A story that can inspire interesting discussion and activities in the classroom is Little Stowaway by Theresa Tomlinson and Jane Browne (Red Fox, 4.99). In it a fisherman's youngest son, John Robert, longs to join his father on a fishing trip to the North Sea.
One day he sneaks aboard the fishing boat when no one is looking and hides behind the coalbunker in the hold. The trawler leaves and the fishermen perform their daily tasks, ignorant of the presence on board of the little stowaway. The boy's initial excitement weakens as he becomes tired, cold and hungry. He chooses to remain hidden, despite rats running around him, but then the boat's cook discovers John Robert asleep. However, since the trawlermen cannot afford to return home without a catch, they continue on their way to deep fishing waters.
Luckily, the fisherman soon catch an unusually large quantity of fish and this allows them to return home. The presence of John Robert has brought them unprecedented luck for which they are all grateful.
This is a beautifully illustrated book and well-written story, evoking images of long ago when small trawlers fished an abundant North Sea. Read the story to children and refer to it again and again as you do the activities.
Hide and seek
Organise a game of hide and seek, which children love to play. Just as in the game of peek-a-boo that they probably played as babies, young children believe that if they cannot see you, you will not be able to see them. So, playing hide and seek with young children often depends on adults knowing where children have hidden, but not revealing that they know too early in the game.
Possible learning outcomes
Form good relationships and work together as a group
Listen and follow simple instructions
Develop confidence in movement
Activity content
* Children's excitement and enjoyment is heightened by adults who pretend to have difficulties in finding them, and the hiding children are thrilled and excited when they overhear adults searching for them.
* Play this game outdoors, or in a large space indoors, where children can run about and will not endanger themselves.
* Inside you will need to set out objects, such as large cardboard boxes and blankets, as hiding places.
* Outdoors use natural and man-made objects, such as tree trunks, low fences, long grass, dense bushes, fixed climbing structures, barrels and cardboard boxes, as hiding places.
* Explain the rules of the game to the children. Say that you will count to ten or 20 slowly and then begin looking for them. Tell children that they should not tell you where their friends are hiding.
* Express surprise and excitement when you discover a hidden child to increase their enjoyment and interest in playing the game.
* Once you initiate this play, encourage children to take turns at being the finder and counting while the others hide.
All aboard
A very strong image in the story is of the boat alone on a vast expanse of sea. Use the following ideas to enhance children's imaginative skills through role play. Try to build your own boat with the children.
Possible learning outcomes
Learn about events in their own lives and begin to enquire about those of other people
Develop imaginative skills
Develop language and vocabulary to express their ideas
Activity content
* You will need large cardboard boxes that you can take apart and reconfigure to create the simple structure of your boat. Make the boat large enough for four children to sit inside.
* Use wide, brown, packing adhesive tape to join the cardboard, making two curved long sides, meeting together at the prow and the stern. This simple structure needs to be sufficiently firm that it can stand upright on its own and to be low enough for children to be able to step over so that they can get in and out easily.
* Use wooden or plastic blocks to sit on and provide some simple props, such as small cardboard oars, inflatable life belt rings, pretend food in a picnic basket, cardboard binoculars and telescope, Wellingtons, raincoats and rain hats and fishing rods, buckets, a lobster pot and a fishing net.
* Talk to the children about what happened on the boat in the story and discuss any experiences of boats they may have had themselves.
* Look at boats, ships and trawlers in reference books and encourage children to work out the commercial and leisure uses of this form of transport.
* Climb on board the play boat and help them create the noises of the waves, the wind and the seagulls circling overhead.
* Suggest that the children imagine their own adventures on board.
* Support them to develop the language and the vocabulary associated with being at sea.
* Creative use of the boat will encourage children to explore their knowledge and experiences of the dangers and excitement of sea voyages.
A record haul
The trawler in the story catches a record haul of fish that cascades on to the deck when the nets are emptied. This image of so many slithering fish slipping over the deck of the boat should help promote children's interest in finding out more about different types of fish and other sea creatures.
Possible learning outcomes
Learn about their wider environment
Develop imaginative skills and explore shape and colour
Activity content
* Use natural history books, fishing magazines, zoo catalogues, cookbooks and pamphlets from fishery counters in supermarkets to inspire children to recognise and name types of fish.
* In the story, the catch includes whiting, cod and mackerel, and the illustrations depict accurate images of these fish.
* Support children to find these fish in the reference books and draw their attention to the shape, size, colouring and markings of each variety they find.
* Provide modelling clay and a selection of clay tools. Encourage the children to use the clay to make models of the fish they have seen or imagined.
* Suggest that they use tools to show the subtle scales and skin markings.
* When the sculptures are complete and dry, paint them, then varnish them with PVA glue diluted with water to seal the paint and create a fish's slippery sheen.
Strong emotions
The illustrations in the book show the range of emotions felt by the characters and provide a stimulus for children to talk about their own and others' feelings.
Possible learning outcomes
Use language to imagine and recreate roles and experiences
Use language to organise and clarify thinking, ideas, feelings and events
Activity content
* Share the story with children and encourage them to identify as many of the different feelings displayed by the characters as possible - for example, the feeling of loss that John Robert and his family experience when his father is at sea; John Robert's excitement as he creeps aboard the trawler; his sadness and fear while in his hiding place; the cook's surprise at finding John Robert; John Robert's joy at the attention he draws from the crew; the love and relief of his family when they are reunited.
* Use these expressions of emotion to help children share and discuss their own experiences and compare them to the events in the story.
* Have the children ever been in similar situations? Have they frightened their parents, by wandering off in shops, for instance? Explore their reactions and the behaviour of their family.
* Remember that children find it difficult to interpret how other people feel, so encourage them to communicate their ideas by asking them open-ended questions, and giving them the attention and time they require to respond.
Project key
The areas of learning are:
Personal, social and emotional development
Communication,language and literacy
Mathematical development
Knowledge & understanding of the world
Physical development
Creative development
