The Jackdaw and the Hare: discussion sheet

Part Two: The Muddles · about 6 minutes to read aloud · Theme: delegation

Two neighbours each send a machine to bid for the same quilt, both told to bid a little more. The price climbs past the mill until a child asks who the quilt is for.

Choose a question to talk over, or try the activity with words and pictures.

Start here

What did Hester and Idris each tell their machine, and why did the price keep climbing?

Go further

The jackdaw and the hare stopped bidding and went to fetch their people. If a machine were doing a job for you, when would you want it to stop and come and find you?

Make something

Give Hester and Idris a different ending to the auction. The bee square and the sheep square must both matter, and neither person can spend more than their purse holds.

Read The Jackdaw and the Hare online: youngmachines.org/read/fables/the-jackdaw-and-the-hare/