Education Resources

Produced by Sarah Stephenson and Heather Archer

Contents
Introduction
Play synopsis
Cast and production team
Themes
SEAL themes
Interview with Asha Kahlon, director
Photos of the set design
Post show drama lesson
Post show Primary resources
Cross curricular ideas

Welcome to the Elves and the Shoemakers Education Resources!

The aim of this pack is to provide you with ideas for post show activities, and
additional information that will directly support the play.
We hope you find the pack helpful and a time-saving device in the world of
lesson planning.
With best wishes

Sarah Stephenson, Playhouse Education Officer

Heather Archer, KS1 classroom teacher, Bulwell St Marys C of E
Primary & Nursery School

Play Synopsis
People always need shoes, but you cant make them when youre cold, hungry
and down to your last piece of leather! What will the shoemakers do? At the
dead of night, help arrives unexpectedly when the elves creep into the
workshop

Cast and creative team

Actors:
Musician:
Stage manager:

Liz Jadav and Jack Faires

Sophie Fishwick
Ali Murray

Director:
Musical director:
Design:

Asha Kahlon
Matt Marks
Laura McEwen

Themes

Secrets
Christmas
Looking after people
Poverty
Luck
Relationships

The Elves and the Shoemakers masks

Designed by Laura McEwen

Design by Laura McEwen

The Elves and the Shoemakers set

Designed by Laura McEwen

Interview with Asha Kahlon

Director

Why were you interested in directing this well-loved childrens

story?
I was born in India and came to England shortly before my 7th birthday. I did
not speak English and one of the things that helped me learn were the
Ladybird fairy tale books. I loved all the stories and would memorise them and
I thought the drawings were beautiful. I particularly remember The Elves and
the Shoemakers and though I havent seen the Ladybird book for many years I
can clearly remember the pictures. Having the chance to direct the tale is
basically an opportunity for me to go back to my childhood and that time of
learning and discovery.
Also I am a huge fan of Mike Kennys work. I have directed one of his scripts
before and welcome the freedom he allows for you to be creative, challenging
and entertaining.

What are the challenges of directing a play for this age audience?
I suppose the main challenge is not to underestimate the audience. Some of
the children will be familiar with the story but others may not, and we need to
make the show fun for all of them.

You only have two actors but four characters. How is that going to
work?
The actors, Liz and Jack, will play all the parts in the play. They will have
different costumes for the different characters and we will be creating ways of
moving and speaking for each character. However there are still some
challenges and we will have to weave some magic.

Which section of the play are you most looking forward to directing
and why?
That would have to be the opening scene. This sets up the world of the play,
the characters and the story. Getting this right makes the rest of the journey
smoother for me as the director; for the actors, it makes their relationship with
the story and the audience stronger. Its crucial for the audience, too, as we
need to grab their interest and attention.

What should children in the audience look out for?

I am really excited about the sound and music we are using in the show and
the audience should listen out for the ways we create that. We will also be
using some magic tricks and it would be interesting to see if the audience can
work out how they are done.

Post Show drama workshop

(45 minutes)

Mime warm up game Passing an imaginary box around a circle (could be

done in the form of pass the parcel with music!) Children take it in turns to
imagine the parcel is a Christmas gift that has been left out for them by the
Elves but its not shoes! They mime taking the present out of the box and
doing something with it to indicate what it is. The others in the group have to
guess what it is. (7 mins)
Mime individual Mime being cold and hungry like the old people in the story
then mime being happy and full, as they are after their good fortune. (3 mins)
Elf dance In pairs, create your own zany elf dance to some suitable music.
(5 mins)
Song Below are the words to the Elf song. Create your own tune to go with
this. You could layer this together with the elf dance. You could also add
percussion, knocking sounds as the Elves make the shoes, as the production
does. (20 mins)
Fred the needle (Thread the needle)
Fred the needle
Tie a little knot
Push it in
And pull it out
And taka looka whatyou got. (Look at what youve got)
Faster, Faster, Faster, Faster
Ill be first and youll be laster (Youll be last)
Faster, Faster, Faster, Rester (Faster, faster, faster, rest)
Youll be worst and Ill be bester (Youll be the worst and Ill be the best)
Boofy shooz
Boofy, luvvy boofy shooz.
Luvvy levva
Arnwe clevva
Bothem diffrnt
Come togevva
Puttem there
Maka pair.
Sun comes up
Go bed now
Night Night
Day Day.

Character work Move around the room as the old couple would move, and
then as the elves would move. Beat a drum for the class to change from one
character to another. Freeze in individual or paired characters. Add a line you
think that the character night say, or one you can remember from the play, in
the voice you think the character would have. (5 mins)
Hot seat the Elves The other children in the class ask them questions.
Where do they come from? Have they helped anyone before? How did they
learn to make such lovely shoes? Etc. (5 mins)

Literacy
Shoemakers poem.
L.O. Poetry - Unit 1 Interpret a text by reading aloud with some variety in pace and emphasis.

Provide individuals or pairs with a copy of the Shoemakers song

and highlight the verse they are to read. Rehearse and perform to
the class encourage them to think about their audience.
L.O. Poetry - Unit 1 Explain the effect of patterns of language and repeated words and phrases.

