With The B.F.G movie set to hit cinemas in Singapore from the end of July, we recommend reading this magical novel with your child or to your class before they go to see it, so why not incorporate some of these activity ideas into your exploration of this story of imagination, childhood and a magical world.
Credit: penguin.com.au
Leaflet against bullying
The story, about a young orphaned girl who is discovered by a mysterious person morphs into a tale about friendship and a plan to help stop the feud between giants which works well to teach children about various topics, and to build on their imagination and descriptive skills. Here are some examples of activities you can do to explore this story and your child’s imagination, before seeing the movie.
When I read this with students in class, we often broke it up chapter by chapter, choosing a different theme or activity to explore as a result. One activity I would highly recommend would be to discuss bullying with children, as some of my students around the ages of 7/8 actually surprised me with their knowledge and their ideas for how to combat bullying in school. During one of the chapters, the B.F.G. is picked on by other giants who were using him as a ball in their game, which is a great starter for an activity based lesson plan on creating a leaflet against bullying. I asked students to create a leaflet which included quotes demonstrating the bullying of the B.F.G, bullet points of why bullying was wrong, along with suggestions of what to do if someone is being bullied, and the students came up with some excellent ideas.
Create a Dream Jar
In the story, the B.F.G. blows dreams into the bedrooms of children, and catches dreams, choosing to store them in jars, with written descriptions on the front of what they contain. Ask your student, or child to create their own dream jar – either of a dream they have had recently which they can remember, their dreams for the future, or of the silliest dream they can create. Use a template found online to create your own real life version, and get creative with glitter, paper, colours or whatever you can dream of!
Get descriptive
Ask your students to imagine themselves as Sophie. How would they feel if they were discovered by the B.F.G. and what it would be like to be picked up by giant hands or even hid in a giant pocket? Get them to put their thinking caps on, and write an imaginative piece on what it would feel like to be picked up by a giant – I’m sure you’ll be smiling once you read the finished results!