EMILY LOVES TO BOUNCE
TEACHING RESOURCE
“Important Discussions” – Drawing by 5 year-old – Diana School
Reggio Emilia - Italy
Patch Theatre’s Emily Loves to Bounce production is inspired by the illustrated books of
Stephen Michael King with particular reference to his three titles:
Henry and Amy
Patricia
and
Emily Loves to Bounce
These books celebrate the creativity, imagination and exuberance of childhood.
In keeping with the spirit of these beautiful books, we have tried to create a production that is
enchanting, playful, imaginative and whimsical.
We have chosen to share the experience of these three children’s stories through an array of
performance-segments using images, music, songs, games, movement, design and not too
many words. We are keen to have children experience new and surprising ways of sharing
the meaning of these stories through theatre.
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“All children are artists; the challenge is to keep them so.”
Pablo Picasso
Children up to the age of seven tend to co-exist comfortably with fantasy and play. They readily
absorb meaning from metaphor and their activity is naturally imaginative, creative, emotional,
playful, spontaneous, intuitive, and open.
As adults, we serve a child’s development by supporting their play, engaging with their
fantasies, encouraging the sharing and the making of stories.
The Stephen Michael King Stories
It’s the celebration of the child’s imagination and creativity that so beguiles me when reading the
illustrated books of Stephen Michael King. He has created six books – all of them expressing
the mystery and wonder of creative expression and how undervalued and mistrusted it can be.
HENRY AND AMY - Henry is eccentric, chaotic, spontaneous, wacky and a little vague. Amy
is efficient, organized, practical and deep thinking. HENRY AND AMY is a story of their new
friendship and the coming together of their different ways of seeing and responding to the
world. It celebrates friendship through the acceptance and valuing of difference.
PATRICIA - tells the story of a little girl, who has wonderful, amazing thoughts that no-one
seems to be interested in, except Grandpa, and he’s asleep! In our production, we’ve
incorporated this story into the Henry and Amy journey of friendship.
EMILY LOVES TO BOUNCE - captures the unfettered, joyous, exuberance that children
express when they become absorbed in something. In our production “Emily” is a bouncing
ball, named by Amy and used in developing her relationship with Henry.
Here are some key lines from the books that summarise each of the characters.
HENRY:
When Henry tried to draw a straight line, it turned out wiggly.
AMY:
Deep down, Amy wished everything she did wasn’t so perfect.
PATRICIA:
Patricia’s head was filled with thoughts – wonderful, amazing thoughts.
EMILY:
Emily loves to bounce.
Other titles by Stephen Michael King are: The Man Who Loved Boxes, Milli, Jack and
the Dancing Cat and Mutt Dog.
We invite you to share all of these books with your children as their themes are all common
to the themes of the production.
Balls and Boxes
The Stephen Michael King books have inspired us to explore the performance possibilities of
boxes and balls.
Why? Well it’s a long story, but in summary, this is what we have found.
Balls and boxes are very different from one another but they are both wonderful things.
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Boxes are good for work. Balls are good for play.
Boxes are used for building and storing. They are predictable, practical, strong and
reliable.
Balls are used for games. They are bouncy, chaotic, fun and hard to control.
Balls are good for communication. They connect people and things. You can bounce balls off
walls or the floor. You can throw them and catch them. Balls are like ideas and stories in that
they need to be shared.
Boxes tend to be still (unless they are on wheels, which are balls) and they don’t bounce very
well. You can stand on a box but you can’t stand on a ball.
Boxes have lids and when the lids are opened they can reveal wondrous mysteries. Lots of
amazing things are contained in boxes. (TVs, XBox, matches, computers, presents, tissues,
air-conditioners, fridges.) Boxes can be put together to make cubby houses or buildings or
tunnels. Tall skyscrapers and long trains are made from boxes.
Just like boxes and balls, we are different from one another. We have different ways of
thinking, learning, playing and communicating. We are each well-suited to some things and
not so well-suited to others but together we make the world what it is – a wondrous rainbow
of every colour and variation under the sun.
Our bounce connects us to each other and the world.
Amy seemed to have the qualities of boxes and Henry, the qualities of balls.
We found that the stories we created with boxes and balls helped us tell the stories and
share the experiences of Henry, Amy, Patricia and Emily in interesting new ways.
In preparation for our production Emily Loves to Bounce, we invite you and your children to
explore the languages of boxes and balls too.
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Children’s Research
Develop a way of having your children explore and comprehend the meaning of the
following:
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A straight line?
A square?
A box?
A wiggly line
A circle?
A ball?
(Can children discover some of the properties of these shapes and describe them in their
own way?)
