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Someone Bigger

SOMEONE BIGGER - Make a Kite

At the beginning of Someone Bigger, Sam and his dad make the kite that causes all the trouble.  Ask the children to make their own simple kites and see if they can fly them.  There are hundreds of sites featuring instructions for simple kites on the web, here are just a few of them:

• Skratch Pad has instructions for making a diamond kite similar to Sam's as well as some background information on kites.
• Life Hacker features a selection of simple kite projects including one which claims to be "The complete time tested instructions to get 20 kids making their own kites and flying them in 20 minutes"
• WikiHow also features instructions for several simple kites including this page for making one out of a plastic bag.
• Planet Green shows how to make a kite from eco-friendly materials.

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Pigs Might Fly

PIGS MIGHT FLY - Design a Vehicle

Both Pigs Might Fly and the original Three Little Pigs story feature different approaches to designing and building things. 

Discuss why Wilbur’s aeroplane design works best – it has something to with the time he spent thinking before he started to make anything and something to do with the materials he used to make it. 

Ask the children to design their own flying machines or other vehicles.  Perhaps the vehicle could look similar to it’s animal owner, like Wilbur’s pig-nosed jet.

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Tom's Clockwork Dragon

TOM'S CLOCKWORK DRAGON - Build a Recycled Creature

Tom’s Clockwork Dragon is about two children building a mechanical dragon from recycled armour.

Visit the web site of french sculptor Edouard Martinet to see images of some of the wonderful animal sculptures he makes from recycled machine parts.

Ask the children to collect toilet rolls, egg cartons, tin foil trays and other packaging to build their own recycled creatures .

Here are some sites that might be useful:

• Egg Carton Animals
• Recycled Animals
• Animal Crafts

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She'll Be Coming
Round the Mountain

SHE'LL BE COMING ROUND THE MOUNTAIN - Adapt a Song

The picture book, She'll Be Coming Round the Mountain, is adapted from an American folk song, which was itself adapted from the Negro spiritual, When the Chariot Comes.

Ask the children to write their own adaptation of a favourite song or nursery rhyme by changing some of the lyrics or writing new verses.

There's a good selection of popular children songs on this page of the BBC's H2G2 site.

And an exhaustive list of nursery rhymes, including a top 20 of the most popular, at Land of Nursery Rhymes.

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Through the Heart
of the Jungle

THROUGH THE HEART OF THE JUNGLE - Write a Chain Story

Through the Heart of the Jungle describes a long chain of events, with a new link added to the chain with each verse.

Show how a similar structure is used for the nursery rhyme The House that Jack Built and the song There was an Old Lady that Swallowed A Fly.

Ask the children to write their own chain story, in rhyme or prose, about animals, vehicles, people or even other children in their class!

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If We Had a Sailboat

IF WE HAD A SAILBOAT - Improvise a Location

The characters in If We Had A Sailboat improvise a sailboat, a train and a rocket from everyday objects.

Divide the children into small groups and give them a selection of props, such as tablecloths, rugs, rope, cardboard boxes, tubs, buckets, poles, brooms, chairs, play-tents. See how many objects or locations they can improvise from their imagination.

At the end of the session, get individual groups to mime out a scene with their props and see if the other group can guess the object or location.