The poem can also be used as a whole class shared reading

activity, to look at the use of language and pattern within the poem
and its effect on rhythm. Children can highlight the rhyme within the
poem and possibly think of their own alternatives.
(Shoemakers poem. Resource)

Elves translation book.

L.O. Dictionary work will be ongoing throughout phase 3 of the Year 1 non-fiction unit 3, with the teacher
demonstrating effective use of the dictionary.

Children might enjoy creating their own elf translation dictionary.

Look at placing the elf words into alphabetical order followed by the
English version next to it.
E.g.

Bigguns
Cheerdup
Dat
Dis
Levva

Big ones
Cheered up
That
This
Leather

Luvvy
Shup
Shooz
Smine
Snot
Swarm

Lovely
Shut up
Shoes
Its mine
Its not
Its warm

Order moments in the story.

L.O.Identify the main events and characters in stories and find specific information in simple texts

Use the cbeebies website to support childrens retellings of the

story. Children can then work in pairs with a selection of the
pictures from the story to retell it to their partner, adding in as much
interest and appropriate use of story language as they can.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/stories/colour/elvesshoemaker.shtml?printable

Interactive story
L.O. Create short simple texts on paper and on screen that combine words with images and sounds.

Children could design and make their own shoe shop setting and
model characters out of plasticine. These could then be
manoeuvred to tell various parts of the story, which can be
photographed and placed together into an interactive book that the
children can then add their own text to.

Shoemakers rhyme
Anyway
That day
We had a little shock
Even before
I opened the door
People were queuing around the block
In ran
The gentleman
Whod been in the day before.
Im here again
Ive brought my friends
And Ive just got to have some more
We sold both pairs
His and hers
And all we had was empty shelves
Word, we found
Had got around
These shoes just seem to sell themselves
I had to shout
Sold out
Im sorry but weve got no more
Come tomorrow
Deep sorrow
And then I had to close the door.

The Elves and the Shoemakers

Can you find all the characters and the different types of shoes in the
wordsearch:

elves
old man
old woman
shoes
clothes

leather
sew
trainer
wellington
clog

mule
sandal
boot
flip flop
slipper

Numeracy
Counting shoes in 2s
(L.O. Describe simple patterns and relationships involving numbers or shapes; decide whether examples
satisfy given conditions. (Yr1:B1))
(L.O. Derive and recall multiplication facts for the 2, 5 and 10 times-tables and the related division facts;
recognise multiples of 2, 5 and 10. (Yr2:B1))

Children to sit on their bottoms in a circle with their knees bent and
feet tucked up to their bottoms. Children to take it in turns to stretch
out their legs and place their two feet in the centre representing 2
as the class count round the circle in 2s continuing until all
childrens legs are outstretched.
Children might repeat the activity but take it in turns to say the next
number in the pattern.
Building up to saying 1 x 2 = 2, 2 lots of 2 = 4 etc.

The Shoemakers shop

(L.O. Solve problems involving counting, adding, subtracting, doubling or halving in the context of
numbers, measures or money, for example to 'pay' and 'give change'(Yr1: B1))

Using the enlarged shop as a whole class activity, get children to

decide on the prices of the shoes and role play buying and selling
the shoes. Which shoes can they buy for 50p? How many shoes
can they buy for 1? How much change will they get?
Using the worksheet provided enter your own prices into the tags
and the children can workout how much each person spends in the
shoemakers shop.
(Shoe shop worksheets)

Science
Keeping the Shoemakers warm.
L.O. Sc3 1b To sort objects into groups on the basis of simple material properties [for example,
roughness, hardness, shininess, ability to float, transparency and whether they are magnetic or nonmagnetic.

In the beginning of the production the Shoemakers were so poor

that they could not afford wood to burn and so were very cold.
Discuss with the children what types of clothes they would wear to
keep them warm.
(Keeping warm. Worksheet.)

Which fabric would keep the shoemakers warm?

L.O. Sc3 1b sort objects into groups on the basis of simple material properties [for example, roughness,
hardness, shininess, ability to float, transparency and whether they are magnetic or non-magnetic]

Children can perform an experiment to find out the warmest

material that the shoemakers could make their clothes out of to
keep themselves the warmest.
(Which material will keep the Shoemaker warmest? Worksheet)

Making toast and party food.

L.O. Sc3 2b Explore and describe the way some everyday materials [for example, water, chocolate,
bread, clay] change when they are heated or cooled.

The Shoemakers didnt have much money and so for their tea they
would eat bread. Children will enjoy making the Shoemaker some
toast for their tea and as a result will be observing the change in an
everyday material. This might be extended into making party food
for a christmas party for the Elves and Shoemakers by making
Jelly, chocolate rice crispy cakes, bread rolls etc. Again
experiencing the changes occuring in these ingredients.
This activity can be used in Literacy by providing first hand
experiences for instruction writing.

Keeping warm
Look at the clothes below.
Put a circle around the clothes that would keep the Shoemakers
warm.

Draw a warm outfit for the shoemaker.

Which fabric would keep the Shoemakers warm?

