Info For Teachers

The Yucky Stuff workshop is gloriously fun, and teaches children about a variety of foreign cultures, with a strong message of respect for people who have different food, habits, or likes and dislikes, to a child's own. We also explore how the children can communicate their thoughts and feelings about all things ICKY to create some brilliantly GROSS writing.

Here's what I love doing about this workshop:

It's fun and educational all rolled into one
Literacy - it draws some great work out of reluctant writers
Children finish with a greater respect for different cultures
It fosters children's sense of curiosity about the world

Content

We all know kids love yucky stuff! Bet they're not expecting to have a whole lesson about it though...

Children love all things gross, but the aim of this workshop is to get them thinking more deeply about what that means, and use it as a way into completing a fun, unusual piece of imaginative writing. The first part of the workshop focuses on the idea of something being YUCKY, while the second part is the literacy and creative writing bit.

First I introduce the idea of ‘yuckiness’ or ‘disgust’ – what is it? Why do we find things yucky? What do people from cultures around the world find disgusting, and are they the same, or different? And is there anything we do here in Britain that people from other cultures would think is gross? In order to learn about these things we do a matching exercise, look at plenty of pictures and have class discussion.

Squishy, slimy, salty, wiggly, like spaghetti that's alive... there are plenty of ways to make eating worms sound truly YUCKY

In the second part of the workshop, we focus on the words we use to describe something yucky. How can we describe it? How can we make our writing as vivid as possible? I give the children six techniques for making their writing as YUCKY as possible so they all finish with a disgusting descriptive piece they can be truly proud of. At the end we share our work and there’s a special YUCKY prize for the best piece.

If you would like any more information about the workshop, do get in touch!

Technical Stuff

I use the classroom's smart board to show pictures and other slides.

I can only do the workshop with one class at a time! But two to three workshops in one day is fine.

CRB and Insurance

I am CRB checked and covered with public liability insurance through my membership of NAWE, the National Association of Writers in Education.

Length

The workshop takes 1 hour 30 minutes.

Age Group

The workshop is suitable for Key Stage 2 - years 3, 4, 5 and 6.