Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland is 150 years old this year, and its power to inspire fresh generations was underlined by its impact on Year 2 children from five schools who attended drama and writing workshops at Locks Heath Infant School.
As well as having a chance to find out about some of its many curious characters and strange incidents, the children came up with their own written responses to some of the novel’s more surreal situations.
The sessions were led by active approaches specialist Jerome Monahan who said: ‘Some were familiar with Alice and her adventures, but for others this was their first encounter with the book.
‘We began by considering the “ripples” that Lewis Carroll’s book set in motion with modern advertisements featuring his characters and also a set of Royal Mail stamps out this month to mark the anniversary of the book’s publication.’
During the day with children acted out lines from the book, learnt parody poems including How Doth the Little Crocodile and pretended that they were 3in high in their bedrooms.
Headteacher of Locks Heath Infant School Catherine Butcher said: ‘The children thoroughly enjoyed the various stimulating activities that inspired their writing. It demonstrated how valuable drama and lots of speaking and listening is in unlocking children’s imaginations before we ask them to write.’