Once upon a time some children built a castle and found a dragon!
Once upon a time some children in a prep class built a castle. They researched castles on the internet and in books, They learnt the names of the different parts of a castle and problem solved how to create a draw bridge and portcullis. They learnt about the castle keep and the different roles people played in castle life.
They made thrones with fabric decorations for the kings and queens to sit upon “because thrones are special chairs for kings and queens. They need decoration.”
The fair maidens wanted to wear tall hats and spent a lot of time making, and painting them to their own designs.
The castle was decorated with palace portraits to celebrate the learning of the /p/ sound.
Everyone needed a Coat of Arms to identify the castle family they belong to. (I gave them templates of varying shapes to choose from and we discussed their initials and family names. All the children used their initials and painted things they thought represented their family.)
Every castle needs a dragon, and this castle had one that liked to swoop down upon the battlements.
The dragon was soon joined by other dragons who needed a place to live, and so they made a dragon cave.
Now that there were lots of dragons swooping the castle, the people of the castle were puzzled – What were they to do to stop the dragons swooping? How were the dragons to be tamed? they pondered. The people of the castle decided to ask the dragon. The dragons left the people a “P” for a clue. What could this mean? they all thought. What could begin with the letter p? Popcorn? Peaches? Pears? Plums? Pasta? Pumpkin? People??????? (As I said earlier in this story we were learning about the sound /p/.) As the people of the castle suggested these things to the dragons, the dragons continued to fly around, until they heard the magic word…….. pizza! This was the secret food that begins with p that tames a dragon. The people of the castle promised to make the dragons some pizzas and so they all became friends
After a lot of preparation the day of the feast arrived. There were goblets and placemats and a long banquet table. We did lots of counting to make sure there were 25 of everything that was needed including chairs. The menu was published for all to peruse (lots of literacy) There were pizzas to make and fruit to be cut up. (Life in medieval times was difficult!)

The pizzas were made using muffins, tomato sauce, cheese, ham, pineapple, olives and mushrooms. The children made their own pizzas, selecting the toppings they wanted. We cooked them in the tuckshop oven.
When we looked inside the bag we found a dragon. Our quest was successfully completed!
There was nothing left to do but return, with our dragon, to the classroom and share another toast.