The Power of Film

Wonder Park

Using film as an educational stimulus is a fantastic way of engaging children.  This is particularly true when children have an area of interest; you could use How to Train Your Dragon for those children who are fascinated by dragons.

A simple activity would be to watch a film, pausing in places to discuss what is happening, how a character feels and what might happen next.

There are lots of writing opportunities related to films:

  • Character description
  • Diary entry
  • Story writing
  • Create your own character
  • A wanted poster (think Tangled)
  • Film review
  • Write what could happen next
  • Good vs. evil characters
  • Project or topic books

Some films lend themselves to topics:

  • Emotions – Inside Out
  • The environment – Over the Hedge, Free Willy
  • Theme parks – Wonder Park
  • Dinosaurs – Night at the Museum, The Land Before Time, The Good Dinosaur
  • Farms – Babe, Chicken Run, Fantastic Mr Fox, Farmageddon
  • Pirates – Peter Pan, Tinkerbell and the Pirate Fairy
  • Friendship – Toy Story, Trolls
  • Places/travel – Paddington Bear, Rio, Aladdin