Suggested Activities for The BFG, by Roald Dahl (1982)
The one notable element of Roald Dahl’s BFG that I think lends itself well to creative extension is the playful language of the Giant. Suggestions:
1. Children could write a poem using some of the BFG’s words and expressions.
- It might be a good idea to troll through the book first and make a list of useful or attractive words and idioms the BFG uses, a kind of bank from which to draw.
2. Children could write a supplementary story or chapter using BFG lingo. The heart of such a story would be the use of dialogue. Such a dialogue might be btwn Sophie and the BFG, or btwn two real people, or btwn two alternative characters outside the world of the BFG.
3. An enterprising class might even try to make a glossary of all the BFG’s terms and expressions. This might be particularly useful to students or classes studying or reviewing the parts of speech. If a glossary is too daunting, teachers might merely assign students to find, for example, 10 distinctly BFG adjectives or 10 BFG verbs.
4. (One might also be tempted to have students correct the BFG’s incorrect grammar - but I would suggest that is contrary to the spirit of the book.)
5. On p. 99 the Giant describes being able to hear the music of dreams. When Sophie is skeptical, he further explains that humans hear a message in music. They can’t always understand or explain what it is or what it means - but they do know that different music makes them feel a certain way.
“Sometimes human beans is overcome when they is hearing wonderous music. They is getting shivers down their spindels. So the music is saying something to them. It is sending a message. I do not think the human beans is knowing what the message is, but they is loving it all the same.”
This is a powerful concept, eloquently expressed by the BFG and might be expanded on. Students might be asked to reflect on how music might have a message and then be asked to write or talk about an example of music that made them feel a certain way. Or a teacher might play a specific piece of music - from a Beethooven sonata, to Taps, to a Souza march - and ask students to write about or describe what message they receive and how it makes them feel.