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Let there be dragons: a tactile and sensory art project

Learning type: Case study
Category: Get inspired, Reading culture
Programme: Book Week Scotland, First Ministers Reading Challenge, Live Literature
Language: English
Genre: Art, Fantasy
Age group: 3-5, 6-8, 9-11, 12-14, 15-18

Dragons exist in many cultures all over the world and are a wonderful means for exploring our imaginations and expressing our creativity, making them a rich topic for the additional support needs classroom.

This resource, written by illustrator Kate Leiper, provides ideas on how to bring a dragon to life through sensory exploration, simple storytelling and classroom art activities. The project can be as small or as ambitious as you like, focusing on encouraging children to make their own choices and decisions about how they perceive their dragon to be.

You can also download extension activities to use alongside the book The Knight Who Said 'No!' by Lucy Rowland and Kate Hindley in class. This book is one of the many excellent titles Kate includes in her book list at the end of the resource and recommends using it as starting point to explore dragon stories. Sensory specialist Ailie Finlay has written these activities.