Some more formal definitions are below:
A straight line is the shortest distance between two points
A square is a flat, four-sided figure with all sides equal and four right angles
A box is an object with six square sides
A circle is a line that is equal distance from one point at its centre.
Find the Boxes and Balls
Just about every human-made thing I can see in my office as I write this belongs to the box
or ball category, for example my printer is a box-like shape, my tea cup is a circular shape,
my computer screen is a square shape, etc.
Ask children to go around the room or playground and draw six things that have a basic box
or square shape and six things that have a basic circular and ball-like shape.
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Explorations via ‘Tasks’
One of the simple games we play when we were making the show is called ‘Tasks’.
Tasks are usually done by individuals but they can also be done in groups of two.
When a task is given, we have to come up with six different outcomes for each task as
quickly as possible. This means that our responses are quite spontaneous. The outcomes
are then shown to the group.
The reason we ask for so many outcomes is that we’re looking for the unexpected, the
surprising or the silly idea and these sorts of ideas usually come when we just grab at an
idea and go with it.
The first outcomes of the six are usually the most expected ones. The later ones are often
the most interesting. There are also lots of throw away ideas, which are fun because it’s not
a game about winning or being the best. It’s just about the fun of playing with possibilities
and coming up with oddball and surprising ideas.
As each person shows the group their six choices, the teacher jots down the ideas on a bit of
butcher’s paper, using a caption to describe each idea.
The game is a great way for children to be individually engaged in their own exploration and
learning, the outcomes of which they then share with each other.
We usually say 5 minutes to start with and if we sense that more time could be useful, we
give it. You’ll be the best judge of time but the idea is to encourage children to grab the ideas
as they come, not to think them through.
The outcomes can be anything – demonstrations, songs, a finger performance, a drawing, a
poem, a mix of sounds, an image made of stones or leaves, a hand signal, a mime, a story,
music, a dance, a shadow play, an interaction between a pair of glasses and a lemon,
absolutely anything. Encourage wild and wacky ideas. Have resources available like balls,
boxes, paper, pens, string, elastic, an objects box, a dress-up box etc.
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Some outcomes could then be selected for further exploration and development.
Here’s some Tasks to try.
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Six ways of using a box
Six ways of using two balls
Six ways of using a ball and a box
Six ways of showing what bounce can mean
Six ways of showing the difference between straight and wiggly
Six ways of showing the meaning of difference
Six ways of showing loneliness
Six ways of making an image of flying
Six ways of showing the meaning of the word connection
Six ways of expressing joy
Six ways of making a hat
Six ways of using a chair
Six ways of showing the meaning of balance
Six ways of showing the meaning of open and closed
Six ways of performing ‘Patricia’s head was filled with wonderful, amazing thoughts.’
Six ways of using an apple
Six ways of using your hands to send a message
Six ways to exercise your fingers
Six ways to carry water
Six ways to show what teachers do
Six ways to show the meaning of kindness
Six ways to show the meaning of up and down
Six ways to move from A to B
Six ways to stop a ball from being able to bounce
Six ways to make a box bounce.
Six ways to show Patricia’s Dad not listening to her ideas
Please make up your own
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Hot Seating
This is a game that children of all ages love. I’ve seen it work for 4 year olds and 16 year olds
and we use it in our professional work.
The game is about spontaneously filling out the details of a character’s life through
questions.
We place a chair in a prominent spot in front of the group. Then we ask someone to take the
seat as a particular character. The character should be known to some extent … eg: Lleyton
Hewitt.
The person sits down and immediately becomes ‘the character’.
The group then asks Lleyton questions. We encourage questions that require more than a
yes or no response. The objective is to learn more about the character. The person being
hot-seated has to make up the answers spontaneously trying to be true to the sense of what
they know or believe about the character.
Using this game, we can extend our understanding of people like Henry, Amy, Patricia and
Emily.
We can also hot-seat Henry’s teacher or Amy’s mother or Patricia’s grandmother and so on,
so that we fill out and understand those relationships better.
Again the game is about imagination and spontaneity – learning through play. One of the
outcomes is that children learn to ask good questions – questions that reveal something
about someone.
There are lots of variations of the game to play with such as hot-seating two characters
together. Try to create a set of rituals for the game, as this increases children’s engagement
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with the activity. There are no do’s or don’ts - play around with the possibilities and see what
best works with your children.
Games with Ball and Boxes
Ask children to pair up and create a game involving balls and boxes. Ask them to create the
rules of the game and to demonstrate how it is played.
Some research into other games and how they are set up may be necessary.
