7 Great Gruffalo Activities For Hours Of Fun

Image © pvproductions, under a Creative Commons license.

Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler are the genius duo who gave us the fantastic Gruffalo that the kids love reading every night.

They knew they were writing a storybook but what they didn't know was that they were also filling our heads with endless opportunities for fun Gruffalo activities. From Gruffalo craft ideas to Gruffalo outdoor activities, there's no end to the inspiration.

But, just so you know where to start, we've compiled our list of all our favourite things to do, thanks to the amazing Julia Donaldson and her imagination.

No matter what age your child is, or what they are interested in, we're sure we can find a fun Gruffalo activity that will suit the whole family.

These are also great ideas if you are planning a Gruffalo themed fancy dress party, with plenty of easy activity ideas for Gruffalo costumes, as well as some Gruffalo sweet treats to serve as tasty snacks.

Here's everything you need to know!

Gruffalo Treasure Hunt

Take a look in the Gruffalo book and you'll find all the animals you need to plunge the family into the Gruffalo world with this treasure hunt.

Age: 3+

Materials: Paper or card, coloured pens, scissors

How-to:

Using your card and coloured pens draw and cut out an animal for each of those that appear in the book.

You will need:

1. A mouse
2. A fox
3. An owl
4. A snake
5. Finally, of course, a Gruffalo!
    

If you have a laminator or sticky back plastic, use it to cover the animals to stop them from getting wet.

This is one of the best Gruffalo activities for early years. In a garden or park, hide all the animals around and then let the children play!

They have to find each of the Gruffalo animals. Once they have found them, ask your children to close their eyes and try hiding them in different places. You could even write clues for older kids.

Tip: Use string to hang your Gruffalo animals from trees or bushes.

Fun activity idea: Try making 3D animals out of old toilet roll cylinders.

Image © freepik, under a Creative Commons license.

Bake Your Own Gruffalo Paw Biscuits

As Gruffalo activities go, this is the tastiest one - let's hope his paws taste better than they look! This super simple yet fun biscuit recipe is well suited for children of all ages.

Age: 4+

Materials:  Mixing bowl, wooden spoon, weighing scales, baking tray, greaseproof paper, tablespoon, dessert spoon, oven gloves, ingredients.

100g Butter (softened)

50g Caster Sugar

2 tablespoons Cocoa Powder

125g Self-raising Flour

Flaked Almonds

How-to:

1. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees.
2. Line a flat baking tray with greaseproof paper
3. Use a wooden spoon to mix together the butter and sugar until creamy.
4. Add in the flour and cocoa powder and mix until you have your biscuit dough.
5. Take dessertspoonfuls of the mixture and shape into a round Gruffalo paw-shape, placing on the baking tray.
6. Push the flaked almonds half into the biscuits along one edge so they look like Gruffalo claws.
7. Bake in the middle of the oven for 12-15 minutes.
    

Hint: If your children don't like almonds, why not try adding half a chocolate button on as a claw using icing. Make sure you wait until the biscuits have cooled so the chocolate doesn't melt.

How To Make A Pom Pom Gruffalo Model

There are so many activities for making a model Gruffalo but this one is for textile lovers. This Gruffalo activity will have your kid making pompom models - perfect for children who love craft activities, as well as reading.

Age: 6+

Materials: Brown yarn, pom pom rings, googly eyes, glue, coloured card, scissors.

How-to:

1. Make two pom poms out of the brown yarn.
2. Glue them one on top of the other.
3. Stick on your googly eyes, and use the scissors and card to make teeth, horns, claws, spikes for the back, a green wart and a long tongue to stick on as well.
4. Take a look in the Gruffalo book to make sure you get the features spot on!

Image © marketlan, under a Creative Commons license.

Make A Gruffalo Pairs Memory Game Set

A classic game inspired by the book. This Gruffalo memory game is a great DIY activity that'll keep your child learning as they play.

Age: 6+

Materials: White card, scissors, coloured pens and pencils

How to make the game:

1. Cut your card into squares. Make sure you have an even number
2. Using The Gruffalo storybook for inspiration, pick out things to make the pairs on the cards. Draw an image on one card and then replicate that image on another card.
3. Do this until all the cards are full. You should have 2x mice, 2x owls, 2x Gruffalos, 2x trees etc.
    

Why not try: Designing a Gruffalo-inspired pattern to go on the back of the cards. Make sure they are all identical though so you can't tell which are the pairs when the cards are face down.

How to play the game:

1. Turn all the cards face down so you cant see the images.
2. Take it in turns to turn two cards face up.
3. If the two cards match, keep them as a set and take another turn.
4. If the cards don't match, turn them back over.
5. The winner is the person with the most pairs at the end of the game.

How To Make A Gruffalo Mask

One of our favourite Gruffalo activities, that is perfect for fancy dress, as well as being a really easy activity for children of any age. Children will love acting out the story with this brilliant mask activity.

Age: 4+

Materials: Paper plate, scissors, coloured paper, glue, coloured pens, elastic. If you don't have any paper plates just cut a face-sized circle out of a piece of cardboard.

How-to:

1. Cut two eye holes in the paper plate
2. Use the end of the scissor blade to poke a hole at the edge of the plate on either side of the eyes.
3. Thread your elastic through these small holes and tie so it will stay on your child's head.
4. Now use the coloured paper and glue, along with the coloured pens, to create a Gruffalo face on the plate.

Image © anchaleeyates, under a Creative Commons license.

DIY Gruffalo Wart Green Slime

One of our truly unique Gruffalo activity ideas for children who love to play with slime, and who love reading the book! Kids love slime, and this is a great play activity for imaginative Gruffalo lovers.

Age: 5+

Materials: PVA glue, Borax, green food colouring, wooden lollipop or cocktail stick for stirring

How-to:

1. Measure out 100ml of PVA glue.
2. Add in a few drops of green food colouring and mix.
3. Add in 50ml of Borax and stir
4. Now your Gruffalo green wart slime is ready to play with. Try shaping it into a little ball like a real wart.
    

Tip: Store your slime in a sealed container like a Tupperware box or a zip-lock plastic bag, so that it doesn't dry out.

Gruffalo Headband

Ready for more Gruffalo art ideas? This is a really easy fancy dress activity to complete the set of Gruffalo activities, and is great for pretend play.

Age: 5+

Materials: Brown paper or card, sticky tape, dark brown card, green paper, orange paper, white paper

How-to:

1. Cut a long rectangle of brown paper or card, about 10-15cm in width.
2. Wrap it around your child's head and use the sticky tape to secure it at the right size.
3. Cut two horns out of the dark brown card and stick them out the top of the headband.
4. Cut out orange eyes, a green ward and white teeth and fangs, then stick them onto the front of the headband.
    

Hint: If you have more than one child, you could make one Gruffalo headband and one mouse headband. This could be a perfect idea if you're looking for Gruffalo activities for toddlers or younger children.