1 CHILD-INITIATED
Encourage the children to bath and hang the soft toys out to dry, just like Ben does in Threadbear.
Resources
Soft toys including bears, a plastic baby bath, bubble bath, soap, sponges, flannels, towels, washing line, pegs in a peg basket.
Play suggestions
* Gather the soft toys in the setting.
* Talk about the equipment and what each item is used for - provide this over a period of time to enable the children to revisit the activity.
* Join in with children's play where appropriate and talk about the activity.
Possible learning outcomes
* Observes others before engaging in the activity.
* Explores the properties of water and the effects of adding soap.
* Shows an awareness of personal hygiene.
* Shows an awareness of the needs of others.
* Represents personal experiences through role-play.
* Works independently and selects appropriate equipment.
* Works co-operatively with others, negotiating roles and taking turns with equipment.
* Looks closely at the changes that occur when materials are put into water and dried again.
* Comments on observations and asks why things happen.
* Talks through and reflects on what is happening.
* Refers to key events in Threadbear.
* Shows control and co-ordination when manipulating equipment such as pegs.
2 Noisy toys
ADULT-LED
Use Threadbear's 'squeaker' as a starting point for looking at toys that squeak, buzz and bleep.
Planned learning intentions
To look closely at how toys work and how they produce sounds
To discriminate between sounds
Adult:child ratio 1:6
Resources
A bear (preferably one that resembles Threadbear and has a 'squeaker'); a screen or large box; a range of 'noisy' toys from the setting or perhaps including some that belong to the children - for example, a musical shaker, a clockwork animal, a bear that growls. (Share the aims of this activity with parents and carers.) Activity content
* Ask the children to sit in a circle in a quiet area of the setting. Place the children's own toys on a display table nearby. Children who have not brought a toy from home should be encouraged to choose one of the toys from the setting.
* Introduce 'Threadbear'. Pass him around and invite the children to squeeze him gently to make him squeak.
* Taking turns, ask the children to collect their own toy from the table, to tell the group about it, to demonstrate the noise that it makes and to encourage the other children in the group to try to reproduce the sound vocally.
* Talk with the group about how the toy sounds are made and how they vary.
* Hide the toys behind a screen and, one at a time, produce a sound with each toy. Ask the children to guess which toy has made the sound.
Stepping stones
Children with little experience will be keen to press buttons, turn handles and squeeze teddies to make a sound. They will show interest in the sounds they hear and may benefit from free exploration rather than the more structured circle activity. They will enjoy experimenting with their voices.
Children with some experience will be curious about how sounds are made and will compare sounds. They will be able to discriminate between different sounds and try to reproduce each with their voices.
Children with more experience will suggest how sounds are made and be able to discriminate between similar sounds. They will describe sounds and be able to mimic a range of sounds vocally.
Extension ideas
* Plan a focus in the technology workshop making toys or shakers that make a sound.
* Encourage the children to experiment with voice sounds in other contexts - for example, flying a kite: 'Whoosh!', or pretending to launch a rocket: 'Zoom!'
3 Bright as a button
CHILD-INITIATED
Children are always fascinated by a box of buttons and will develop many skills and concepts as they spend long periods of time sifting through them.
Resources
A large box of assorted buttons, small plastic pots, sectioned sorting trays, flat shallow trays, grids, number lines, dice, spinner. (Ask parents and carers to contribute buttons.) Play suggestions
* Allow children uninterrupted periods of time to handle and look at the buttons. (The maths area would be a suitable location for this activity.)
* Look at the picture of Threadbear and recap on why he has a button for an eye.
* Count the number of holes in Threadbear's button. Encourage the children to look for buttons with four holes.
* Encourage the children to develop their play by talking to them about their observations and suggesting some new criteria for sorting them.
* Observe children's play. Identify and support individual learning interests.
Possible learning outcomes
* Explores the buttons, finding out about their various features.
* Sorts buttons by a range of criteria.
* Shows an awareness of size and shape.
* Uses language such as 'big', 'bigger', 'circle' to describe and compare sizesand shapes.
* Orders buttons according to size.
* Uses everyday positional language.
* Discriminates between colours.
* Counts reliably (for example, the number of buttons in a line).
* Compares two groups of objects.
* Explores pattern.
* Uses buttons as a representational media by organising them in different ways to produce images.
* Makes up own games.
* Chooses favourite buttons and offers explanations for particular choices.
* Works co-operatively with other children, sharing ideas and swapping buttons.
* Shows control when picking up and positioning buttons.
Extension idea
* Use buttons from the button box to repair 'eyeless' soft toys with the children.
4 The squeaker tree
CHILD-INITIATED
Create your very own 'squeaker' tree in the setting.
Resources
Find a suitable tree (if there is no tree available, use a branch secured in a tub of sand), box of narrow ribbons, 'noisy' items to hang on the tree - wind chimes, metal spoons, lengths of bamboo and copper piping, wide ribbons cut from plastic.
Play suggestions
* Read Threadbear with the children and focus on his discovery of the squeaker tree. Suggest that the children create their own special sound tree.
* Ask the children to choose the tree and mark it by tying a ribbon around the trunk.
* Encourage them to explore the sounds that they can produce with the wind chimes and other items before hanging them on their designated tree.
* Encourage the children to find other 'noisy' objects from around the setting, to tie them to the tree with ribbons and to talk about the noises they make.
* Suggest adding to the tree over a period of time. The children can make their own chimes or 'shakers' in the workshop or may be captivated by the sound, for example, that their hair bobbles make when they click together.
Any sound that interests the child can be added to the tree.
Possible learning outcomes
* Shows an interest in sounds.
* Shows an increased awareness of sounds in the environment.
* Responds to sound with facial expressions, gesture or body movement.
* Listens carefully to sounds.
* Investigates using the sense of hearing.
* Experiments with a range of objects and materials in order to produce and change sounds.
* Comments on the combined effect of adding lots of 'sounds' to the tree.
* Uses one sound to represent another.
* Discriminates between different sounds.
* Makes independent choices and talks with others about particular choices they have made.
* Talks about story ideas from Threadbear and expresses own imaginative ideas.
