: Literacy and Language Development.

Materials:

• A sheet of paper with the letters P-I-E written on it.
• Printout of the WordThing™ Pie (see Appendix).
• Scissors.

Directions:

1. Cut out the letters P-I-E so that each one is on a separate sheet of paper.
2. Have one person hide the letters P-I-E and have the other players find the letters.
   Variation:
   • Have a different person hide each letter.
   • Have players work in teams to hide and find the letters.
3. Once the players have found all three letters, say, “It’s time to build a word. Let’s build it. Let’s build it now!” Then put the letters in the order P-I-E and then read the word Pie.
4. Then dramatically bring out the ie WordThing to show the word you just built and read it with your child.
   Variation:
   • Take turns hiding and finding the Pie WordThing.
   • Help your child to match the letters P, I, and E to the letters in the Pie WordThing.
   • Give your child hints to help him find the letters P-I-E. For example, if you hid the “P” near a couch, you could say, “The P is hiding near a place where we like to sit on when we are relaxing”.

Take it Further:

• P-I-E Hunt– Take one of the letters from the word P-I-E and go on a scavenger hunt in your home and neighborhood to find other words with that letter in them. Here are some ideas:
  • Look for the letter in signs and posters in the neighborhood.
  • Look for boxes and labels (of food, etc.) around the house with the letter in them.
  • Look for the letters P, I and E and/or the word Pie in books that you read with your child.

Appendix: