A special Island

A fun activity for your pupils that will stimulate creative thinking, writing, speaking and design skills through:

~designing an illustrated map of their own island, full of special
   places for children from different parts of the world
~taking the rest of the class on a guided tour round their island
~making an illustrated guide brochure

This activity links with Key Stage Two requirements in the National Curriculum for England and Wales fitting with PSHE, Citizenship and Creative Writing or Art. It also links with the National Literacy Strategy and can be used for most curricula.

Aims:

·       To encourage reflection on the importance of a special place for everyone

·       To encourage children to understand the needs of young people in difficult circumstances around the world

You will need:

A3 paper, A4 paper, colour pencils/paints and some holiday brochures or travel guides.

Optional: The Fairground centrespread in the Summer Primary edition ‘Special Places’, Who is my Neighbour? A Child's Guide to the work of CAFOD and Primary Fairground (Issues 19, 20, 23 and 24, available from CAFOD, 2 Romero Close, Stockwell Road, London SW9 9TY), access to websites as indicated.

What to do

Introduction

1.

        Talk to the children about special places. (You could use the Summer edition of Primary Fairground ‘Special Places’ for examples).
 

        Encourage them to talk about places that have become important to them, such as a beautiful beach or a secret garden, Grandma’s house, their own bedroom, places that they have felt comfortable or get a glow of security or safety.

        Share examples of your own to get the ball rolling!

2. Ask your class to think what would make an island special for them.

3. Individually or in groups, ask your class to focus on one of the following:

• A child from Cambodia who has never been to school

• A child from Sierra Leone who was made to fight as a soldier

• A child from southern Africa who doesn't have enough to eat

•  A child from Mozambique whose home was destroyed in floods

• A child from Nigeria whose village had no hospital or doctors

• A child from Afghanistan whose parents were killed in the war

• A child from Brazil who had no home and lived on the streets

4. Ask the children to imagine they are one of these children. What
   exactly do they need? What might be a special place for them?

Useful Resources

For background information see the following:

Brazil, Cambodia and Sierra Leone - Who is my Neighbour? A Child's Guide to the work of CAFOD

Southern Africa - Primary Fairground no.24 Why are people hungry? (Autumn 2002)

Mozambique - Primary Fairground no.20 Mozambique bounces back (Autumn 2000)

Nigeria - Primary Fairground no. 19 Mani's healthy village (Summer 2000)

Afghanistan - Primary Fairground no. 23 Where is my home?

These resources are available from CAFOD, 2 Romero Close, Stockwell Road, London SW9 9TY

Children could also use their own examples based on research from newspapers, books and websites at home if you need to free your time in class.

Sources might include Red Nose Day or Blue Peter Appeals or aid agencies other than CAFOD, such as Save the Children. (www.scfuk.org.uk has some child-friendly information that you can download as well as information about the rights of children as identified in the UN charter for the Rights of the Child.)

5. Discuss what sort of special place people affected by these issues
    would need.

6. The children are now ready to decide what they will include on their
    special island.

Encourage your class to include places of sanctuary for refugees, ways to produce enough food, to ensure environmental safety and opportunity for contemplation.

Designing the map

Encourage the children to look at sample maps using different styles (e.g. Treasure Island, maps of local zoos or theme parks) to help them.

For more vivid examples, visit www.atlantic-highway.co.uk and scroll down to ‘illustrated maps’ and look at the King Arthur Country map or check Albert Lorenz’s famous maps at www.lorenzstudio.com click on Illustration showcase and then Illustrated maps.

Both sites are appropriate for primary school usage.

Some children may wish to do preparatory sketches before drawing their final A3 map. You could download the map grid activity sheet that accompanies this activity and photocopy it on to A3 paper.

Taking the class on a tour

Once the map has been completed and illustrated, the children can give a guided ‘tour’ of their island to classmates in groups, giving reasons for their choices of things to include.

Creating a guide to the island

Ask your class to write a guide to their island for visitors to use.

Use samples of guides to local attractions (ie. museum, art gallery, cathedral etc), to show features they may want to include. Identify these features with your class.

For sample guides: visit www.legoland.co.uk or Marwell Zoo at www.marwell.org.uk
You might want to include the following:

·        A welcome to readers to the island

·        Information about what it is

·        A brief description of the main features

·        More detailed description of two or three places of special interest

·        Pictures and captions

·        Places to eat or stay

·        How to get there

Extension Activity

Using the CAFOD website, Who is my Neighbour? and previous Primary Fairgrounds, children can be asked to find out what CAFOD is doing to help children in some of the real-life situations listed above. They should then make a short presentation to the rest of the class.