The Epic Adventures of Huggie and Stick activities can be used in your classroom or at home for children in grades kindergarten through fifth grade.
It’s perfect for distance learning instruction, and helpful for teachers and parents, too. A video lesson and free printables are included. All of it together is also perfect for celebrating Read Across America Day. And if you’d like to find additional lesson plans for K-1 like this one, be sure to check out and download my free reading activities for picture books!
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Video ELA Lesson
If you are teaching online or simply need a substitute plan, here is an entire lesson I recorded on video using the story, The Epic Adventures of Huggie and Stick! It shows how I use the printable activities I list below. Enjoy!
The Epic Adventures of Huggie and Stick
If you love The Legend of Rock, Paper, Scissors or The Day the Crayons Quit, you will LOVE The Epic Adventures of Huggie and Stick by Drew Daywalt. This story – told entirely in diary entries – tells the tale of two (kind of) friends, Huggie and Stick. They journey across the globe after falling out of their owner’s backpack. Together, they endure misadventure after misadventure, until ultimately returning to their owner.
Supplies You’ll Need for these Activities
- Printed copies of my definition posters and activity pages
- Plain (white) or colored printer paper
- Pencils
- Black cardstock
- Crayons or markers
- Drawing paper
Point of View Activity
Before reading, use my printable definition posters to teach your students about the point of view of a story. Hang the posters up where your kids can reference them as you discuss the story and complete the activity.
In this book, Huggie and Stick interpret their adventure very differently. Huggie’s pessimistic perspective is a stark contrast to Stick’s eternal optimism. Children will love their hilarious diary entries and how different the characters’ points of view are.
After reading the story, students can pretend that they joined the duo on their adventures. Then, they can write from their personal point of view. In the picture below, I share some questions you can ask to help guide their writing.
Retelling Activity
Alternatively, students can retell the story from the point of view of the character of their choice.
Once again, begin by teaching your students ahead of time what it means to retell a story. Use my printable definition posters as visual reminders for your students.
Afterward, have your kiddos use my activity sheet to retell the story.
Teaching About Character Traits
Another skill to incorporate into a lesson using this book is identifying character traits. Because Huggie and Stick are so different from one another, students will easily be able to distinguish their contrasting personalities and traits.
This activity includes a directed draw of Huggie. It’s crazy fun. Just keep reading or scroll down to watch the video on how to draw his character.
Extending the Lesson
To extend this lesson, students can choose one of two ‘backpacks’ to create.
- Option One: Choose 2 items you would take with you on an epic adventure; draw them; explain why you chose them
- Option Two: Tell what you think happens after the story ends (the ending is a bit of a cliffhanger!)
Directed Drawing
I love incorporating art into lessons. It’s great for SO many reasons:
- Initiates creativity
- Fine motor development
- Relaxation and enjoyment in the process
- Encourages following directions and listening
- Aids hand-eye coordination
- Fine tunes visual-spatial acuity
You can use this directed drawing tied into any of the activities shared above or just do it for the sake of drawing. Either option is fine 🙂 I’ve included a video tutorial for how to draw Huggie. My seven-year-old niece demo’d it for me, and did such an amazing job!
Click to watch the video tutorial below OR view it on Youtube HERE!
I hope this post was helpful in sharing The Epic Adventures of Huggie and Stick activities! If you do something at home or in your classroom, I’d love to see! Be sure to tag me on Instagram @babblingabby!
Other Video Lessons
I’ve had the privilege of sharing two other ELA lessons live! Click either of the graphics below to see these video lessons and download the free resources!
Download the Free Printables
All of the activities found in this post are FREE! Fill out the form below to subscribe to Babbling Abby and your printables will be emailed to you instantly!