On Tuesday, I spent the morning at Westcliff Primary School, Dawlish in Devon, where gifted and talented groups from five schools met up for a workshop. I showed them my somewhat chaotic system for working out ideas.

We were going to come up with a creation myth for an animal. Each time I do this I promise myself I will choose a safe animal and lead the group in a safe direction and come up with a safe and satisfying result. But life’s not like that – is it?

We decided to do how snails got their shells. I set off thinking it would be relatively easy. It was not!

We ended up with a crazy plot in which British slugs went across the Channel in borrowed sea shells, to save their french cousins from being eaten by Frenchmen!

A Dad’s Army flavour entered the proceedings and we ended up with some very funny scenes and excellent, World War Two, Colonel Blimp type dialogue.

As I kept telling the children, it was only a first draft of an idea that needs lots of work on it yet. Hmm… drafting and editing seem to be children’s least favourite concepts!

Thanks for a great and funny morning chaps! Now – Forward – Advance and on to Victory!

ps here is the youtube link to my worm eating slug video!