Light Fantastic

Episode 55                                                             Planet: Light and Colour

Learning concept of the episode: We can use light to communicate messages.

Story Summary

Bing and Bong find a fruit-dispensing machine, and pull the lever for a piece of red fruit. They don’t get their fruit immediately but the duo noticed a Flocker leave the machine and dash to a nearby fruit garden. While the Flocker picks the fruit and brings it back, Bing and Bong notice green and red lamp plants that light up when they are touched. They have an idea! By devising a system to use the coloured lights of the plants to signal what colour fruit needs to be catapulted to the machine, they can help the Flocker transport the coloured fruit. The system works out well until a pair of butterflies flutter in front of the lamp plants, causing a rapid fire siege of red and green fruit.

Focus Early Learning Goal

Communication Language and Literacy 15: Know that print carries meaning and, in English, is read from left to right and top to bottom.

Linked ELGs

CLL3, KU3, KU7, P1, P2

Preparation

• Watch the Tiny Planets episode 
• Talk about what Bing and Bong did in the story.

Talk about…..

• Ways of communicating information to each other.
• Communication using light, e.g. light houses, traffic lights.

Focus Activity

Bing and Bong’s Traffic Light Game (see overleaf)

Follow-on Activities

• Going for a walk to look at real traffic lights working
• Focus on light houses, what are they telling fishermen
• Paint light house pictures
• Make traffic lights using coloured paper
• Have a mock traffic light set, to use when playing outside with wheeled toys

Bing and Bong’s Traffic Light Game

Aim

For the children to copy orders given, through a code of colour.

Resources

• Three torches
• Cellophane in three colours, red, orange and green.
• Elastic bands
• Large area that can be darkened slightly

Guidelines

• Cover each torch with a piece of coloured cellophane securing with the elastic band.
• Once you have three torches one of each colour, explain to the children that you want them to move around  when the green torch is glowing and stop still when the red torch is glowing.
• Once they are confident with this introduce different movements for red and green, e.g jump on red, take giant steps on green etc
• Once they are confident with this you could add the orange light.

Key Vocabulary

Red, Orange, Green, stop, go, listen, follow, instructions

Health & Safety

Make sure the room is not dark; it only needs to be dim enough for the children to see the lights.