Stanley's Stick

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See if you can remember all the ways Stanley plays with his stick, talk about this together and look through the book to see if you have remembered them all. Teaching Approach B: Questions in this section are the same as in Teaching Approach A, but are organised into several smaller groups. See if you can find a stick or sticks like Stanley’s in the park or woods so your child can experiment with some of the ideas in the book or invent some more ways to play with sticks themselves. Stanley's Stick is a teaming-up of hefty talents - glorious poet John Hegley and award-winning illustrator Neal Layton.

I love the fact that it captures what children do so naturally when they have a chance to just play with simple things and gave us a good reason to get out in the woods -free fun! We inevitably had to bring home a 'small' collection for the garden and no doubt they will take on other lives.

I asked Dylan why he likes the book and he said "because the stick can be anything you want it to be like Stanley did". Dry sticks can be used to make a campfire, and there are lots of tools that can be made using sticks, such as skewers for cooking food and hammers for setting up a tent. There are lots of other ways that this resource can be used in a lesson, those are just some examples.

Dylan took on the role of Stanley very quickly, first when we were reading the story and then in his play. This resource is easily printable on A4 paper and contains blank space that students can use for writing or drawing. CHARCOAL LEAF ART- Charcoal is a super medium for kids to explore the shape, texture and patterns of leaves. He enjoyed looking for and choosing sticks and turned them into swords, light sabres and strong magnets that could 'pull people up the hills in the woods'.Your child could tell you about the pictures and you could use what they say to make captions like a photo album. On finishing the book he immediately wanted to make a fishing rod and began 'fishing' off the bench in the garden. After hearing the story a few times, children will get to know it well, especially with the repetition.