There’s something I really love about visiting primary schools for their Mini Beasts topic.

Every year I visit Greenwood Primary School, and I always enjoy seeing the children’s excitement when they start talking about snails, butterflies, beetles and all the other little creatures they find fascinating.

Children are naturally curious. Give them a tiny creature to look at and suddenly there are a hundred questions.

Where does it live? What does it eat? Does it have a family? Where does it go in winter? What happens if we touch it?

That’s what makes Mini Beasts such a lovely topic, for Key Stage 1 & 2. There is so much opportunity for children to look closely at the world around them, get outside and discover what is living in their own school grounds.

But when I visit, I like to bring in another little bit of magic too !!!.

I use my Snail Artist book to introduce the children to the characters, and then I let them take over.

They can change the characters, give them names, decide what they are like and imagine where they might live.

Then the pencils come out.

I love this part because no two children see the characters in quite the same way. One child might draw a tiny snail living under a leaf, while another has decided that their snail is off on a great adventure.

For some of the younger children, it might simply be about looking, talking, drawing and using their imagination.

As children get older, those same ideas can grow into characters, settings and stories, and can be linked beautifully with reading and creative writing.

And, of course, there are lots of science links to living things, habitats, microhabitats, classification and life cycles.

But I don't want my school visits to feel like another lesson.

I want them to feel like a lovely little break from the usual school day. A chance to sit together with a book, listen to a story, draw, imagine and perhaps see a familiar little creature in a completely different way afterwards.

There is something rather lovely about a child finding a tiny snail outside and thinking, I wonder where his story begins?

That is the bit I love.

And if you are a school in Belfast or beyond and you are planning your Mini Beasts topic this spring or summer, I would love to come and visit in person or online, please get intouch.

I can bring my book, my characters and a little bit of storytelling and imagination into your classroom.

You can find out more about my school visits and book by emailing dawn@dawncrothers.

I’d be very happy to hear from you.

Dawn 🐌💚