Under Your Feet

Under Your Feet Organiser’s Card FEET UNDER YOUR FEET About the activity This activity is designed to get children thinking creatively about nature. Stella Storyteller is struggling for inspiration for her latest story book. It’s the story of two special children who wake up one morning and find themselves the size of ants. Can the children help to find a challenge for the intrepid duo? Through this activity you will support your group to: • Think about the world around them from a different perspective • Investigate and explore what living things they can find outdoors • Record their thoughts and ideas and present them to share with the group Kit list • Cut out ‘feet’ for children to record their results on - you might want to provide a template as children’s feet are usually too small • Cut out ‘holes’ for children to place on the ground and look through • Hand held magnifiers • Identification charts or books • Drawing materials – thin coloured markers or pencils etc. • Digital camera (optional)

What to do 1. Read the ACTIVITY CARD to familiarise yourself with the activity. 2. Check the Kit list to ensure you have the necessary resources. 3. Set the scene by discussing the news story UNDER YOUR FEET 4. Give children time to talk about what it might be like to be so tiny. Encourage them to think about what they might encounter. 5. Help them to create their cut out ‘feet’ if they are struggling. 6. Remind them of safety issues before you go outside. 7. Try to look in different places outdoors to find a range of interesting living things – remember to get children to include plants as well as animals and anything else that is interesting. 8. You might want to look at one place together to encourage children to look very closely. 9. If there is time, record a couple of places before returning indoors. 10. When they return indoors, encourage children to find out more about what they have seen and to think about the story. 11. Give children time to share their ideas. You could put all the ‘feet’ on display. Can people tell where each ‘foot’ was drawn? 12. They could write the story for Stella or draw pictures of what it might be like to be so small living in these places. 13. There are extra challenges on the ACTIVITY CARD. These can be used if there is spare time or if children want to try out more ideas at home and earn a bonus sticker. Things to think about Children may need to be encouraged to look closely. You may wish to create an example of what their filled in ‘feet’ might look like when they are finished. You should draw everything you can see including pebbles, sticks, the texture of tree bark or soil, spiders’ webs etc. Try to encourage children to include details of the animals, plants etc. in their stories rather than just writing about battles with giants! UNDER YOUR FEET