Footprints in the Sand

One morning long before
Grown ups had raised a blind
I crept down to the shore
To see what I could find

The tide must never sleep
Because, during the dark
It rises up to sweep
The beach of every mark

There before me lay
Shells in an endless line
And all along the bay
No footprints showed but mine

Sometimes they vanished when
I walked into the sea,
And then appeared again,
Most mysteriously,

As if I were the first to land
On an undiscovered shore,
Which my footprints on the sand
Captured without a war.

GEOFFREY DUTTON

Make Footprints in the Sand

To make a footprint take off your shoes and socks and put your foot on your journal page. Trace your foot and then carefully draw in the toenails.

Meditate upon your footprint and consider some of the footprints that you have left behind, the things that people will remember you for. On each toe, write an impression that you have made, a footprint that you have left behind.

Choose one toe and circle it. On the sole of your foot write more information about this particular event and why it stands out.

Now make a footmark in your visual journal and write a letter explaining why you will be remembered. To view some samples see some of the letters written, on the soles of feet, from Bellfield Primary School, Keon Park Primary School and North Preston East Primary School.

Footprints also provide a great way to set goals. On the soles of your feet write about the footprints you want to leave behind. Fill a shoe box, decorate insoles, make shoes, write on the bottoms of old shoes, pull out your baby shoes..... The possibilites are only limited by your imagination.

Enjoyed making footprints? Try using your hand to count some memories or how about using a big red nose to write about a particularly embarrassing moment that haunts you.

See how footprints can be applied to the study of the text, 'Stolen' and also discover how you can use them to write an article about your dreams being realised.