For children at nursery and P1

It may be helpful to use the materials on Gàidhlig nan Òg, section on faces. There are songs and rhymes with actions to learn and with which to sing-a-long. This might help your child with this activity.

There are also useful materials available on Go! Gaelic. 

• Model for your child looking in a mirror and describing what you look like. Ask your child to do the same. Encourage them to describe what they look like. For example, blue eyes, brown hair. You can repeat this activity by making changes to how you look. For example, happy, sad, by adding a new item of clothing, changing your hair. Use some paper and a pen to start to draw your face. Drawing a round shape for your head – make it almost the size of the paper. Encourage your child to do the same.
• Talk about putting eyes, ears and other features on the face. You may find that your child is happy adding just a few features. This is fine because as they develop they will naturally add a few more.
• Ask your child how they are feeling in the picture. Are they happy/sad/worried? Respond to whatever they say by being calm and reassuring.

P2/P3/P4

All books and stories have characters in them. These are the people, animals or imaginary beings that are in the story.

• Which character from a book you have read, or a story you have enjoyed or heard on BBC Alba, would you like to have as a friend? Your new friend can be a person, an animal or an imaginary creature.
• Make a list of your thoughts on what makes a good friend. What things might you do together? You could record these thoughts on computer or draw a picture of you playing with your new friend.
• Write a few sentences in Gaelic about your chosen character. Remember to use capital letters and full stops.

Parents could ask the following questions:

• What do you know about your chosen character? – Are they kind, funny, helpful? How can you tell this from the story?
• What does your chosen character like or enjoy doing?
• Why would your chosen character be a good friend? What would you enjoy doing together?

P5/6/7

• Think of a character from a well-known book you have read or a story you have enjoyed. You may have heard this on BBC Alba. What do you know about this character from the story? For example, their personality, likes and dislikes, friends or family, and where they live. Think of the things that happen to them during the story and how they feel.
• Imagine if you had the chance to interview your chosen character. Make a list of the questions you would like to ask them. You will want to find out as much about them as you can. Try and use different question openings, for example, questions that begin with How? When? Who? What? Why?
• Try playing a game of ‘Guess Who?’. For this, take on the role of your chosen character. An adult, or a member of your family, should ask you questions that you can answer as your character. The person with whom you are playing this game should guess who you are.

S1/S2/S3

Choose a book, TV show or movie you particularly enjoy. The writers have decided to introduce a new character to the storyline. This character will be a fluent speaker of Gaelic. To cast an actor to play the part, the writers are inviting young people who speak Gaelic to create this new character. This will help the writers identify the right actor for the part.

• Think about the kind of character you will create and why.
• Who will they be, for example someone completely new or someone related to an existing character?
• Will they have a mysterious past?
• What kind of personality will they have?
• What would you like them to look like?
• Will they be like you at all?
• Write up your submission in Gaelic in a format of your choice.
• Be as creative as you can.