‘Live Encounter’ is what we call our award-winning workshop days. They are a series of activities, games and challenges designed to teach your class about a certain topic. They are led by an important and knowledgable character in full, authentic costume.

As a teacher, it is a dream come true:

• a whole class instantly engaged in your new topic
• a new range of games and activities you can use and adapt for the rest of your teaching career
• a relatable character to reference for the rest of the term
• a cross-curricular day of learning
• a day of children demonstrating their knowledge in a practical way
• an opportunity for your class to practice their interpersonal skills
• pictures and videos of your class with beaming smiles
• countless conversations with parents about the day their child met a soldier/jedi/Egyptian princess
• a better understanding of what your class know and don’t know about the topic

Most importantly, you get a day to see how your class react to certain challenges and activities. Most teachers have actually told us that the thing they find most useful is the ability to just watch the class. The opportunity to take a step back and learn things about members of your class is an incredibly useful and valuable gift that will influence the way that you teach for the rest of the year.

We don’t like introductions. It slows the pace and feels too formal. We normally start the day by bursting into your classroom after the register is done. It’s a much more dynamic and exciting way to get the class onboard. The class then get a chance to ask some questions to understand who the character is and where they have come from.

Normally this will be followed by a series of games or activities. These are always hands-on and practical. We aim to have the children up on their feet within half an hour. Often they are taught to build or create something that will help them later on.

The day ends with a big event or challenge to help the children demonstrate the knowledge and skills they’ve acquired throughout the day.

KS2 history topics:

• Egyptians
• WW1
• WW2
• Vikings
• Normans
• Stone Age
• Medieval England
• American History

We also offer days on popular children’s books, our sustainable energy day (Tiny Green Planet) and local heritage projects. 

A full day is usually £300* and half a day is £200*.

School budgets are tight, we understand that. Unlike with school trips, time and money aren’t wasted on coaches, packed lunches and consent forms. The money is invested in resources, props and costumes to ensure we make the most of every minute in your classroom. We bring the learning to you, which means that children are in a safe and comfortable environment and your school’s precious time and money is being used for what really matters.

Each booking also receives a free personalised video message from the character, which means that the experience can continue long after we have left.

*plus VAT

No, we have worked in three classes in one day before. This normally works best if we let the character interrupt parts of the day with smaller activities and games, then move around to the next class, and so on. When the character is not with the class, they can either continue their day as normal, or we have activities to keep them occupied whilst the character is with another class.

Three would probably be the maximum amount of classes for one day, as we want the children to create a relationship with the character so we need to allow time for that.

Also, if we work with multiple classes in a day, we usually suggest that we use a big open space (playground or sports hall) to create a big group activity with all the classes to finish the day.

Once we have the structure of the day (a rough idea of when break and lunch are) we will start putting together the day.

It’s as easy as that.

All the resources and materials will be taken care of. We even have forms to send out to parents if required.

Complete an availability form or send an email to info@bluekazoo.co.uk to book your very own Live Encounter day. All of our days are ready to go – whether it’s next week, next term or next year. Let us know and we will put together a special day for your class.

Our availability varies throughout the year, so let us know in advance if there is a particular date you wanted to book.

I honestly can’t remember. I think it has something to do with one of the first Theatre in Education projects I was involved with. We performed an interactive and immersive version of a story about a penguin who got lost. I was puppeteering the penguin and found a kazoo to act as the voice of the penguin. The name doesn’t really mean anything. I wish I had a better story about where the name came from.

‘Bloop’ is the name of our video series we launched in Summer 2019. The purpose of the videos is to encourage teachers and children to talk about real issues they wouldn’t normally get to talk about. These issues include bullying, mental health, climate change, etc. They are bitesize, five minute videos on each issue to help spark conversations in school. They’re really great starting points for assemblies and PSHE lessons too.