Early Years Explore, Discover & Create The Nutcracker

Early Years pupils are getting into the festive spirit already as they have been enjoying their new creative topic – The Nutcracker this week.  

The exquisite tale depicts the perfect Christmas party – come to life. Firstly, in a treat for all the senses, the girls listened to the music from the Christmas party scene and discuss what they thought were the requirements for hosting the best party ever. The girls observed that the music made them feel happy and encouraged them to dance, much like in the story where Clara is surrounded by people dancing and having fun at a Christmas party.  

Next up, the children each designed an invitation for their own party and wrote a list of all the things they would hope to see there. In the story, the main character Clara is gifted a beautiful nutcracker from her uncle. The girls later discovered that the evil Mouse King tried to take away the nutcracker, and the story no longer seemed so happy and cheerful. They compared two pieces of music, one from the battle scene and another when the real Prince is revealed. The first was sad, angry and a bit scary but the second was magical and happy again. It was fascinating to see how powerful the music was in changing how the girls felt about a story. Feeling inspired, they had a go at making their own sad, angry and happy music using percussion instruments. 

Next week, the children will be choreographing their own fairy-inspired ballet piece as they learn about the Sugar Plum Fairy and Clara and the Prince’s adventures in the Land of Sweets.

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