What to do? 1) Who’s who? Start a class discussion to name famous people who have either lived or been influenced in their work by the Lake District.

2) Watch a quirky film about famous localsWatch the short film ‘Our Inspiring Landscape’ (3 mins) available on You Tube, which takes you on a journey through time meeting famous locals who were inspired to create great works of art and literature in the beautiful Lake District. In a timeline, the film makes reference to the picturesque movement, William Wordsworth, Alfred Heaton Cooper, Herbert and Sons, Beatrix Potter, Arthur Ransome, Kurt Schwitters, Alfred Wainwright, Beatrix Potter and Taffy Thomas.

3) Wordsworth’s daffodil poemIf possible go somewhere special and read aloud ‘The inward eye’ (the daffodil poem) by William Wordsworth to the pupils.

4) Plan a writing workshopGet the pupils inspired with a workshop by a local poet, storyteller or writer. Suggestions and contact information can be found in the ‘contact list’ sheet at the end of the pack.

5) Go visit!Go and visit Wordsworth’s Dove Cottage or Beatrix Potter’s Hill Top House.

6) Poetry outdoors (magic spot and haiku)Give each child a moment of quiet reflection. In a special place outdoors, set boundaries as to where the children can go and then let them find a special place. It should be more than arm length away from anyone else. Give out a piece of paper and pencil to each child and ask them to stop, look at the view and use all their senses to reflect on what makes it a ‘special’ place. They should sit quietly for about two minutes and jot down three verbs that describe something happening in that place, three adjectives to describe the place and three adjectives to describe how it makes them feel. Bring the children into groups of 3 to 5 and hand out the worksheet ‘Haiku’. Explain how haikus work (explanation on worksheet) and get the children to come up with their own group haiku.

7) Acrostic A good review activity is to use the letters of WINDERMERE to create an acrostic poem. Use the template to get the pupils to fill in their messages about the landscape and how to look after it, e.g. W= Watch out for blue-green algae. Decorate the borders as an extension.

Learning Objectives•To consider key local people from the arts and literature movement•To consider the Lake District’s cultural heritage in art and literature•To explore how stories link the past, present and future

Windermere an inspirational place 

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10) Sound mappingThis activity is great for encouraging children to actually stop and listen to the world around them. Go outside and choose a spot away from road noise. Using the worksheet ‘sound mapping’ spend 2 or 3 minutes quietly listening. Using only pictures the children should draw the sounds they hear in relation to where they are in the centre of the paper. An extension is to draw the picture larger, if the sound is greater or to draw the picture closer to the centre if the sound is closer to you.

11) Make musicGet the children up and actively making or interpreting music with a workshop by a local musician or dance therapist. See the ‘Contact list’ at the end of the pack for details.

How does it link to the curriculum?

History - Significant historical events, people, places in their own locality (KS1)- A local history study (KS2)

Music - Experiment with, create, select and combine sounds using the inter-related dimensions of music (KS1)

- Appreciate and understand a wide range of high-quality recorded music from great composers and musicians (KS2)

Art To use a range of materials creatively to design and make products and to use drawing, painting and sculpture to develop and share their ideas, experiences and imagination. (KS1)

9) Inspirational MusicMany musicians and composers have been inspired by nature. The movement of water lightly dancing over the pebbles of a stream or the sounds of a breeze ruffling the leaves can be soothing and calm the mind. In contrast nature can also be wild and violent. The sound of the wind howling or the deafening noise of a torrent tumbling over a waterfall can give you the shivers. Play excerpts from two contrasting pieces of music such as Debussy’s Arabesque No 1 and Sibelius’ Tapiola and ask the children what they make them imagine. Share with the children Sibelius’ inspiration for the work of great ancient forests.

10) Inspirational viewsSelect somewhere with 360 degree views and give each group or pair a compass. Explain how the red arrow points North, allow they time to familiarise themselves with a compass and then ask the children to point in the direction of North on the count of the three. Repeat with the other compass points. Arrange a quarter of the children facing North, a quarter facing East, a quarter facing South and a quarter facing West and hand out the ‘Compass Views’ worksheet. The children should write down three verbs to describe something happening in the landscape, three adjectives and three adverbs. Repeat the exercise with everyone rotating 90 ◦. Take a 360 degree panorama photo or stitch photos together and create a display with the photos and the words the children used to describe the landscape.

12) Inspiring art – Andy GoldsworthyAndy Goldsworthy is an artist and sculpture who has done a lot of work in the Cumbrian landscape. He is particularly associated with the sculptures in Grizedale Forest. He works with natural materials and uses “whatever comes to hand”- leaves, brightly coloured flowers, sticks, stones, twigs, snow and ice. See the section in ‘Landscape walk’ for suggestions on how to structure this activity and for images to inspire the children to produce amazing pieces of environmental art.

13) Artist’s paletteSee details in the ‘Landscape Walk’ for suggestions on how to structure this activity.

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