What Makes Me Happy: Short films inspired by children

This publication can be ordered from our distributor, NBN International.

These short films, produced by Save the Children and Ragdoll (the makers of Teletubbies and Rosie and Jim), tell the beautiful, funny and touching stories of being a child in six different places.

The stories come from young people's own memories of what made them happy as children and are acted by children. Although these children live in challenging environments, their stories contain plenty of laughter, surprise, play, and friendship. By exploring their stories your pupils can gain a better understanding both of the lives of others around the world and of their own. The films tell the stories of Ranjita from Nepal, Tommy from Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Amran from Ethiopia, Hashi from Sri Lanka, Junjie from China and Mahmoud from the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The accompanying teachers' guide provides ideas on how to use the films with primary school pupils aged 5-8. It contains activities that can be used to teach English, literacy and language awareness, geography and citizenship/PSHE. The films are not dubbed or subtitled and pupils are challenged to use their powers of observation and imagination.

The DVD provides:

• six ten-minute films for use with DVD players and interactive white-boards
• a 12-page teachers' guide
• images of the children and their communities to project or print out
• an electronic world map locating where the children live.

"I didn't want it to end!" Year 2 pupil, Myatt Garden Primary School, London

"The films really sparked off questions in the class, the films had asked them to examine their lives and helped them to realise how other children live and play in other countries." Teacher, St George the Martyr Primary School, London

"I could use these films in lots of different ways and contexts." Headteacher, Myatt Garden Primary School, London