This week’s theme:
Adventurous News – This Week in History
This week’s colouring in sheet:
Download and print this week’s colouring sheet here.
Fact of the week: This week was a very busy week in the past. In the news there was molasses, top hats, museum openings, lottery draws, batman, famous number ones, opera conducting, and Mickey Mouse!!
Activities for the week…
Activity 1
On January 15, 1919 two million gallons of molasses flooded Boston Massachusetts in the “Great Molasses Flood” when a storage tank burst. 21 people sadly drowned and 150 were injured.
Create a movement piece – Imagine walking in sticky molasses and getting stuck to the floor, you wouldn’t get anywhere in a hurry! Imagine swimming in molasses, slow and thick. Imagine licking it off your arms. Imagine getting stuck to things. Imagine your fingers sticking together, then your hands, then your arms. What if your arm got stuck to your hair – to release it you’ll have to use your other arm, then that’ll get stuck in your hair. Put your movements to create a sticky dance to ‘Stuck in the middle with you’, ‘Sugar sugar’, ‘Sugartime’, or this song about Molasses.
Activity 2
It was reported in the news on January 15 1797 that a top hat caused quite a stir… Haberdasher (hat maker) John Hetherington, on this day, appeared in court after he had stepped out onto the streets of London wearing the first ever top hat. It caused a sensation. So much so that a crowd formed and Hetherington was eventually arrested and given a summons for disturbing the public peace. In court he was found guilty of wearing a hat that “calculated to frighten timid people”, and disturbing the peace, and was fined £50. The arresting officer told the court that nobody had seen anything like it before: “He had such a tall and shiny construction on his head that it must have terrified nervous people. The sight of this construction was so overstated that various women fainted, children began to cry and dogs started to bark. One child broke his arm among all the jostling.”
The next day, The Times newspaper reported: “Hetherington’s hat points to a significant advance in the transformation of dress. Sooner or later, everyone will accept this headwear. We believe that both the court and the police made a mistake here.” The newspaper was right. The top hat, which went by several names including Toppers, Chimney Pots, and Stove Pipes, grew in popularity, finally achieving the ultimate stamp of respectability in 1850 when Prince Albert, no less, began to wear one, giving the headgear the royal seal of approval. There was no going back after that . . .
Act out the pandemonium and shock seen when the top hat was first worn. Make and wear your own top hat. Or, become a haberdasher for the day and design or make your own outlandish hats that could cause a sensation!
Activity 3
The British Museum opened to visitors on January 15th 1759. Fearing damage to the collections by unruly hordes, nobody was admitted without a ticket.
Design a special ticket to a grand opening.
Act out a grand opening, how will you cut the ribbon, what speech will you give, what fine clothes will you be wearing, what nibbles will there be to eat, will you rush to be first in?
Activity 4
On 12th January 1966 “Batman”, starring Adam West as Batman, Burt Ward as Robin, and Cesar Romero as The Joker, debuted on TV
Try some of these Batman activities.
Try some of these Joker activities.
Activity 5
Search YouTube for these songs that were number 1s during this week in history. How many songs do you recognise? Come up with actions/dance moves for each. Play along with instruments/body percussion to each. Or have a ‘This week in history’ disco!
1956 ROCK AROUND THE CLOCK – BILL HALEY & HIS COMETS
1958 GREAT BALLS OF FIRE – JERRY LEE LEWIS
1962 THE YOUNG ONES – CLIFF RICHARD & THE SHADOWS
1968 HELLO GOODBYE – BEATLES
1972 I’D LIKE TO TEACH THE WORLD TO SING – NEW SEEKERS
1976 BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY – QUEEN
1979 Y.M.C.A. – VILLAGE PEOPLE
1981 IMAGINE – JOHN LENNON
1982 DON’T YOU WANT ME – HUMAN LEAGUE
1986 WEST END GIRLS – PET SHOP BOYS
1987 REET PETITE – JACKIE WILSON
1989 ESPECIALLY FOR YOU – KYLIE MINOGUE & JASON DONOVAN
1993 I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU – WHITNEY HOUSTON
1995 COTTON EYE JOE – REDNEX
1997 2 BECOME 1 – SPICE GIRLS
1999 TRAGEDY – STEPS
2002 GOTTA GET THRU THIS – DANIEL BEDINGFIELD
2010 BAD ROMANCE – LADY GAGA
2014 TIMBER – PITBULL FT. KESHA
2016 LOVE YOURSELF – JUSTIN BIEBER
2018 PERFECT – ED SHEERAN
Activity 6
In 1976 Sarah Caldwell became the 1st woman to conduct at NYC Metropolitan Opera House as she led orchestra in a performance of “La Traviata”
Listen to some classical music and try some conducting – when the music goes faster and slower, louder and quieter, make bigger and smaller actions with your conductor’s baton.
Try acting out some operatic terms – try making the face needed to sing with a ‘Soprano’ voice then try making high pitched sounds. Then try bass voices – opposite of soprano – a deep voice, can you say, ho ho ho, and ‘ooooh’ in your deepenst voice.
The plot of La Traviata takes place in Paris in the late 1950’s. Violetta Valéry, a young courtesan, famous in the Parisian high society, throws a party in her home. Act out throwing a high-class party – what posh outfit will you wear, what will you be served, how would you act and dance – (try some of the deportment, grace and elocution tips and tricks from Orient Express Week Activity 3). Try acting out your party scene to music from the Opera.
Activity 7
The first “Mickey Mouse” comic strip appeared on January 13, 1930. Create some cartoon characters of your own to appear in your own comic strip. What colours will they be, what will they be called, what will they resemble? What story can you tell with your character that will fit into just 4 or 5 panels?
Why not take a photo of any of the activities you’ve tried this week and share it with us? You can share it on our Facebook, Instagram or Twitter or send it to melanie@purplepatcharts.org and we’ll put it online for you!