Resources The story The Big Ugly Monster and the Little Stone Rabbit by Chris Wormell   Key controversies What makes someone beautiful or ugly? Does being called ugly mean you are ugly? Beauty. Ugliness. .   Starter – with children in a circle Facilitator shows the children the book cover and reads the title ...

Do: Begin by reading the following scenario to the class: Your best friend visits you and asks you to look after their personal diary for one week because they are going away and they don’t want anyone to read it. You are asked not to read it yourself. ‘Do you promise?’ your friend asks. Task Question Will you take ...

Stimulus: Imagine there is a machine that you can attach to your head and it makes you have an experience of whatever you want so that it seems real. It’s like having a dream which you can choose that seems like real life. When you are having the experience, however, you think it’s real. The machine is called ‘the experience...

  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...

DO: Put a pile of something, e.g. books in the middle of the circle and explain that the children should imagine it’s huge!  It’s a mountain. DO: Will need to use actors from around the circle for next bit, potentially all children in the group, so helps to go around the circle and take children one by one… SAY: The...

Focus With eyes shut try to imagine the perfect school. Ask the following questions: How would the pupils behave? How would the teachers take the lessons? How would the pupils feel at the end of the school day? How would the teachers feel at the end of the school day? Stimulus This piece of paper is a letter from the Prime...

THE PROM   A young man named Joe was looking forward to his final week in school. At the end of the week there would be a prom - a huge party where everyone would dress up really smart and dance in the school hall. Joe’s mum bought him a suit and his brother, Seb, showed him how to tie the tie properly. Seb also told him to star...

A two-minute play by Paul Bodin. (Words inside brackets are stage directions only.  They are not meant to be said out loud.) For information on how to use this play in the classroom, take a look at Pete's blog here: https://www.philosophy-foundation.org/blog/dialogues-in-philosophy-with-children   The Science ...

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...