Choice Activity 4: HERCULES FINDS FOOD AND DRINK

The previous activity concerned Hercules’ arrival at the strange place where curious things will happen to him. In this fourth activity, the students are prepared for these curious things through tasks designed to help them engage deeper with what is going on in the right hand side of the landscape in which the hero finds himself. Here Hercules comes to notice something else about the place where he has paused for rest and reflection.

Part 1

Firstly, the facilitator points out that, on the right side of the scene, in the lush landscape, there are two baskets:

 

On closer inspection, it turns out that these are full of fruit. In fact they are packed full of fruit – filled to the brim. And so full is one of the baskets that some of the pieces of fruit look like they are going to fall out. One of the baskets is so full that the lid won’t fit on it. The other basket is so packed full that it has fallen over.

Where appropriate, the facilitator might ask the children to say the names of the colours – and to say words that are suitable to the fruit, e.g. ‘pretty,’ ‘red,’ ‘green,’ ‘apple.’ Again if appropriate the children can be encouraged to say words that are evoked by the fruit, such as ‘hungry’ and ‘eat.’

To help the students engage with the scene, the activity could be accompanied with pictures of fruit, or models of fruit, which could be piled up in the baskets like they are on the panel. The fruit could be touched; the children could, again, be encouraged to say the best words to describe them – again, perhaps, ‘hungry,’ or ‘pretty’ – and they could reach out and touch the fruit or perhaps pretend to eat it.

Part 2

Secondly, the facilitator points out that there is a jug in the scene:

 

The group members could be encouraged to think about what it might contain. Again the children could be encouraged to say the words that come to mind in associating with it (e.g. ‘cup, ’‘drink,’ ‘thirsty’). As with the fruit, the activity could be accompanied with pictures of drinking vessels, including – potentially – ancient Greek ones. For those users of the materials who are interested in ancient culture, I am considering developing an information sheet /worksheet about food and drink in the classical world. This will include information on some of the drinking vessels and their decoration, including with mythical scenes, and including scenes depicting Hercules.

Another possibility would be that the facilitator could provide actual cups or jugs, from which the children could pretend to drink.[1]

Part 3

Thirdly, the facilitator points out that there is a fruit and foliage to the top right of the scene – as well as a large covering, perhaps to provide shade for visitor to the scene:

 

The facilitator provides the same colouring equipment that has been used previously. The children pick colours suitable various items of fruit, the drinking vessel and the flowers and the hanging. Then they colour them in. This could be a group activity, where each participant takes one aspect of the food, drink and foliage and colours them in.[2] A supplementary activity could be create models of the fruit or to do drawings of flowers or foliage. To help the children, the facilitator could supply actual flowers, or pictures of flowers. These might include examples of fruit on ancient artworks – which commonly include such things are wreaths and flowers. I am currently compiling some examples of these – as a possible inspiration for this activity.

 

For those who find regular patterns comforting, some of the repetitive designs on ancient vases or sculpture might be particularly appealing. For now, here again (see also the 'scholarly note' close to the end of the previous activity), is one of the scenes from the reconstructed temple of Athena Nike which includes a patterns of flowers/foliage. I shall supply further examples later on.

 

In the next activity, the focus will shift away from the abundant fruit and foliage on one side of the scene to the objects in the harsher terrain on the other side.

 

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[1] On the role of play in group activities for autistic children, see Rita Jordan and Sarah Libby, "Developing and using play in the curriculum," in in Rita Jordan and Stuart Powell, eds., Autism and Learning: A Guide to Good Practice (London and New York: Routledge, 2012; updated edition, originally published 1997), 25-39. On putting meaning on ‘stimuli’ in activities for autistic children, see Ami Klin, "Attributing Social Meaning to Ambiguous Visual Stimuli in Higher-Functioning Autism and Asperger Syndrome: The social Attribution Task," Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines 41.7 (2000): 831-846.

[2] On the role of group work to help in the development of communication skills, see Margaret M. Golding, "Beyond Compliance: the Importance of Group Work in the Education of Children and Young People with Autism," in Rita Jordan and Stuart Powell, eds., Autism and Learning: A Guide to Good Practice (London and New York: Routledge, 2012; updated edition, originally published 1997), 40-53.