To introduce our mantle the children explored a range of different fairy tales and identified the features that they found the most interesting. They wrote these on post it notes and used these to create a list of places, settings and characters that they would like to include on a fairy tale map.

The children worked together to create a map of Fairy Tale Land, using their list of ideas. They got creative with paint to create a forest, rivers and a beanstalk, used lollypop sticks to create the trolls bridge and drew lots of houses and buildings for the characters to live in. The children also created signposts for different locations of the map. These looked amazing!

The Mayor of Fairy Tale Land sat at a table in front of the children looking very concerned. They exclaimed "What am I going to do? How am I going to fix this?" The children asked questions to find out who this person was and what their job was. They looked at pictures of different Mayors and identified similarities in the ways that they dress; a red coat, a sparkly gold necklace with a picture of the king, medals and a smart white shirt. We researched the job of a Mayor and found out they are an important person who help's the people of their town, keeps it in order and makes sure they are safe. 

The children enjoyed a range of activities such as designing and decorating a necklace, drawing a portrait of the king, identifying and labelling features of a Mayor, and making their own gold chains!

The children watched the Mayor of Fairy Tale Land as he expressed his concern "The Troll.. I just don't know what to do about it. I need to see the Fairy Tale Problem Solvers and see if they can help!" The children quickly identified themselves as the Team of Fairy Tale Problem solvers!

They firstly came up with a selection of items that their HQ would need; a map, magnifying glasses, a computer, tools and a phone . It also needed to be secret and secure, so maybe an invisible cloak and a gate should be on the outside. The children created a HQ in their role play areas and explored this through their imagination.

The children imagined themselves as a F.T.P.S. What would they wear? What would they carry with them? How would they act? They drew themselves as wrote a sentence 'I am ... and ...' using their ideas.

They also explored what a different team badges look like and used these ideas to create their own. They voted on their favourite an this became our team badge.

The team received a letter from the mayor explaining that the villagers were scared to cross the bridge! We considered why they might be scared and what they troll could have done to upset them! The children considered the POV of the villagers and wrote their thoughts inside of some thought bubbles. 

The team contacted the Mayor and asked for a meeting at the end of the week. There are too many unanswered questions! They gathered together the questions they needed to ask him; What did the troll do wrong? What has happened? What does the troll look like? What can we do to help?

I hope we get some answers soon...

The Problem Solvers had a meeting with the Mayor to discuss all of their questions. They discovered that the villagers were scared to cross the bridge because they could hear the Troll's deep, booming voice from under the deep, murky river water! This is stopping them from crossing the bridge over to the beautiful picnic garden! Nobody has seen this troll before, or know why he is acting this way... so we needed to create our character!
 

The children used role on the wall to create the troll and decide on his characteristics. The children loved deciding what he would wear (a ragged waistcoat), the texture of his skin (bumpy!) and his hairstyle! 

The next step is finding out how to get to him...

The problem solvers considered their options. Why could the troll be behaving this way? What could they do to help?They combined all of their amazing ideas and decided that they firstly needed to plan a visit to the troll. The team used the map of Fairy Tale Land and directional language to plan a route. 

Now that the team knew which route to take, they needed to pack their bags. They decided on the most important items they needed to take with them, such as a walkie talkie to stay in contact with each other, food and water and a flashlight.

The team considered how they would travel across the river, they could swim but that would be very tiring... what about a boat?! Before building their boat, they needed to test which materials would work best. They conducted an experiment to test waterproof materials and discussed which would be the best to make a boat out of.

Next, the team had to explore which materials float and which sink! They tested a range of different materials and made predictions for whether they would float or sink. They made observations such as "a plastic bottle will only float if it has a lid on" and "that is sinking because it has holes in the bottom of it".

They used their understanding to design and make their own boats using junk modelling materials. They carefully selected these based on their ability to float and be waterproof. Now we just need to test that they work...

The team tested floating their boats down the river and shared ideas of what worked well and how they could be improved. The main problems they faced were the boats falling on to their sides, or letting water in through holes at the bottom.

The team were finally ready to set off on the troll hunt! First, they trekked through the long, wavy grass...

Next, the deep, cold river...

And the thick, oozy mud...

Then, the big, dark, forest...

Finally, through a narrow, gloomy cave...

After a long and tiring few days, the team finally reached the deep and murky river. They peered off the bridge, calling out for the troll... no answer! 

THE TROLL WASN'T THERE!  They asked the villagers if they had seen him... no luck.

What if he was upset? What if was is in danger? What if he was lost? We needed to find him quickly!

The team decided to post fliers around the village, asking everyone to keep a look out for the missing troll. The posters needed to include a very detailed picture of the troll, a phone number and some sentences to describe him. Hopefully someone would spot him soon...

The team received a phone call from a frantic villager... they had spotted some muddy footprints entering into the deep dark forest! They quietly creeped through the forest, making sure not to scare any animals. The footprints led them to a muddy cave, hidden deep in the forest.

They heard the faint sounds of crying... could it be the troll?! 

The children listened closely and formed their own ideas about what the troll was saying: "I am sad and lonely", "I have no friends to play with", "I hate my house", "I want to someone to talk to". The team had to quickly record what they had heard so that they wouldn't forget!

They decided that the only way to fix this problem was to arrange a meeting for the troll and the villagers to talk about their feelings.

The team witnessed the meeting with the villagers. The troll apologised for how he was acting and that he didn't mean to frightened them! He just wanted someone to talk to but he didn't know how... He explained that it was making him sad when the villagers were trip trapping over his home, all he wanted was some peace and quiet. 

To solve this problem, the team decided to build the troll a new house! They selected some pictures of houses to show the troll, but he said ''NO NO NO! None of this brick stuff!' The children decided to ask the troll what he would like for his house and made a list of requirements. 

The troll was so overjoyed with the house the team had created, he wanted to throw a housewarming party! The children went into role as the troll and created party invitations, of which they received out of role later in the day. 

The team can't wait to host the party next week!