Hamster Fun

I can't show you the cartoons we started last week as I haven't had all the permission slips in from parents to say I can share their children's work, so instead here's an idea for a straightforward narrative that went down well with another group I teach.

I gave them the opening below and then asked them:

- what kind of personality does the hamster have? Is it mischievous, domineering, sneaky, plain evil?

- how does Maggie react? Is she scared, delighted, stunned?

- what does the hamster have to say to her?

- is she going to share this news with anyone?

- what kind of adventures could you have if you owned a talking pet?

We discussed possible scenarios such as taking the hamster to school, using it to spy on people or to burgle houses, entering it for a talent show. 

Next week I shall give them little books and a sheet of hamster pictures taken from the internet to cut out for illustrations, and they can make their own complete stories.

                                                                     ***

The bedside clock said midnight but Maggie couldn’t sleep. She was too excited.

Over in the corner of the room sat a brand new hamster cage, and inside it, a brand new hamster. She’d gone with her mum earlier that day to choose him: a coffee-coloured ball of fluff with a pink nose and neat white paws. ‘I’m going to call him Podge,’ Maggie had said as the shopkeeper scooped him out of the tank and popped him into a little cardboard box. She was shaking with excitement as they drove home.

And all day she’d been waiting for him to come out and play.

‘Leave him be for a few hours,’ her mum had urged. ‘He’ll be frightened. He’ll need time to get used to his new home.’

So Maggie had sat impatiently, unable to concentrate on anything else because she kept glancing over at the cage and hoping Podge would show.

Now, at last, it sounded as if the hamster might be awake. She sat bolt upright and began to push back the duvet eagerly.

‘Hey!’ came a piping voice from the corner. ‘You! Come over here.’

Maggie stared. By the faint light coming through from the landing she could see that Podge had indeed come out. More than that: he was standing up on his hind legs and stretching a stern, skinny  paw through the cage, as if to beckon her.

‘Yes, you,’ repeated the hamster. ‘Big human. Come here. I’ve got something important to tell you.’