FAQs
Wonderland Interactive Storytelling
How Wonderland Interactive Storytelling will change and benefit you and your classroom?
As a teacher so much time is now needed to fill in paper work and follow protocol that coming up with new teaching material and finding different elements that work together within a theme is difficult. Also many teachers feel comfortable using art in the classroom but drama is another skill all together.
As a result, Wonderland Interactive Storytelling, is the perfect solution. It provides all the materials in one go, the story, instructions for the drama element, games and templates to make the puppet that follows the story. It’s easy, straight forward, creative and fun!
Wonderland allows children to go with you on an imaginary journey, be creative, collaboratively solve problems and have fun. Wonderland is the opportunity for children to express themselves, use their whole body and get the chance to open up in multiple ways.
Each story is
An imaginary Journey
A Creative Expression
An Experience they won’t forget
How does Wonderland benefit my school/centre?
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You are offering a unique program that will set you apart from other schools.
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You are giving each child an amazing opportunity to grow and develop skills while having fun.
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The course itself is art, story and drama all in one
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With easy instructions every teacher can use it and adapt it to fit to their group.
How can I use Wonderland at my school?
Wonderland can be run in 2 different ways:
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Run the program in your classroom as part of your curriculum.
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Run the class as an extra curriculum subject that students can sign up for.
How long does it take to prepare each Wonderland session?
This will depend on which option you choose. For the Deluxe story or box, everything has already been pre cut and organised for you. Therefore the only preparation is really in reading the story and familiarising oneself with it.
For the pdf version, preparation may take a little longer. As they are younger children, I find the more of the art session that I’ve prepped, the easier the class becomes, as a result, the longest amount of prep is used getting the puppets ready.
However if you don’t feel like cutting out all the templates, there are short cuts, which I have noted in each template section. For instance instead of making a cylinder, toilet rolls can be used. Or inserted of a circle, paper plates are wonderful.
All in all for the pdf version, it will take about 30 minutes to prepare Wonderland each week.
How long does each Wonderland session go for?
This is entirely up to you as the facilitator. I ran the class as a weekly 1 hour session; 10 minutes introduction, 20 minutes story, 20 minutes art and 10 minutes free play with their puppets. However this can easily be stretched out doing the art section separately to the story section.
I also found that the students would happily continued to play with their puppets and even create their own puppet shows and stories if they had more time.
As the stories all explore a different theme, it can also be worked into other classroom material.
This also takes me to a different note, Wonderland doesn’t have to be run as a weekly story. Some teachers have enjoyed doing Wonderland more intensely by having a different story and craft session each day, therefore looking at the unit over two weeks. Or two a week resulting in a five week block.
It is completely up to you as the facilitator and what works with your class.
Do I have to do all the instructions that are noted in the story?
Definitely not. The instructions are only suggestions. Especially with that age group, I find each child and therefore each class is so different. As a teacher you’ll instinctively know what will work and what doesn’t work. There are also enough instructions to give you an idea and explore what your class might be able to do and might not feel comfortable doing yet. They are a guidance and inspiration on how the story can be run.
Do I have to stick with the names and exact story?
The story is only there as a guide. If names of the characters want to be changed to suit the class more, that’s totally fine. An all boys class ma not always want to use the girls characters or vice versa. Also some depending on the culture and background of your class and schools it may be good to change slight circumstances or names so the students can relate better to the characters. Some teachers have also enjoyed letting the children come up with their own names.
Once again it is up to you as the facilitator.
Do I read the story or tell it?
Personally I find it better to tell a story rather than read it. I feel more free and engaging with the students and it also allows me to interact with the students more and what they are doing.
However, it is up to you and what you feel comfortable with.
If it helps, remember that it doesn’t matter if the story is slightly changed. Therefore you don’t have to memorise the story. When reading through it the first time just get a feel for it and maybe make a couple of dot points to remember or guide you.
A bit like a speech a guess.
What is the future of Wonderland?
I’m currently busy developing and advancing Wonderland on multiple levels.
Firstly, I’m writing and creating more Teaching Course Booklets, so that the range to choose from will expand.
Secondly we are working every day on the website and the technology side of things. The next things I would like to create are little videos that will give quick demonstrations on how to make each puppet or how to play the games. This will be especially useful for people that, like myself, prefer to watch things rather than read instructions.
Once Wonderland is up and running all around the world, I will also be excited to start using my other skills as a director and filmmaker to bring Wonderland to life in another whole dimension, while always remembering the true purpose of this Course, which is to:
Build a child’s skills in communication, interaction and social skills while allowing them to express themselves creatively and have FUN!
Can I make a special request for a story or book?
I can't promise that I'll be able to fulfil it, but please do ask and who knows it may be possible!