The Great Paper Caper

Age Range: 5 - 11


Book Author: Oliver Jeffers

See More Books from this author

Teaching Ideas and Resources:


  • Retell the story from the bear's point of view.
  • Look at the illustrations that show what the animals are saying. Can you turn these into speech bubbles? Could you use those speech bubbles to write what they are saying, using the correct punctuation?
  • Look at the pages that have illustrations, but no text. Can you write some sentences to describe what is happening in them?
  • Plan an interview with a detective to find out how they investigate real crimes.
  • The page that describes the confession in court uses 'and' lots of times. Can you rewrite it using other connectives? How does it change the description? Which do you prefer? Why do you think the author repeated 'and' so often?
  • Write a set of instructions to teach people how to make a paper aeroplane.
  • Record some video instructions to teach people how to make paper aeroplanes. Watch this one for inspiration:


  • Fly some paper aeroplanes and measure how far they fly. Can you put the results into a graph and describe what happened?


  • Find out what makes paper aeroplanes fly. Can you explain this to a friend?
  • Look at the illustration on the first page. Think about the different places where animals live. Why do they choose to live there?
  • Think about the different ways that animals use wood and other natural materials.

Design Technology

  • Have a paper aeroplane competition, using recycled paper to make your planes. Can you plan the competition? Which prizes could you award (e.g. furthest flight, highest flight, best decoration, best teamwork)?
  • Look at paper aeroplane designs and try to make some of them. Which is the best?


  • Can you design a new underground home for an animal?
  • Design a new poster to advertise the paper aeroplane competition. Can you make a poster to advertise your own competition?
  • Draw some of the photographs that were taken during the investigation into the missing trees.
  • Look at pictures of real aeroplanes. Can you draw / paint some of these? Can you use the pictures as inspiration to decorate your own paper planes?


  • Research how paper is made. Can you follow some instructions to make your own recycled paper?
  • Can you think of other items that can be recycled?
  • Can you make a poster to encourage people to reuse / recycle things when they have used them?
  • Make a list of other ways that we can help to look after our planet.
  • Can you plant some trees and grow them at your home / school?


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