Start your topic with How the platypus got his shape, an Antipodean creation tale that looks at friendship and supplies the perfect context for looking at Australia. |
Subscribe to the Australia topic for just £14.95! (less than £1.25 a month) |
Try out these ideas to help your class understand the idea of narrative and to ensure that they get to grips with character, plot and setting.
Use How the platypus got his shape story to get children creatively engaged with number, algebra, sets and symmetry with some great contextual maths.
You’ll be amazed at the quality of writing that recreating an Australian landscape in your school inspires.
Letting children explore the myriad of roles involved in making a film gives them critical insight into just what goes into making their favourite blockbuster.
Invite each year group or class to prepare a short presentation on an Australia theme and you’ve got a whole week’s worth of assemblies.
Turn your class into super sleuths with an enlightening fact-finding mission that will really get their ‘little grey cells’ working.
Where in the world is our story set? Explore the colourful landscape of Australia then use traditional art techniques to make a map of the area.
Use our short radio play and visual resources to set the scene and whet children’s appetite to find out more about the explorer Captain James Cook.
We talk to illustrator brothers Simon and James Walmesley about their ideas, inspiration and working together on How the platypus got his shape.
Author, Anne Faundez has worked with many famous names in children’s literature. She talks to us about her love of books and where it came from.
A selection of books chosen to enhance your activities linked to our platypus story and tempt even the most reluctant readers to curl up with a book.