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| There are several versions of this story, of wild animals
(monkeys, parrots etc) in the jungle stealing an old man's hats when he
stops for a rest under their tree. They copy everything he does (shaking
his fist, stamping his foot, sticking out his tongue etc) until he
realises that only by taking off his own hat and throwing it into his cart
will they return the hats to him. If you can collect enough hats for each
child to 'steal' one, this can be an extremely enjoyable affair. After explaining that monkeys like to copy humans (referring to the chimps on the TV advert) I tell the story once through, then first discuss it with the children to discover if they've taken it in! 'Why did the old man stop by the tree?' 'Why did the monkeys come down from the tree and sit around him?' 'Why did the monkeys take the old man's hats?' Then I tell it a second time, pretending that they are the monkeys, and throw pretend grapes to them, asking 'is there anyone who hasn't had a grape yet?' After a couple of times, when almost all the children put their hands up, there are no grapes left. Next, we form a circle round the room and act out the story, pretending to make the hats, loading them onto the cart, pulling the cart, sitting down, going to sleep, stealing the hats (have a mirror ready so that the children can look at themselves) Often one child doesn't want to wear a hat, so I say 'You're wearing an invisible hat. Have a look at yourself'. Sound effects are usually incorporated at this point. 'What sound does a monkey make?' 'The cart was an old one and creaked. Make a sound like a creaking cart'. 'Can you hear a bird in the tree?' By this time, a single word is usually enough. 'mice', 'a waterfall', lions' If there is interest (and stamina!) remaining, we talk about things not actually included in the story 'What did his wife do while he was going to market?' 'What did the monkeys talk about after he'd gone?' 'What could you see at the market? Who else was there?' If time allows, credibility can be stretched to the limit with 'The old man gets all the animals to go to town, where they parade through the streets. Now, we want monkeys, elephants, lions, zebras etc. Who's going to be a monkey? a lion? etc. Don't forget to make the right noise as you walk along.' Organised chaos! © Bob Wilkins 1998
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