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Christmas Peter Pan Classroom Ideas
Lesson Ideas A Christmas
Peter Pan
The classic tale of Peter Pan explores the
world of fantasy and imagination. The popular story, also captured on
film and written by James Matthew Barrie in 1904, has captivated
audiences for decades. Take your students on a journey of exploration
with Peter Pan and the gang through the world of Neverland. Adapt a
lesson plan for K-12 students from math to physical education with
Peter Pan classroom activities.
Walk the Plank Vocabulary
The menace of the story of Peter Pan is the
pirate, Captain Hook. Gather your students and invite them to test
their vocabulary knowledge aboard Hook's plank. You can create a
plank out of cardboard or wood or alternatively use tape or other
items to identify the tip of the plank. Using words from the book
like "engrossed," "spinster" and
"subtle," ask the students either how to spell or define
terms. Every mistake means one step closer to the edge of the plank.
After hitting the edge students are eliminated from the game until
there is one player left.
Neverland Math
Create mystical math questions for your
students to solve using the Peter Pan theme. For younger grades stick
to simpler equations using addition and subtraction. For example, if
Peter Pan has three wishes and he uses one, how many does he have
left? For higher level students you can create tougher questions
using multiplication, division and word problems. For example, if
Captain Hook has a treasure chest with 100 pieces of gold and Peter
Pan takes half but drops half while getting away, how much gold does
Peter bring back to Wendy?
Hook's Treasure Hunt
Take your students on a hunt around the world
to locate Hook's treasure. All you need is a map or globe of the
world and a few stickers to mark the spot. You can perform this
activity one of two ways. One requires you to mark the map prior to
the game and have the children identify the city and/or country of
each mark. You may also present the clean map or globe to the class
and name cities or countries that the students must locate and mark
on the map.
Peter Pan
Keep your students active with physical
activities based on Peter Pan. For younger students, play a variation
of Duck, Duck, Goose entitled Peter, Peter, Pan. Seat the kids in a
circle with one child, known as Captain Hook, walking around lightly
tapping the heads of his peers exclaiming "Peter" until he
lands on the one he wishes to race. He must exclaim "Pan"
when tapping the head to initiate the race. The two students, Peter
and Hook, must run around the circle. If Peter manages to tag Hook
before he sits in Peters spot in the circle, the student
playing Peter now plays Hook and gets to tap heads around the circle.
DISCUSSING THE PLAY, CHARACTERS,
IDEAS, ETC.
SNOW FAIRIES: Ask
the class to pretend that they are snow fairies. What is your
name and what do you look like? Where do you live and why?
Do you have a magic wand, or could your special powers be in your
shoe or your hat? What are your magical powers? If the
sun was shining brightly on you, what would you do? Show how
you would do it.
CHRISTMAS CAROLS:
Which are your favorite Christmas Carols and why? Have everyone
sing a Christmas Carol. Now pretend you are a pirate singing
the song. What words would you change to make it sound more
like a pirate?
CAPTAIN HOOK TREASURE MAP:
Choose Christmas tree ornaments to be treasures. Hide them on
the around the school or on the playground and let the children find
them like an Easter egg hunt. Have them draw a map from their
desk to the place where they found the treasure. Look at places
on a map or a globe where pirates once sailed such as the Caribbean
and Spain. Find your home on the map and trace the way to the
nearest port and then to the place of the pirates origin.
SANTA ELVES: If you
were an elf what would your name be and what kind of toy would you
make? What kind of materials would you use? Paper, wood,
plastic, glue? What tools would you use? Are these
in your garage at home or would you need to invent special magical
tool? How long do you think it would take you to make such a
toy? Who would you give your toy to? Draw picture of the
toy you would like to give your best friend or family member.
CROCODILE: Have
everyone draw a picture of a crocodile. How wide is your
crocodiles mouth, how big are his teeth? What does he like to
eat the best? Discuss the difference between crocodiles and
alligators. Look up where they live and find them on a
map. Do you think a crocodile would rather live in a zoo or in
the sea?
PIRATES SHIP:
Draw a picture of a pirate ships and identify the various parts of
the ship: main deck, rigging, mast, sails, port, starboard,
bow, stern. Pretend that you are a pirate and you are being
attacked by another ship. What kind of treasure do you have on
board and what will you do to protect it? Pretend the Captain
is a villain like Captain Hook and stage a mutiny.
Classroom
Activities for Kid Frankenstein
Talk, Write and Perform Kid Frankenstein
Mad Scientist:
The idea of the Mad Scientist is that the scientist loves his work
so much he takes it too far. Think of other professions,
especially those you aspire to be. Talk about what can go wrong
when someone takes their ambitions a little too far.
Suggestions: Astronaut, Baker, Football Player, Librarian, School Bus Driver.
Create Your Own Silly Monster:
Think of all things you think are funny. Tutus, chickens, top
hats, tricycles, wigs, even things from your freezer or
refrigerator. After you have named these things, draw your own
monster incorporating these objects as part of the monster. For
instance, your monster may have a beak like a chicken and wear a tutu
and a top hat. What magical powers does your silly monster have?
Create Your Own Laboratory:
Have each student bring in or draw a picture of something in their
own home that could become a part of a magical laboratory where
anything can happen. Look for objects with electric cords,
knobs, wheels, dials, buttons, etc. Pretend the object has a
magic power. Demonstrate that power to the class.
Now have students put their magic objects together to make a
laboratory. Demonstrate your laboratorys process and what
is the outcome of the function? Frankie chose to
make a Frankenstein monster in his laboratory. What would you
like to make?
Dress as Monsters:
What monsters are your favorites? Have kids come to school
dressed as their favorite monster. This can be especially fun
on the day of the performance of Kid Frankenstein especially
if its around Halloween!
Real Life Monsters:
Monsters are just a figment of our imaginations. Monsters come
from people looking at real creatures and assigning them super
powers. Think about real life animals and natural objects
like gnarly trees and clouds in the sky. Imagine that you see
monsters in these objects that come to life. What do they look
like? What powers do they have?
Frankenstein at the Movies!
Show classic movies such as Frankenstein (1931), Bride of
Frankenstein and Young Frankenstein. If you are short on time
or wish to cut out certain scenes, just show excerpts.
Pop some popcorn! Throw blankets on the floor and let
kids sit on the floor. Tell them if they get too scared
to grab each other and scream their heads off! Thats part
of the fun. And remind them that nothing in the movie is
real. Afterwards talk about scary movies and how to keep from
getting too scared by them.
"Logic
will get you from A to Z; imagination will get you everywhere.
-- Albert Einstein