The Big Laddoo: NCERT Class 3 English Poem (Santoor Chapter 7)

etmantra3 Nov 20264 min read

What if all the laddoos in the world became one? This playful poem asks big, silly questions and ends with a giant splash. Children love the surprise ending and the fun sound word at the end.

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From NCERT’s new English book Santoor for Class 3, unit “Good Food”. Chapter 7.

What your child learns

Sound words: splish-splash
Imagining with 'What if ...?'
Words for food and festivals: laddoo, khichdi, harvest
Blends at the start of words: cl, pl, bl

What the poem is about

The poem imagines a very funny world. It asks what would happen if all the laddoos joined into one huge laddoo, if all the children became one huge child, and if all the seas became one huge sea.

Then it imagines the big child picking up the big laddoo and throwing it into the big sea, with an enormous splish-splash. The poem is light and full of fun, and it makes children use their imagination. The chapter also shares how wheat becomes chapatti, and how khichdi is made at Sankranti, the harvest festival, with different names across India.

New words, with Hindi meanings

laddoo: a round Indian sweet (हिंदी: लड्डू)
sea: a very big area of salty water (हिंदी: समुद्र)
picked: lifted up with the hand (हिंदी: उठाया)
threw: sent something through the air (past of throw) (हिंदी: फेंका)
splish-splash: the sound of something falling into water (हिंदी: छपाक)
festival: a special day of celebration (हिंदी: त्योहार)
harvest: cutting and collecting crops when they are ready (हिंदी: फ़सल की कटाई)
lentils: small dried seeds cooked as dal (हिंदी: दाल)

Talk about it

Ask these aloud after reading or watching. Let your child answer in English if they can, or mix in their home language. Both help.

What does the poem imagine all the laddoos becoming?
What does the big child do with the big laddoo?
What sound does it make at the end?
Which laddoo do you like best?

Answers for parents

It imagines them becoming one very big laddoo.
The big child throws the big laddoo into the big sea.
It makes a big splish-splash.
For example: I like besan laddoos that my nani makes on Diwali.

Grammar corner: Sound words

Some words copy the sound something makes. Splish-splash is the sound of water. Using sound words makes a story or poem more fun to hear.

The stone fell in the pond with a plop.
The pressure cooker went whoosh in the kitchen.
Raindrops went pitter-patter on the roof.

Practice at home

Fill in the blank: A big laddoo fell in the water with a ___.
Make words with 'pl', 'cl' and 'bl': ___ate, ___ock, ___ue
Say aloud: one thing that is round and can be eaten, and one that is round and cannot.

Answers: 1. splish-splash · 2. plate, clock, blue · 3. For example: a laddoo can be eaten; a ball cannot.

Try this

Play a 'What if' game. Take turns to finish the sentence 'If all the ___ were one ___, what a big ___ it would be!' using things at home, like rotis, pillows or shoes. Act out how big it would be with your arms. End each turn with your own funny sound word, like boom, plop or whoosh.

Tip for parents

Ask your child in Hindi: 'Agar saare laddoo ek ho jaayein, toh kitna bada hoga?' Let them answer in Hindi with big arm movements, then say the English line together. At festival time, name the sweets and dishes you make in Hindi and English, and praise every English word.

Questions parents ask

What is the poem The Big Laddoo about?

It is a funny poem that imagines one giant laddoo, one giant child and one giant sea, and ends with the child throwing the laddoo into the sea.

What does splish-splash mean in The Big Laddoo?

Splish-splash is the sound the huge laddoo makes when it falls into the sea.

Is The Big Laddoo in the new NCERT book?

It is in NCERT's new Santoor book for Class 3. It is Chapter 7, in Unit 3, Good Food.

Learn every Class 3 chapter with CALP

Every chapter of Santoor, NCERT’s new book, with notes in English and Hindi, say-it-aloud practice with a score, grammar, speaking and first writing practice. ₹1,299 for the whole year.

See the free lessons and enrol →