: A STORY SET IN PERU FOR CHILDREN AGED 6-10. Inspired by a trip I made to Peru, the emblematic places I visited, the landscape, the food, the animals etc.
ASK THE CHILDREN: Where’s Peru? What’s in Peru? The Jungle, the Andes, Volcanoes, the Pacific Ocean, Macchu Picchu, Lake Titicaca, the Nazca Lines, civilizations- Incas, Spanish conquista etc. What animals do you find there?
There was once a llama called Lawrence, who lived in Macchu Pichu. How do we make a LLAMA with our bodies?
But Lawrence was bored, he was a listless llama. Why was he bored? Because every day it was the same thing; mist, fog, tourists and photos, and every day there were the same silly comments from the tourist guides about him– “Be careful everyone, he’s pretty but he’s spitty”. So, one day he decided he was going to get a bit of drama in his life. How? He asked a passing Inca shaman of course, who happened to have just the right magic spell for a llama. Wouldn't you know it, he got it from a pelican. How do we make a PELICAN with our bodies? Well, the Inca had to perform his ritual to make the spell work. What does he do? Suggestion: Let’s do the MIRACLE STRETCH, arms stretch up then touch your toes.
Then all the llama had to
do was eat these strange looking potatoes (ooh, yuk!) and he would be transported to
whole new worlds. If he found he
didn’t like the place, he could always come back by saying the magic words: MACHU PICHU. Simple as
that.
What do you think - does the llama eat the potatoes? Yes? No? ...................... YES!
Well, potatoes were
certainly different to grass, Lawrence thought. So ... he
gave it a try. The first set of spuds were
black and blue! Yes, really! He chomped his way
through them and little by little he began to e-v-a-p-o-r-a-t-e. Imagine how your body slowly disappears. What happens? And he found himself
in ... the jungle! He saw hundreds of brilliant birds/an infinite amount of irritating insects/some pesky pythons/the odd chewy caiman/and some jumping jaguars/an awfully big anaconda/a terrifying army of toads/an absolutely awesome anteater ...! How do we make a TOAD, ANT-EATER, ANACONDA?
The children choose the animal they want to represent.
It was definitely
much more interesting than Machu Picchu, but perhaps a bit too much drama for
him. Downright DANGEROUS in fact! Does he stay or does he go? Well, just before he was pounced upon he said
the magic formula “MACHU PICHU” (get everyone to SHOUT the magic words) and he was
back home again. Ah, well. Then he tried the second lot of spuds. These were purple potatoes and they tasted
different to the others, but as he was a llama of very limited experience,
he’d only ever gobbled grass before, he couldn’t say what the difference was.
What happened next?
Little by little
he began to e-v-a-p-o-r-a-t-e … and he found himself in a desert like place. He took a good look around, but there was
nothing there. At first sight even less going on than in Machu Picchu, he thought. Then, slowly but surely, he started to make out some mysterious lines that formed dazzling drawings on the
ground. There was a huge hummingbird, a massive monkey, a jinormous jaguar, an artfully drawn astronaut (although being a llama he didn’t know
what an astronaut was), a spectacular spider, a colosal condor! How do we make a JAGUAR/FISH/SPIDER? The children choose the animal they want to represent.
He thought this
place really wasn’t so bad after all, so does he stay or does he go? Well, he would have stayed EXCEPT … the TERRIBLE TOURISTS began to
arrive! Busload after busload. The poor little llama knew what he
had to do. What does he have to do? “MACHU PICHU” he bleated and PA POP! He was back on home ground.
Now what? He looked at the third lot of tatties, all red and green, and thought, what’s a llama got to lose? Again the super spuds worked their magic, and he slowly e-v-a-p-o-r-a-t-e-d and found himself this time in …or rather ON, a floating island! Imagine that. An island made of reeds, would you believe. So so strange! In fact, he was tempted to have a nibble, but he had heard the guides back in Machu Picchu saying you shouldn’t destroy your habitat, and there was a strong possibility that if he ate his transport, he would fall into the water. And as he had never been in water, it was likely that he couldn’t swim, which could lead to all kinds of problems. So, how do we make a REED ISLAND with our bodies?
There were other
people on the floating island –a nice looking lot, very laid-back with round hard
hats, cute kids, some friendly dogs.
Well, this is a change of scenery, he thought. The rather nice people started to feed him,
and the rather nice kids started to play with him, and the rather nice dogs
wagged their tails at him, it just got better and better. He even had a reed hut in which to sleep at
night. Who could beat that?
How do we make a REED HUT with our bodies?
So he thought, let’s
see where this takes me. I’ve always
got the magic formula and the powerful potatoes if the tourists appear…
And so it was that a little llama came to live on an isolated island
on lake Titicaca. They called him Lawrence, the
llama of the lake. And the last we
heard he was seen floating off across the lake, all the way to Bolivia!
Author: Lisa Howe
|
TEACHING IDEAS
You need pictures of the places and the animals/people that appear in the story. When you tell the story, involve the children as much as possible, make the story interactive, ask them what's going to happen next, invent sound effects for the story, give them choices etc. Play with the storyline, make it your own, collaborate with the kids to represent the story and create with their bodies, and don't be afraid to IMPROVISE! The most rewarding classes are the ones where something new has evolved from a group creating together! It's really amazing what the children and their teacher can come up with.
If you are just starting out as a teacher you can choose classic yoga postures to embed in the story (such as the miracle stretch for the shaman's ritual) but as you gain experience you can also encourage them to create / invent the yoga poses for themselves. It really is astounding what they will come up with (very often classic yoga poses). But obviously if THEY are not inspired or their version doesn't really provide a good stretch, the teacher with her knowledge of yoga can offer alternatives .
To get more ideas on how to deliver these yoga stories and for ideas on adapting classical yoga postures for kids, check out the workshops CUENTIÑOS: HOW TO TEACH YOGA TO KIDS THROUGH STORIES. More info in the YOGA STORY WORKSHOP section of this blog. Also check out: www.iogaalescola.com
No comments:
Post a Comment