Mole McDiggerson — A mole’s work
Hello. I’m Mole McDiggerson. I’m in the first grade at school,
and Grizzly Honeypaw is my best friend. Grizzly is such an
awesome name; it makes me jealous. The thing is, I want
to become a footballer when I’m older. But I have pretty
bad eyesight and it’s a bit of a problem when it comes to
playing. Without glasses I can’t even hit the ball, but the
glasses get in the way when I’m playing. When I’m running
around the glasses sometimes fall off and break or get lost.
And I don’t know any professional players who wear specs.
I got these glasses three years ago. To start with I didn’t
like them at all. None of my friends wear glasses. I asked
Grizzly Honeypaw to sit on my specs, so that they would
break and I wouldn’t have to wear them any more, but
Grizzly refused. When we were playing I secretly slipped
them underneath Grizzly, but they just sank into his soft
bear fur. Another time, when I was staying at Grizzly’s house
I took the glasses off when we were playing. When I was
about to go home, I wanted to put the glasses on again, but
I couldn’t find them anywhere. On my way home I got lost.
I went round in circles for a few hours since I couldn’t see
what was in front of me. It started to get dark. I had begun
to get worried by the time my Mum found me. First she
grumbled at me, but then she stopped and waggled her
paw at me. My specs had actually been on my forehead the
whole time, how had I not noticed them?
After that Mum told me that I had to always wear my
glasses. My Mum, Carrie McDiggerson, thinks that glasses
are a wonderful thing. Of course, because she herself has
them. But Mum is already quite old. She used to work as a
teacher but she took early retirement. She’s probably right
that nothing can be done about bad vision. When I heard
that the squirrel twins were arguing about which of them
should get glasses, it made me feel better. They think that
those with four eyes are
always smarter than others.
Nowadays I’m quite happy
to wear glasses, as long as
they’re kept in a safe place.
My family includes my
mum and my two big brothers. They don’t live on Gadget
Island any more because they’re already adults. We moved
here just after I was born. My brothers were already
quite big by then. It made my mum really sad when my
brothers moved away. But my brothers are the world’s best
coders! They dig new pathways for a living, and they write
instructions for them stage by stage into the memory. So
they had to go back to the Other World. They’re needed
there! However, once a year my brothers come here to
the island on holiday, because apparently it’s much more
relaxing here. Then they teach me everything about
digging. You know, I’ve received a special task from Doctor
Hoot. Since I’m currently the best digger on the island, my
task is to help Doctor Hoot in all underground matters. You
see, the Doctor can fly everywhere, but no one can get as
deep into the island as I can. I think that some day I’ll find
something new and exciting under the island’s surface, and
then my brothers will be proud of me. So proud that they’ll
take me with them to the Other World.
Mum never tells me anything about what it’s like in the
Other World. She says that I was born there, but that she has
forgotten everything else. I don’t believe that. I found a box
under her bed. It contained photographs that all showed
the same mole. Almost completely black and quite goodlooking. On the back of one of the photographs it says
‘To Carrie’. Who could that mole be?
Lots of different devices are used on Gadget Island, and they all need electricity to work. The electricity comes from
an energy centre deep within the island, called the Earth-lectric Station. From here the electricity is transported to
every home that needs it. But unfortunately Mole McDiggerson has dug through the electricity routes and now
Doctor Hoot has given McDiggerson a special task. McDiggerson must dig a new route for the electricity, going
from home to home. If he is successful in this task, he will become the island’s official Earth-lectrician.
Help Mole McDiggerson to plan the route. Along the way he will encounter challenges that he will require help to
overcome.
To carry out the sessions, the challenge locations are marked on the library, daycare centre or school’s site plan,
and are then tackled in the marked locations, planned in advance by the instructor.
This session gives a peek into the Gadget Island themes. The session can be carried out either as an introduction when
getting to know the learning environment or it can also work as a fun revision exercise for those who have already visited
Gadget Island. In the session pupils learn to solve challenges as a group.
* = advance preparations are needed in this challenge
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Route selection
Mole McDiggerson needs help selecting the fastest route. