The Princess and The Pea

Fechan Fach

Activity Pack for ages 3 - 6

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The Princess and The Pea /

Activity Pack — Contents

Introduction 3

Read the original story by Hans Christian Andersen 4

Help us make a Patchwork Cover 6

Pea Pictures 9

The Shortest Story in the World 10

I’m So Tired 11

The Opposites Game 12

The Wish 13

Feelings and Emotions 14

The Leaky Creaky Castle and The Storm That Came

In The Night

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Colouring in 18

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Introduction Welcome to Sherman Cymru’s Christmas show, The Princess and The Pea / Y Dywysoges a’r Bysen Fechan Fach, a co-production with Theatr Iolo. This Christmas, Katherine Chandler has adapted Hans Christian Andersen’s classic fairytale into a new version for the stage, perfect for ages 3—6. With imaginative storytelling and music, this is a must-see show for all little ones and their families this Christmas. We’ve created this activity pack to give you an insight into the world created within the show. The pack has been designed for teachers, parents and carers to use both before and after visiting the show, in the classroom or at home. The activities within the pack can be adapted to suit each pupil or child’s age and ability. They are a creative introduction to many aspects of theatre — from drama and music, to art and design — involving improvisation, imagination, and storytelling. Above all we hope that this pack provides you with some ideas and inspiration to create some of your own stories!

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The Princess and The Pea by Hans Christian Andersen

This is the original version of the story of The Princess and the Pea, written by Hans Christian Andersen in 1835.

T here was once a prince, and he wanted to marry a princess, but she had to be a real princess. The

prince travelled right around the world to find one. There were plenty of princesses, but it was difficult to find out if they were real princesses and there was always something which was not quite right about them. So at last he had come home again, and he was very sad because he wanted a real princess so badly.

One evening there was a terrible storm; there was thunder and lightning and the rain poured down. In the middle of this storm somebody knocked at the castle door, and the queen – the prince’s mother – went to open it.

It was a princess who stood outside, but she was in a terrible state from the rain and the storm.

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The water streamed out of her hair and her clothes; it ran in at the top of her shoes and out at the heel, but she said that she was a real princess.

'We’ll soon see if that’s true,' thought the old queen, but she said nothing. She went into the bedroom, took off all the bedding and laid a pea in the centre of the bed: then she took twenty mattresses … 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 … and piled them on top of the pea, and then twenty eiderdowns …. 1, 2, 3, 4 … on top of the mattresses. This was where the princess was to sleep that night. In the morning the queen asked her how she had slept.

'Oh very badly!' said the princess. 'I have hardly closed my eyes the whole night! Heaven knows what was in the bed. I seemed to be lying upon something hard, and my whole body is black and blue this morning. It is terrible!'

The queen saw at once that she must be a real princess when she had felt the pea through twenty mattresses and twenty eiderdowns. Nobody but a real princess could have such a delicate skin.

So the prince took her to be his wife, for now he was sure that he had found a real princess, and the pea was put into the museum, where it may still be seen if no one has stolen it.

The End.

Illustration by Emily Jones

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PATCHWORK COVERS FOR MATTRESSES Patchwork is when small pieces of cloth in different designs, colours, or textures are sewn together.

You can use the template on the next page to design your own patchwork. Teachers, parents and carers can bring the patchwork designs along to the performance and we will add them to our giant patchwork quilt at the Sherman Theatre!

Ideas for decorating a patchwork cover: Decorate your template with different shapes or perhaps a pattern. Use paint, coloured pencils or crayons or even stick on scraps of material or torn up magazines. You could find some coloured or patterned paper. Cut or tear the paper into shapes - squares, rectangles or perhaps hexagons or even triangles!

Ideas for patterns and pictures to look at: You could make a pattern of flowers or dots or stripes, or letters or

words and numbers. You could look at pictures by artists such as Matisse, Picasso or Miro

and find a small bit of the picture you like. Have a look at the examples below.

You could even choose a country in the world that begins with the same letter as your name and find some pictures by artists from that country.

Pablo Picasso, Bust of a

Woman

Here are some colourful artworks to inspire your own patchwork!

Henri Matisse, The Snail Joan Miró, Woman and

Bird in the Moonlight

All images ©Tate, London , 2015

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Help us make a Patchwork Quilt! Here is a patchwork template — cut along the dotted line and

create as many colourful ideas as you like to join our giant

patchwork at the Sherman Theatre!

Teachers/parents/carers: you can bring these along to the

performance and add to the growing wall of patchwork art!

Competition We will choose our favourite patch and the

winner will receive a poster fromThe Princess and The

Pea / Y Dywysoges a’r Bysen Fechan Fach signed by the

cast! Don’t forget to put your contact details on the back!

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Help us make a Patchwork Quilt! Don’t forget to add your details to your design, as we will be choosing

our favourite patch to win a special prize!

The winner will receive a poster from The Princess and The Pea / Y

Dywysoges a’r Bysen Fechan Fach signed by the cast! So don’t forget to

put your contact details below in case we need to get in touch!

Name

School or home address

You can also post your patches to us at the following address:

Sherman Cymru

Senghennydd Road

Cardiff

CF24 4YE

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PEA PICTURES (with some help from other vegetables and fruits!)

Create a picture of the Princess, the Prince or the Queen using peas and any other vegetables or fruits that you can think of!

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THE SHORTEST STORY IN THE WORLD The Princess and the Pea by Hans Christian Andersen must be one of the shortest stories in the world! But not as short as the stories you are about to make up!

Find yourself a partner. One person starts: Once upon a time there was a Castle… One person finishes: And it was made of ice and it melted in the sun. The End. Examples: A. Once upon a time there was a Prince B. And he was scared of Thunder. The End. A. Once upon a time there was a Princess. B. And she loved climbing trees. The End A. Once upon a time there was a cat. B. And the cat knew everything that was going on. The End. A. Once upon a time there was a Queen. B. And one day she fell off her throne. The End A. Once upon a time there was a pea. B. And it jumped off the plate. The End

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M SO TIRED

“I am tired...

I am so tired that I could sleep upside down.

I am so tired that I could sleep in a tree...

I am so tired that I could sleep on a pin.” Make up your phrases and say them out loud whilst stretching and yawning. Examples:

I am so tired I could sleep on the floor

I am so tired I could sleep in a saucepan

I am so tired I could sleep standing up

OR

I am so hungry I could eat my hat

I am so hungry I could eat cardboard

I’m so hungry I could eat mud

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THE OPPOSITES GAME

In the story, the Princess shows the Prince how to play the Opposites game. Read the script below and then try playing the game yourself!

Prince No Princess Yes! Prince Silence! Princess Noise Prince Stop Princess Go Princess Up! The Prince says nothing. Princess Up! The Prince thinks... Princess Up! Prince Down? The girl giggles and claps her hands. Princess Funny Prince Frown Princess Messy Prince Clean Princess Nice Prince Mean Princess Push Prince Pull Princess Empty Prince Full Princess Big Prince Small Princess Short Prince Tall

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THE WISH

“One day the Prince had a wish. He had a wish to marry a Princess.” Where do wishes come from? What do you wish? Do you have lots of wishes? What do you wish for most? Think about what other people wish for: What might a teacher wish? What might people in your family wish? Look around and imagine what different objects might wish: What might a pet wish? What might a chair wish? What might an apple wish? Look outside: What does a tree wish? What does a stone wish? What does a flower wish?

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FEELINGS and EMOTIONS

After reading the story, think together about the different feelings and emotions that the Prince, the Princess, the Queen and the servant have during the time they spend together. Make a list of feelings/ emotions:

HAPPY — SAD — SCARED — EXCITED GRUMPY — BORED — ANGRY

DISAPPOINTED — SULKY — SORRY TIRED — SURPRISED — WORRIED

SHY — NERVOUS

Use your body and face to express the different emotions and invite the children to do the same. Can you recognise which emotion is being expressed? Pick one of the emotions from the list e.g. scared. Can you think of a moment when one of the characters felt this? The Prince was scared of the storm. Did anyone else feel scared? The Queen was scared that she would be left all on her own.

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What does it feel like when you feel scared? Can you think of a time when you felt scared? Can you think of a situation where a teacher/ grandparent / a parent/ step-parent/ brother or sister/ a friend might feel scared? Did any of the characters feel excited? The Princess was excited when the storm came. Did anyone else feel excited ? The Prince was excited when he was playing with the Princess. What does it feel like when you feel excited? Can you think of a situation when you felt excited? Can you think of a situation or time when someone in your family, or a friend or a teacher might feel excited?

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THE LEAKY CREAKY CASTLE and THE STORM that came in the night

“I’m not scared... I’m not scared of crash and flash I’m not scared of howl and whine I’m not scared of roar and rumble I’m not scared of boom and bang

I’m not scared... I’M NOT SCARED!“

The actors use the sound of words to create the rain and the storm:

Splish — Splosh — Drip — Drop Plip — Plop — Pitter — Patter — Crash

Bang — Clatter — Boom Flash — Thrash Howl — Whine — Roar — Rumble

Dripian — Pitran — Patran — Tip — Tap Bwm — Flach — Tarannu

Task A: Practice speaking these words and making the sounds. How long can you make each word last? How loud can you go? How quiet? Task B: Use percussion instruments or pots and pans or anything you can think of e.g. spoons, cardboard boxes, plastic bottles, cups etc. Experiment with tapping and flicking things.

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What sounds can you discover? How quiet are the sounds? How noisy are they? What is your favourite sound? The composer, John Cage believed that everything had a hidden sound and that by tapping it you could release the sound. Pour a small amount of water into a saucepan and tap it. Listen to the sound. Gently move the saucepan. What happens to the sound? Task C: Work together in a group to compose and play a piece of music entitled THE LEAKY CREAKY CASTLE AND THE STORM THAT CAME IN THE NIGHT. Decide which instruments , objects and words you are going to use. Decide on the shape and order of your composition. Does it start with just a single DRIP? or is it a PLIP? Or maybe a GRADUAL GRUMBLING RUMBLING THUNDER heard from the distance or a sudden CRASH OF THUNDER! Practice going very soft and very loud Someone can be the conductor. Play your piece of music. Record it and listen. Do you want to change or improve any of it?

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Colouring in The picture used on the front cover of this activity pack is by an illustrator called Emily Jones. Here are some more of her pictures for you to colour in!

The Prince / Y Tywysog

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The Princess / Y Dywysoges

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