The Lighthouse Keeper's Lunch

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Children could look at light alongside this text. Looking at sources of light, the lighthouse is one can you think of any other.

Write a diary from the point of view of Mr Grinling. Use this video to get some ideas for your work: On a trip to the beach with their children, the Armitages saw a wire which ran from the cliff to the lighthouse and their son wanted to know what it was for. David suggested it was for the lighthouse keeper’s lunch…

Mr and Mrs Grinling star in a number of other books including The Light House Keeper’s Catastrophe, The Lighthouse Keeper’s Rescue, The Lighthouse Keeper’s Picnic, and The Lighthouse Keeper’s Cat

Role-play the different characters in the story (Mr and Mrs Grinling, Hamish the cat, and the seagulls). How were they feeling at different points in the story? A much loved picture book which has been in print for over 40 years. Children love the greedy seagulls and the detailed contents of the lunch basket.Explore the forces in action when Mr Grinling rows his boat out to the lighthouse. What forces are in action when his lunch is being carried along the wire? For an even better way to find EYFS resources, discover tailored suggestions, and much more - visit the EYFS resource HUB! GO TO EYFS HUB Next, get your children to plan a menu for the most delicious lunch they can think of, to go in their seagull proof basket. Look at the food that Mrs Grinling prepares in the story - do they agree that it’s delicious? What kind of food would they want in their ‘ideal’ lunch? If possible, get the children to test some of their ideas for getting the lunch safely across to the lighthouse, setting up a line in your classroom, similar to that which runs over to the lighthouse. For an even better way to find KS2 resources, discover tailored suggestions, and much more - visit the KS2 resource HUB! GO TO KS2 HUB The book tells the story of Mr Grinling, the lighthouse keeper, and the trouble his wife has getting his lunch across from the mainland. Mrs Grinling prepares her husband a delicious lunch, but the seagulls keep eating it before it reaches him. After several failed attempts, she finally manages to foil the pesky birds with some mustard flavoured sandwiches!

Use the lighthouse in the book as a starting point for a design and technology activity. Get the children to study a variety of lighthouses and talk about the requirements for an effective design. What are the main elements of a lighthouse design and why is it built in this way? What kind of things does a lighthouse need to withstand? What colours are used for lighthouses and why might these colours have been chosen? Stunning lighthouse pictures: http://abduzeedo.com/amazing-pictures-lighthouses Activity 3: Grace under pressure The lighthouse keeper’s lunch is ‘delicious’. Can you think of any synonyms? Can you think of any antonyms? Once their lighthouses are built, show the children how to make a complete circuit with a battery, wire and bulb. They should then work out how to fix this into their lighthouse model, so that the light appears at the top inside the lantern section. More able, or older, pupils could explore various options for getting their light to rotate inside the lighthouse.

Find a Scheme of Work

Write a sequel for the book, showing how the fisherman in the boat stopped the seagulls from eating his lunch. Write a set of instructions that teach someone how to make a delicious sandwich for Mr Grinling’s lunch. The lunch was ‘devoured’ by the seagulls. Can you make a list of words which show different ways that people can eat their food?