Dont Touch The Woolly Mammoth.

We created a few warm ups. Not for the body, because the kids had just had lunch and they were all thoroughly warmed up. These were warm ups for the imagination. The mind needs a warm up before working. The brain is a muscle and needs just as much help to get into exercise as any muscle in the body.

15 minutes into it I suggested they come up with ten house rules for living in a Stone Age cave. There were some beauties. The longer we went the more wonderful and bizarre the rules became. Stomp out the fire before you go to bed.

Pick the nits out of your furs every day.

Sweep the floor.

Wipe your feet before entering the cave.

Grunt Properly.

Eat with your mouth closed if the food is still alive, otherwise it'll get away.

Then a little girl timidly put her hand up. Shed been quiet so far, while everyone else had been getting more and more animated. I smiled. Yes Ella.

Dave McCleery, the cartoonist and a man I just love working with, turned his attention away from the white board he was doodling on and faced the Ella. The class was a year four group, fun, sharp, happy. Ella was the quiet one. She spoke so softly I nearly missed the words. Dont touch the woolly mammoth. She said sheepishly.

Sometimes things are so funny the room explodes. Dave was on the floor, doubled up laughing.

It took a while to calm down, I couldnt stop laughing and poor Dave was crying, while the class were clutching their stomaches and were temporarily lost to us.

Dave bounced over to the white board for a minute before moving away again. An enormous mammoth, gleaming sharp tusks and salivating mouth, glaring down with wild eyes at a tiny girl the spitting image of Ella, reaching up ever so gently to touch the mighty beast on the nose.

The moment is forever gratefully captured in my mind. Its one of many I treasure.

Dont Touch The Woolly Mammoth is soon to be a book, and theres no prizes for guessing who it will be dedicated to.