Adult-led activities.
A story of surprises
In the story Handa's Surprise by Eileen Browne (Walker Books, pb 4.99, bb 12.99; dual-language format, Mantra Publishing, 6.99), Handa sets out to surprise her friend Akeyo by taking her a basketful of choice fruits. She carries the basket on her head and on the way, various animals take the fruits from her basket until there are none left. Then a goat breaks free from its stake and charges towards Handa.
Before he reaches her, he runs into a tree and the fruit cascades down, filling Handa's basket with tangerines. Unaware of all this, Handa carries on walking until she reaches her friend's house. Both friends have a surprise when they look inside the basket!
Key learning intention
To begin to sustain attentive listening and respond to a story by offering relevant comments, questions or actions
Adult:child ratio 1:up to six.
Resources.
* Handa's Surprise by Eileen Browne, in dual language, if possible * Large sheet of paper and thick felt-tip pen * Pencil and coloured crayons/felt-tip pens * basket * fresh fruit: a banana, guava, orange, mango, pineapple, avocado pear, passion fruit, six to eight tangerines * Large bowl and knives * A saucepan with 1/2 pint (300ml) water * 100g sugar * wooden spoon *Toy animals in a cloth bag for retelling the story: a monkey, ostrich, zebra, elephant, giraffe, antelope, parrot, goat * strips of paper *plastic fruits matching those in the story
Preparation
* Arrange for a trip to the supermarket with the children to buy the fruits that are identified in the story.
* Arrange for the fruit salad prepared in the activity below to go on the snack menu.
Activity content
* Read the story to the children several times. If you have bilingual children, arrange to have a parent or staff member who speaks their first language to read the story too, or to follow up with questions.
* Make a list on the large sheet of paper of all the fruits in the story.
The adult could act as scribe.
* Let the children take turns to draw and colour a fruit next to its name.
Discuss the shape, size and colour of the fruit. Talk about why it is important to make a list, and to have the pictures as well as the words when you go shopping.
* Go to the supermarket with your list and buy one of each fruit and a bagful of tangerines. The children can match the fruits to those on the list.
* Back in the setting, place the fruit in the basket. Let each child come and choose a fruit and see if they can identify it, and then return it to the basket.
* Introduce the toy animals. Let the children come, in turn, to put their hand into the cloth bag and pick an animal. Can they identify the animal before pulling it from the bag? Can they describe its shape to the other children?
* When the animal has been identified, write its name on a large strip of paper and stand the animal on it.
* Let children take turns to match up the fruit to the animal that took it in the story.
* Put the fruit, except for the tangerines, back in the basket.
* Re-enact the story with the children playing the parts. They can pick up an animal and take the appropriate fruit when it is their turn.
* 'Handa' might have to carry her basket behind her rather than on top of her head so the others can reach - the real fruit will also be quite heavy, which could provide a useful talking point. Some children may have seen their parents or grandparents carrying items on their heads. A parent might be willing to come in to demonstrate.
* Now prepare a fruit salad. Make sure all the children wash their hands and wear aprons. Prepare the fruit for the children to chop it into small pieces -show them how to use the knives correctly.
* Take this opportunity to compare the different peel on the fruits and talk about their different seeds.
* Put these seeds aside to dry and plant them at a later date.
* Add sugar to the saucepan of water and heat gently until the sugar has dissolved. Do the children know where the sugar has gone? And what do they think the water will taste like now?
* Leave the sweetened water to cool. Let the children find out if they were right about the taste.
* Pour the water into the fruit bowl and then let the children gently stir in the fruit.
* Share the salad at snack time.
Extending learning.
Key vocabulary from the story
Surprise; favourite; banana, guava, orange, mango, pineapple, avocado pear, passion fruit and tangerine; monkey, ostrich, zebra, elephant, giraffe, antelope, parrot and goat; delicious, soft yellow, sweet-smelling, round juicy, ripe red, spiky-leafed, creamy green, tangy purple.
Questions to ask
* Has anyone given you a surprise? What happened? What did it feel like?
* There are two surprises in this story. Who can tell us what they are?
* We are going to the supermarket to buy the fruits in the story. What should we write on our list?
* Can you tell us what this fruit looks/feels/smells like? How big/heavy is it? What is it called?
* Can you put the fruit next to the animal that took it?
* Can you find the biggest and the smallest fruit?
* Which fruit has the roughest/smoothest peel? Which fruit has the biggest/smallest seed?
* What is your favourite fruit? Where do pineapples come from?
Child-initiated learning
Encourage the children to further explore the themes in the story by providing materials for use in other curriculum areas
Role play area.
Additional resources.
* Plastic fruit * a basket * animal models or masks.
Possible learning experiences
* Encountering empathy and active listening in sharing feelings about surprises or shocks.
* Exploring another culture through acting out the story using the props provided.
The practitioner role
* Encourage the children to talk about their own surprises, being aware that some children may need to share unpleasant surprises, or frights.
Handa might have had a shock when she reached her friend's house and found all the fruit had disappeared.
* Provide time, space and materials for children to collaborate with one another through sharing confidences.
* Model the language that the children may need to express their feelings of surprise - for example, 'excited', 'worried', 'it made me jump', 'it gave me a shock'.
* Encourage the children to bring in a fruit they eat at home, perhaps with a recipe to initiate another session of food preparation that will introduce the children to a diversity of dishes.
Number area.
Additional resources
* Real and/or plastic fruit * pictures of the fruits from the inside cover of the book, or from other books and posters * models of the animals from the story
Possible earning experiences
* Developing an interest in numbers and counting.
* Beginning to compare two groups of objects and match them; one-to-one correspondence helps the children to understand what a number is.
* Beginning to show an interest in similarities of shape and size and texture by playing with shapes and making arrangements with objects.
The practitioner role
* Count the fruits together as a group. Some of the children will be able to count further than others, but they can all join in, as far as they are able, in the safety of the group. If the book is available in the book corner, then the children will continue to practise their own counting.
* Model number language such as 'one, two...', 'how many?' 'count', 'which is first?'
* Plastic fruit is useful for prolonged play activities, but, if during this topic, you can place different real fruits on an interactive display table, the children will feel the texture and the weight of the fruit, and note colour(s), size and smell.
* Model language that the children need to express a comparison, for example, 'different from', 'same as', 'longer than', 'heavier than', 'smaller than'.
* Encourage the children to talk about the shapes of the fruit and the animals and the way they have ordered or arranged them.
* Provide and encourage the children to play and talk about the set of fruit and the set of animals on the topic table. 'Which ones are the same shape, size, colour, texture?
* Encourage the children to sort the fruits, and then the animals according to a particular characteristic, for example, 'all the fruit with a rough peel' or 'all the animals with horns'.
