Family Christmas celebrations become tense when a dessert is stolen from the fridge on Christmas Day. Who could have stolen it? Somebody must be lying, but who is it?

Teaching Ideas:

English:

• Continue the story – what happens next?
• Create character profiles for some of the characters. What vocabulary could you use to describe them?
• Check out our Fiction Writing Pack for the key features of a detective story (and many more genres).

• Collect detective books and stories like Detective Dog and The Great Paper Caper. What features do they have in common with this advert?
• Write some additional dialogue between two of the characters. What might they say to each other? What clues might they give away?
• Stop the video at 1:12 and describe the character’s expressions.
• Create a comic strip of the story.
• Use hot seating to explore the characters further.
• Create some social media posts from the point of view of different characters.
• Create a list of alliterative phrases based on the title of the advert; “Sweet Suspicion.”
• Act out the advert as a group.
• Generate a list of questions to ask the suspects
• Try your own crime scene activity.
• In the advert, the characters often say one thing when they mean another. For example, Mum says, “Cranberry sauce is my thing now”, but is shown scowling as she makes it (0:35-0:40). Make a list of these. Why do the characters do this?
• Stop the video at 0:50. Why has the chase scene from The Wrong Trousers been used here? (Gromit is chasing the penguin, who has stolen a diamond).
• Watch the section from 1:15 to 1:20. How is tension built in this section?
• Write a story that ends on a cliffhanger.
• Write the story from the point of view of one of the characters.
• Research the life and work of Agatha Christie.
• Ask the children to choose which of the characters they think is guilty and explain the reasons why. Then, watch part 2 and see who was right.

Maths:

• Give the children a budget per head, and ask them to plan and price a Christmas menu.

Science:

• How does cooking change food? Try tasting some different foods, for example, carrots, raw and cooked. What has happened to them? Which do you prefer?

Computing:

• Create a digital ad for the stolen dessert.
• Make a spreadsheet to plan and cost a meal for eight people.

Design Technology:

• Design a new Christmas dessert.
• Make a Christmas table setting.
• Design and make a Christmas cracker.
• Cook this simpler version of a gingerbread house.

Art:

• Stop the video at any point and sketch the scene.

Music:

• Listen to the soundtrack. Discuss how the music and sound effects add to the narrative.
• Create your own sound effects for the advert, using kitchen utensils.

Geography:

• Research Christmas food traditions from different countries.

PSHE:

• Have a class discussion about honesty. Why do you think the people in the advert are not honest?