Poems by Henry Gibson or Amy Morris
This is a simple silly, fun game used to help us be spontaneous without fear. It is inspired by
a very old TV comedy show in the 60s called “Laugh In”.
You prepare a box full of objects.
The player goes to the box and has a lucky dip and pulls out an object.
Let’s say it’s a painting.
The player then moves to a position on the floor (a chalk square) and says:
The painting
A poem
by Henry Gibson
(or Amy Morris)
They then make-up on the spot a four line poem about the object. The poem is meant to be
whatever comes out and it will be probably a bit silly and a bit pathetic and that’s what it’s
meant to be. It’s not meant to be clever and worked out. However, it is to be delivered with
the sort of seriousness and sincerity that would be appropriate for the best piece of poetry
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that has ever been created. It can rhyme or not. But it must be delivered as if it has been
previously written. No hesitation.
Here’s mine – on the spot:
This painting is sweet
Just like my feet
Except it’s on canvas
And my feet are on my legs
Always at the end of the poem, the player finishes with the words ‘the end’ followed by a
slow, formal bow and a proper exit. The ritual of the performance is very important. It’s fun
and allows kids to use their imagination spontaneously without fear of failure because in
many ways the worse the poem is, the better it works!
Wonderful Amazing Thoughts
All you need for this game is a box of balls.
The player goes to the box and picks out a ball and says …
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This amazing idea is ... (and again spontaneously they make up an amazing idea)
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Eg #1 … that if my hands were made of ice-cream then I could lick them in class
without being told off because they’d be part of my body.
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Eg #2 … if I was coloured green then I could hide in trees and no-one would see me
except in winter in those trees that lose their leaves.
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Eg #3 … if there was a big pollution-sucking monster then it could feed off all the
world’s pollution until it was all gone and then we could put it in outer space and it
could become another planet.
Each idea or ball is given to someone in the audience. The audience member has to try to
remember the idea that’s been given to her/him.
If there’s 20 children in the class – have 20 balls in the box. A session may have 4 to 6
players giving say 2-5 ideas each. Every audience member receives an idea. At the end you
can ask some of the idea-holders to share the idea they’ve been given, to see if they have
remembered them.
There’s lots of ways of making it work.
The aim of the game is to encourage the expression of ideas.
You can focus the game by saying, “today all of your amazing ideas are going to be about
friendship” – or some other topic.
Paper Hats
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Everyone brings a newspaper, some sticky tape, string and other paraphernalia and
everyone makes an amazing paper hat.
This is followed by a fashion parade.
Henry loves wearing his paper hat creations.
Wearable Art
Use boxes and balls, squares and circles, straight lines and wiggly lines – as whole bits or as
cut-up bits – small or large – from anywhere and everywhere as your palette for the creation
of wonderful, amazing wearable art.
There’s a wearable art internet site that features the creations of the wearable art annual
fashion parade in New Zealand that may help ignite your creativity
www.worldofwearableart.com
“Milli could take a nothing and make it a something
She found things that other people threw away
Forgotten things, rusty things.
She cut them, bent them, pulled them apart
And joined them together in amazing ways.”
From Milli, Jack and the Dancing Cat by Stephen Michael King
We would love to see your wearable art fashion creations. Please email your digital photos to
– patch@patchtheatre.org.au
The story of PATRICIA
We have recently discovered that the illustrated book PATRICIA is out of print. We are
encouraging the publisher to reprint the book. For those of you who can’t access a
copy of the book, we have provided the text below.
In our production, we incorporate the essence of this story into the journey of Henry
and Amy and their evolving relationship.
“Patricia’s head was filled with thoughts … wonderful, amazing thoughts …
It was so full, she needed to find some-one to share them with.
She offered some to her mum. “Mmmm. That’s nice dear”, said her mother, who didn’t
seem to hear a single word Patricia said.
Then she went to her father. “Not now Patricia. I’m busy.” He didn’t look busy at all.
Her grandfather was asleep and her grandmother just said “What a pretty little flower.
Who’s my little girl?”
Patricia was so fed up she could only think of one thing to do.
She screamed. SCEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAM!!!!!!!
“What’s wrong,” asked her mother.
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“Are you hurt?” said her father.
Her grandmother tickled her on the stomach and said, “Coochie woochie wooglie, ooh
ahah.”
That was it! Patricia took an enormous breath and in one gigantic burst … all her
thoughts came tumbling out.
Her mother, father and grandmother couldn’t believe what they’d seen and when they
tried to speak only funny little noises came out.
It seemed as if Patricia would never find anyone who would listen.
But then, she remembered her grandfather would wake up soon and he always loved
sharing her thoughts.”
Text of the illustrated book ‘Patricia’ by Stephen Michael King
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