Body Talk

Featured Concepts:

Communication and Literacy, Knowledge and Understanding, Personal, Social and Emotional/Nature

Your Child Will Learn

Animals communicate with each other using different visual, auditory and tactile clues. We'll explore how humans communicate by exploring and experimenting with sounds, words and texts. 

 

Story Summary

On the Tiny Planets of Nature, Bing and Bong encounter a Flocker named Doris. They try to make friends with her but she is frightened. It is only after Bing and Bong observe how the Flockers communicate with each other, and the Flockers observe the ways in which Bing and Bong communicate, that each group is able to use this knowledge to interact well with each other.

Key Vocabulary 

• Animal names
• Animal sounds

Preparation

• Watch "Body Talk" with your child
• Talk about what Bing and Bong did in the story by asking questions like:
• Why do you think that Bing and Bong could not talk with Doris?
• What kinds of animal noises can you make?
• How do you think animals talk to each other?
• What languages do the people around us speak?
• Talk about how languages differ (e.g., English, French, Chinese, German, Spanish)
• Gather your materials and do the activity for "Animal Sound Game"

Additional Activities

• Sing "Old MacDonald" with a twist
  • Add elephants, tigers and other wild animals to build up the fun
• Play an animal guessing game (good for homes with multiple children)
  • Put pictures of animals onto head bands.
  • Give each child a headband but don't let them look at their animal's picture.
  • You and the other child have to make animal noises to help the child to learn its identity
• Listen to simple phrases in different languages and compare how they sound
  • e.g., French, German, Hindi, Chinese, Spanish, Dutch
• Using animal cards play "Concentration with a Twist"
  • Make duplicates of your animal cards so that you have matching sets
  • Place the animals face down and try to discover the matches
  • Before either person can claim their match they need to make the sound of the animals they've "captured"
    • If the wrong sounds are made the cards are replaced and it's the next person's turn

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Animal Sound Game

Materials

• A recording of animal sounds
• Pre-purchased animal sound tracks game or
• Audios of different animal sounds
• Make an audio where you make all the animal sounds
• Pictures (or models) of the different animals featured on the audio

Instructions

• Play the audio so that the child can listen to the various sounds.
• Then let the child look at the pictures or models of the animals.
• Repeat the audio letting the child identify the noise and link it to the animal.
• Show the pictures alone without the tape and ask the child to make the sounds.

HEALTH & SAFETY

• Ensure that if the child is playing the audios themselves it is a machine suitable for child to use and they are supervised.
• Battery operated is preferable as there is no electricity for the child to be in danger.