Inventive Activities From Wallace and Gromit
A World of Cracking Ideas Offers Challenges, Units, and Fun
Jul 13, 2009
There are few shows better suited for gifted education classes than Aardman's Wallace and Gromit series, because they are available in a variety of lengths (20 minutes to a full-length film) and they all focus on Wallace's inventions as solutions to his life struggles. Teachers can use the magic of Wallace and Gromit in the enrichment classroom by taking advantage of the "Wallace & Gromit's World of Cracking Ideas" resources.
Wallace and Gromit Monthly Challenges
One of the most exciting aspects of the World of Cracking Ideas is the Monthly Challenge section. Some of the previous challenges have included:
- inventing a toy
- designing a carnival float
- creating a puppet show
In order to participate, teachers download the free PDF file of the challenge. The Wonder Bar challenge asks students to design a snack bar wrapper and upload the picture to Wallace and Gromit's website. The contest encourages:
- memorable shaped packaging
- a "snappy" title
- focusing on what is important for the package design
Even if students don't enter the contest, the activity is a fun one to do, and offers a lot of extension and home possibilities, with the option of creative cooking for young chefs. There are even more ideas in the Eureka Gallery, which is a collection of user-submitted ideas.
World of Cracking Ideas Competition
In this section of the Cracking Ideas site, students are asked to come up with a challenge for Wallace and Gromit. The 2009 theme of the The World of Cracking Ideas competition is "What Should Wallace and Gromit's Next Home Business Venture Be?"
Students submit challenges for the pair, and they will like looking at the 2008 submissions.
World of Cracking Ideas Activity Packs
Classes do not need to enter the competition to enjoy and benefit from the packets, which offer 8 activities designed to encourage inventive thinking. The packets are divided up into three age groups of increasing difficulty:
- 4-7 ("...think of a Cracking Idea that you can then enter ...")
- 8-11 ("...lots of ways to think of a new idea and develop this into a real innovation.")
- 12-16 (...try out methods used by real designers and inventors to come up with a real innovation")
Teachers of gifted students will want to experiment with the levels, but the ranges seem quite appropriate for gifted education.
Wallace and Gromit's One Hour Innovation Pack
The One Hour Innovation pack is a gift to all teachers. It has goals, objectives, handouts, examples, and a chart to help organize the student inspirations. It is a perfect activity to leave with substitutes or to save for an emergency lesson plan, because it is a valuable stand-alone lesson plan. The activities are thought provoking and active, and there are small and whole group activities included.
A great warm-up or ending to the Wallace and Gromit activities would be to watch one of Wallace and Gromit's great invention movies. The Wrong Trousers is a favorite of Nick Park's collection, because the evil penguin is a clever foe, Gromit shows his problem-solving skills, and Wallace's invention causes more problems than it solves. It won the 1993 Academy Award for an Animated Short Film.
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