TIZZY’S TOYBOX SPECIAL EDITION
35
SHERSTON
34
Educational Notes
Each activity within
Tizzy’s Toybox Special Edition
focuses on
developing and consolidating one or more basic skill. Of course,
the activities in the program provide only one of the many ways
that each skill can be fostered and below are some suggestions
for further activities that you might like to try.
Beads: Comparison of totals of sets, then numerals
O
Ask the children to make their own necklaces using laces
and beads. Compare the necklaces, introducing and
modelling the use of appropriate vocabulary: ‘Who’s
necklace has got more beads?’, ‘Nital has got fewer beads’.
Encourage children to compare the necklaces using one-to-
one correspondence, touching each bead as they count, if
necessary.
O
Hang up two washing lines and peg a different total of items
to each one every day. Create a theme around the items (for
example, breakfast items for the two giants/clothes for the
scarecrow) and each morning compare the new totals,
writing a daily label to display with the children:
‘Today the red king has got six eggs. The blue king has got three
eggs. The red king has got more eggs.’
O
Give each child a number card (1 – 10) and ask them to
thread the corresponding number of beads onto their lace.
Put the children into pairs to discuss who has more/less/the
same number of beads? How many more/fewer beads they
have etc.
O
Label two corners of the setting ‘more’ and ‘fewer’ and give
each child a beaded necklace. Gather the children in the
middle of the room and call out numbers 3, 5, 7 etc. Instruct
the children to move to the ‘more’ corner if their necklace
has more beads than the given number, the ‘fewer’ corner if
their necklace has less beads, or stay in the middle if they
have the same number.
Bears: Identifying sounds
O
Ask the children to sit in a ‘listening circle’. Ask them to be
silent for 1 minute and that at the end of the minute each
child needs to describe one sound that they heard.
O
Make an interactive display entitled ‘What can you hear?’
Place lots of everyday items that make contrasting sounds in
it. Ensure each group of children spend time exploring the
display. What is their favourite sound there? Which item
makes the sound?
O
Talk to children about the sound that their name begins with.
Can they draw/find a selection of items that begin with the
same sound?
O
Display a selection of objects on a table. Place a letter onto
the front of a bag and ask the children to select some
objects that could be put inside the bag.
Bucket and Spade: Positional language
O
Provide a seat and a familiar toy, for example a teddy and a
chair. Invite the children to place teddy in a series of
positions in relation to the chair, helping them to use the
correct vocabulary each time. Take a photo of each position
and create a display.
O
Choose a volunteer and whisper a position
(above/over/underneath etc) to them. Give the volunteer a
spade and a bag and ask them to place the spade in the
