Winnie-the-Pooh Play Guide

What to know – before the show!

Play Synopsis

Pooh Bear has a big plan—he’s trying to catch a Heffalump! But poor Piglet is feeling scared of the Heffalump, and he’s not the only one facing a challenge. Rabbit, who doesn’t want Kanga and Roo to stay, hatches a silly plan to steal Roo by disguising Piglet as Roo!

Meanwhile, Eeyore is feeling a little down because no one remembers his birthday. But don’t worry—his friends are here to help! Piglet tries to give Eeyore a birthday gift, a beautiful red balloon, but… POP! Oh no, it bursts!

And where has Eeyore’s tail gone? It’s missing, but Pooh finds it on Owl’s door (whoops!). In the end, everyone makes things right: Rabbit apologizes for his trick, Kanga forgives him, and Pooh gives Eeyore his very own hunny pot as a special birthday gift! Eeyore puts the popped balloon inside the pot, and it’s the best present ever!

The friends celebrate with a fun meal at Kanga’s house, singing songs and enjoying their life together in the Hundred Acre Wood.

Play Before the Play

A TOY’S STORY

Every stuffed animal has its own story to tell, just like Winnie-the-Pooh. Begin by asking your class to think about their favorite stuffed animal. If a student doesn’t have a stuffed animal of their own at home, allow them to think of a stuffed animal they may like to have instead. Now ask your students to consider the following questions:

What kind of animal is it?
What’s your stuffed animal’s name?
What makes your stuffed animal companion special?
What would your stuffed animal want if it were real (e.g. – a friend, to go on adventures, etc.)?
What might make it hard for your stuffed animal to get what it wants? What obstacles might they face keeping them from their goal?
What would your stuffed animal say or talk about if it could talk?

Have students introduce their stuffed companions with the class and share their toy’s story.

KAS: ELA.K.C.1.2; ELA.1.C.1.2; ELA.2.C.1.2

POOH-LATES: A STRETCH EXERCISE

Pooh-Bear loves a good stretch, so get your students moving and ready to adventure with the Hundred Acre Woods gang by imagining how the characters in LCT’s production of Winnie-the-Pooh might stretch their bodies!

Pooh’s Honey Reach: Start by having your students stretch like Winnie-the-Pooh. Have your students stand up and gently bend over at the waist and touch their toes before slowly coming back to a standing position. Pooh loves honey, so ask the class to imagine there’s a big jar of honey on the highest shelf in their kitchen. Encourage students to extend their arms, wiggle their fingers, and get up on their tippy toes as if they’re trying to reach that jar of honey.

Bounce Like Tigger: After firmly placing their feet back on the ground, move to stretching like Pooh’s pal Tigger. Everyone knows that Tigger loves to bounce, so have your students bounce up and down in place. How high can they safely bounce? Can they reach up their hands to the sky as they bounce away?

Slow-and-Steady Eeyore: Bouncing can be a little tiring, so slow things down by stretching like Eeyore. He likes to move slowly, so encourage your students to stretch slowly, too. Have them reach their arms out to the sides as slow as they can, almost as if they’re stretching with sleepy arms when they first wake up in the morning. Challenge your class to see how long they can take to fully extend their arms.

Little Piglet: Piglet is small, so now it’s time for tiny stretches. Have your students stretch their arms up to the sky, but not too high because Piglet is little. Have them wiggle their fingers and toes as subtly as they can.

On the Fly with Owl: Owl loves to fly, so have your students stretch out their arms as if they were wings. Ask students to gently flap their arms as if they were gliding through the air. For added stretches, add in levels or change the pace of their flapping.

Now that you’ve gone through all the stretches, cycle through them like you would if you were doing a series of reps and sets at the gym. You can even turn your stretching time into a game of Christopher Robin Says… where you call out a character and the students have to do the corresponding stretch without missing a beat. Remember to always encourage students to move in a safe manner that is comfortable for themselves and their bodies while still being aware of the space around them.

KAS: PE.K.M.1.1; PE.1.M.1.1; PE.2.M.1.1

DESIGN-A-HEFFALUMP!

Pooh and Piglet decide they want to catch a Heffalump, but they’ve never seen one in real life. Ask your students to imagine what a heffalump might look like. Does it have a trunk like an elephant or wings like a bird and stripes like a tiger? What color is it? Provide each student with materials to draw out their heffalump. Then ask your students to think about how their heffalump acts. Are they fierce or friendly? What do they like to do for fun?

Now that each student has designed their heffalump, it’s time to think about how they would catch it. Give students time to think of their plan to catch a heffalump then have them draw out a simple comic of their plan. You can give students a slip of paper with three empty boxes (or comic panels) to illustrate how they would catch their heffalump. Are they successful in their story or does the creature manage to get away? After everyone’s heffalump designs and comic strips are done, have them share them with the class. How

Extend the Experience: Design a heffalump as a class. Allow each student to take a turn in adding a physical attribute to the heffalump’s design. Then have your students bring their creation to life. How does a heffalump with six arms and a long, curly tail move? Does the heffalump use camouflage to hide from hunters?

