This highly adaptable story can be simply listened to and acted out, or can be learnt by heart, or can lead to highly imaginative additions.

Preparation

1 Learn the story by heart.

2 Make a cupboard. Use a large piece of paper, folded, with a cupboard door drawn on one side. Or better still, cut the buttoms out of two large, flat cardboard boxes and hinge them together. Draw panels of a cupboard door on one, including a handle.

In class

1 Show the illustrations to the story on the overhead projector or give each pair of children a copy. Ask the children how many words they can give you about the picture. Help them to include: town, road, house, door, stairs, room, cupboard. Teach the word dark by saying that each object is dark. If there is any doubt put your head in the cupboard in your room or cover your eyes.

2 Tell the story several times until the children can repeat it with you.

3 Let them mime it at their desks with books for buildings and a ruler for a road and an imaginary door to open. The children can move their fingers for walking up the stairs.

4 Ask the children to imagine with you different things which could be in the cupboard.

Examples: There is an old elephant in the cupboard.

There is a cow in the cupboard.

There is an angry teacher in the cupboard.

5 Ask every child to draw one of the ideas and then to stick them inside the cupboard you have made.