Lewis Carroll & Alice In Wonderland

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Lewis Carroll & Alice In Wonderland

Jul 17, 2021

Unit study ideas

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was written by Lewis Carroll His real name was Charles Dodgson and he was born on the 27th January, 1832 in Daresbury in Cheshire. The family moved to Croft, Yorkshire in 1843 and he moved to Oxford as an adult in 1851. He attended Richmond School, Rugby school and Oxford University. He picked his nom-de-plume in 1856 and became a deacon in 1861. His other most famous work is Through the Looking Glass.

Lewis Carroll first told the story of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland whilst on a rowing trip on the River Isis (Thames) in Oxford on 4th July 1862. The book was published in 1865. The sequel, Through the Looking Glass, was published in 1871. Charles Dodgson was a keen amateur photographer and a skilled mathematician. He invented the Carroll diagram which is used to sort items into categories based on their attributes. He died in Guildford on 14th January, 1898.

It can be quite a challenge for today's young readers to tackle classic children's literature by themselves due to the differences in language and sentence structure. This makes them a good choice for a family read aloud so that younger children get the chance to hear stories that have stood the test of time without being put off by the challenge of having to plough through unfamiliar language. Personally, I've found that reading books like Alice's Adventures in Wonderland out loud to my children has given me the motivation to read the children's classics that I couldn't face as a child. I have always been glad when I've finished them, glad because the stories are so good and glad that my children get to hear them when they are still children. And, of course, my children have been glad I read them aloud to them too :)

I first read Alice's Adventures in Wonderland to my eldest son when he was about 4 years old. He thoroughly enjoyed it. I've since read it to my two younger ones, albeit when they were a bit older. My youngest son enjoyed it so much that he asked me to read Through The Looking Glass straight after.

There's a lot of scope to explore more with Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, here are just a few ideas for activities to try with your family:

- Make some biscuits and ice them with the words EAT ME

- Make some bottles of juice and label them with the words DRINK ME

- Hold a Mad Hatter's Tea Party

- Play croquet

- Find Daresbury, Croft, Oxford and Guildford on a map

- Invent your own pen name

- Go rowing

- Make an origami boat

- Have a picnic

- Learn about rabbits

- Learn about caterpillars and butterflies

- Make jam tarts