KAS: VA.K.C.1.1; VA.1.C.1.1; VA.2.C.1.1

Contextual Article

FRIENDS IN THE FOREST: HOW ANIMALS LIVE TOGETHER

Just like humans have a home, wild animals have homes, too. Keep reading below to learn about how animals living forests get along:

What is a habitat?
A habitat is where an animal lives and encompasses many resources, both physical (such as soil and light intensity) and biotic (such as food availability and predator threat level), that make up and contribute to a species’ ability to survive and thrive. Habitats can be found in large geographical areas, but they can also refer to smaller things like a rotten log or the host’s body in the case of a parasitic organism.

Habitat-types refer to the larger environmental characteristics of a geographical region and are impacted by a variety of factors like natural events (e.g. – earthquakes and hurricanes), climate, and more. Some of the major habitat types include:

Terrestrial (e.g. – forests; terrestrial habitat types also encompasses arid and wetland types)
Arid (e.g. – deserts and grasslands)
Wetland and Riparian (e.g. – bogs and swamps)
Freshwater (e.g. – rivers and lakes)
Marine (e.g. – reefs and estuaries)
Urban (this refers to animals and plants that use a city’s features to make their homes)

Within each habitat type is smaller habitats. Some animals live in trees while others burrow underground or live in the water. Winnie-the-Pooh and his friends live in the Hundred Acre Wood, a forest. That’s their habitat.

She-bear and cubs. Brown bear cubs climbs a tree. Natural habitat. In Summer forest. Sceintific name: Ursus arctos.

Animals Coexist
Habitats are comprised of many species living together. Even though they are different, they coexist and often interact in ways that can either harm (such as predation or parasitism) or benefit (such as symbiosis or pollination) one another. For example, bees help flowers by spreading pollen which helps more flowers grow. Herbivores in the habitat will eat those plants while carnivores might prey on the herbivores. Still, they all live and work together in the life cycle of the forest habitat.

Who lives in the forest?

Forests are among the most biodiverse habitats on the planet. According to the International Fund for Animal Welfare, there is an estimated 6,700 species of animal in Earth’s forests. The UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-MCMC) states that Earth’s forests contain 60,000 different species of trees and are home to 80% of the world’s known amphibian species and 75% of known bird species. Forests are a fascinating habitat where rabbits burrow in the ground, owls live in hollowed out trees, and bears hibernate in caves during the winter.

Just like Winnie-the-Pooh and his friends, these animals all share the forest. Even though they are different, they all need food, water, and a safe place to live. Isn’t it amazing how they can live together and help take care of their home?

How to grow – after the show!

Extend the Experience

NATURE WALK

Winnie-the-Pooh and his friends are woodland creatures you can see out the wild. As a class, go on a nature walk at a nearby park or even just around the grounds of your school. Have your students observe any animals they may find such as insects or birds. Remind students that wild animals should not be approached or disturbed, so they should watch safely from a distance. Bring notebooks and writing utensils to act as field journals so your students can document their findings. Ask them to draw pictures and write down their thoughts and observations or any questions they may have. Where do roly-polys like to hide? What kind of bird is singing in the nearby trees?

Your students can explore the vegetation in the area as well. See how many flowers they can name or how many fallen trees they can spot. Help students determine which plants are safe to be around and which can cause allergic reactions such as poison ivy or poison oak. When you return to your classroom, allow students a chance to share some of their findings with one another. You can even schedule a day at the library to encourage your students to look up answers to some of the questions they wrote down in their field journals.

KAS: K-LS1-1; 2-LS4-1

A PLEASANT PRESENT SURPRISE: A KINDNESS PROJECT

In LCT’s production of Winnie-the-Pooh, Eeyore celebrates his birthday and receives a special present from his friends. Presents come in all shapes and sizes, but the most important part of a gift is the thought put into getting or making something special for the ones you love. As a class, pick someone important to your class to make a special gift for. It could be your principal, a beloved janitor, or a student in need. Then, as a class, decide on the gift you’d like to give that person. Maybe it’s a small plant for their office or an original story written by your students featuring their chosen recipient as the main character. It doesn’t matter how big or small the gift is, it simply matters that your students have put in the effort to choose and/or make the gift. Wrap the gift and have your students either make or sign a card to include with their present. Then, as a class, deliver the gift to their chosen recipient and see how just a little bit of kindness can make anyone’s day!

KAS: 1.H.CO.1

FROM PAGE TO STAGE AND SCREEN

The version of Winnie-the-Pooh you saw at Lexington Children’s Theatre was an adaptation of the original book written by author A.A. Milne. The playwright who adapted the book for this version of the play is Le Clanche du Rand. But did you know that there are multiple adaptations of the original book for both stage and screen?

Often when playwrights adapt a book for the stage, they tell the story differently than the author of the book from which they base the play. Read A.A. Milne’s book and compare what happens in the book to what happens in LCT’s production of du Rand’s adaptation. Then watch any of the film and television adaptations of Winnie-the-Pooh such as The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1988) or Christopher Robin (2018). What was different? How were things the same? Make a list of the differences and similarities.

KAS: TH:Cn11.2.3.a; TH:Re9.1.1.c