Goldilocks and the three bears

There is a curious part in the classic tale of Goldilocks where of the three bowls of porridge sitting on the table in the bears’ house, the porridge in the big bowl is too hot, in the medium one too cold and in the small one just right! Gerda Muller tells it slightly differently with the porridge in the two bigger bowls both being too hot and the smallest just right. Which version makes sense? 

Try it out with the children! Serve hot porridge in different-sized bowls and check and compare the temperature as it cools. This can easily lead to further investigations: How can we best measure temperature? Does the porridge cool quicker when it’s in a ceramic, plastic or metal bowl? How do you measure the size of the bowls if they have slightly different shapes?

Investigating the concept of size strengthens children’s linguistic confidence in using the comparative and superlative of small and large. You can discuss sizes and numbers in animal families. Do all animal families consist of two parents and one child? What about human families?