Choose three different pieces of fabric the same size,
such as wool, cotton and nylon.
Wrap one can in each fabric and secure with 2 elastic
bands, leaving one can without anything on.
Ask an adult to pour the same amount of hot water (not
boiling) into each can.
Leave them for 15 minutes.
Cut the elastic bands and take the fabrics off the cans.
Which can feels the warmest?
Draw the fabrics on the cans and write what happens.

Which fabric would be best to make the shoemakers

clothes out of to keep him warm?

Pelmanism (Snap)
Place all cut out cards, face down and take it in turns to choose two cards. If
they match you can keep them and have another go until your cards are odd,
then its the next persons go.

PSHE ideas
Looking after people
L.O. I can sometimes tell if other people are feeling sad or scared and I know how to make people feel
better.

During circle time children could pass around one of the

shoemakers shoes and take it in turn to say what makes them feel
sad and scared, then what makes them feel better. Then think
about the Shoemakers. Why were they sad and scared? What
made them feel better?

Falling out and making up.

L.O. I know how to make up with a friend when we have fallen out.
L.O. I can use the peaceful problem-solving process to sort out problems so both people feel OK.

The Elves in the play are forever falling out and bickering over
what they want to do to help the shoemakers. This provides an
excellent opportunity for children to role-play the squabbling elves.
In their pairs, children can then think about what could one elf say
to the other to solve the problem? What might make things better?
They then might like to extend the role play by acting out their
solution and performing it to the rest of the class.

Elf games.
L.O. I can tell you what being a good friend means to me.
L.O. I can work well in a group.

The Elves love to play games like hide and seek. Can children
think of other games familiar or made up that they could teach the
Elves to play and work as a group to write instructions to leave for
them when they come out at night?

Music ideas
Music for all
L.O. 1b. To play tuned and untuned instruments.
L.O. 2a. To create musical patterns.
L.O. 2b. To explore, choose and organise sounds and musical ideas.

Children could compose two pieces of music for both the Elves
(happy, lively, joyful) and the Shoemakers (slow, sad, plodding) to
represent the two extremes in the characters. The use of
hammering and banging instruments could continue the style of
the play accompaniment or the possibility of using junk modelled
instruments.

ICT ideas
L.O. 3a. Learn how to share their ideas by presenting information in a variety of forms.
L.O. 3b. To present their completed work effectively.

Design a poster to advertise the shoe shop. This provides an

opportunity to insert text and clipart to create an eye catching piece
of work.
Create their own visual story book by building plasticine characters
and a background and then take photos to add text to. (See
Literacy ideas.)

Art ideas
What is Elf land like?
L.O. 2c. To represent observations, ideas and feelings, and design and make images and artefacts.

Introduce the idea that the Elves have travelled a long way to visit
the shop from their own magical Elf land. In talking partners
children could discuss:
What do they think they might see in Elf land?
Who else lives in Elf land?
How is it different to our world?
What colour is the ground, the sky etc?
Do they have trees, animals and house like ours?
Encourage them to use their imagination to draw, paint, record in
their chosen medium what their ideas for Elf land are, the more
abstract the better. These pictures could then be scanned into the
computer for children to give short presentations on to explain their
ideas.

DT ideas
Mask making
L.O. 2d. To assemble, join and combine materials and components.

The actors in the play were able to play various characters by the
use of masks and hats. Children will love to design their own Elf
masks and then use these designs to follow and assemble.
Here are some links to free mask templates that children can use
straight away or as templates to draw and cut round.

http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/mask_templates.htm

Tie their own shoe laces.

A wonderful opportunity for children to practise tying their own
shoe laces, or simply practise on these convenient printouts.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/printable/stories/colour/elvesshoemaker/fullsiz
e_elvesshoemaker/page10.gif

Hat making
Similarly to the mask making, children might enjoy designing a hat,
to represent one of the Elves or one of the Shoemakers. Possibly
making the model out of card or practice their sewing skills and
making them out of fabric.

Design shoes
L.O. 1b. develop ideas by shaping materials and putting together components.

Children can design and make simple shoes in the style of flip
flops. They will have opportunity to plan their ideas, experience
various materials, their properties and suitability. Finally they will
be able to make their shoes according to their plans and evaluate.

Instructions to make

flip flops

http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/flip_flops_craft.htm

Flip flop template

http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/Flip%20flops%20template.pdf

Design elves clothing

Again this is an opportunity for children to get their creative juices
flowing. They can design an exciting, vibrant and interesting set of
clothes for each of the Elves. They might even like to use the Elf
template given in the Science ideas to make a paper doll and turn
their ideas into a collage type dressing up doll.

Useful sites
Story on the BBC website to read or print.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/stories/colour/elvesshoemaker.shtml

Elves and the shoemaker visual aids and shoe shop role play from
Sparkle box. http://www.sparklebox.co.uk/cll/fairy/elves.html

Matching shoe game online

http://www.northcanton.sparcc.org/~ptk1nc/cinderella/shoematch.ht
ml
Colouring page
http://www.first-school.ws/t/cp_fstories/shoemaker-elves.htm

http://z.about.com/d/familycrafts/1/0/7/m/colelfrun.gif