Session developed by Matt Harvey. These stories are from the Feel Brave Series, written by Avril McDonald. The Grand Wolf Themes: Death, change When the Wise Owl tells Wolfgang that his grandfather has died I ask the children “what does that mean, that Grand wolf has died?” This is more a case of breaking the circle ...

This session was created by Tanga Wanda, for use with older groups.  Exploring themes to do with trans- identities, the first section is on gender, the second section is on race.  Motivated by thoughts on when something is or is not a hate crime.   hate crime (noun): a crime motivated by racial, sexual, or other prejudi...

This session began life as an extension activity to The Ship of Theseus session (see The If Machine p. 86) but has now developed into a session in it’s own right. It’s a good get-up-and-do session. Equipment needed and preparation: space, a class of children Starting age: 8 years Key concepts / vocabulary: change, identity, ...

The Philosophy The question philosophers are interested in when it comes to time travel stories is whether or not time travel is possible. There are two sides to this question: the scientific and the logical. The scientific side is about whether the technology will one day allow for time travel, in the same way that technology has allowed for...

A tadpole and a caterpillar fall in love. “Promise me you’ll never change” asks the caterpillar. The tadpole says “I promise.” But will he keep his promise? Can he keep his promise? And what will happen if he does change? Task Questions: Did the tadpole break his promise? Did the tadpole change? Is ...

If the smallest thing is nothing then the biggest thing must be something. Adam (10-years-old)   1. The Chair Begin by placing a chair in the middle of the room. Now tell them to imagine that the chair is a futuristic machine that shrinks things and people to any size. Describe this as evocatively as you can. Next, inv...

  You are walking along and find a box. Inside this box is a magic ring. It’s magic because if you put it on, it will change you into something completely different. Task questions 1: If the ring could turn you into a FISH (for the rest of your life), would you put it on? If the ring could turn you into a GIANT, woul...

You are going to need the book 'The Selfish Giant' by Oscar Wilde for this session. The children love to play in the giant’s big and beautiful garden, but when he gets angry they all run away. When the giant behaves selfishly the bad weather sets in and doesn’t leave... until one day when things change again. Task Q...

From The If Machine by Peter Worley When doing The Ship of Theseus chapter from The If Machine make the puzzle visual by assembling a model of the ship on the floor with some identical pencils and a piece of paper for the sail. As you explain the process of gradual change replace each pencil with another pencil creating a pile of the discarde...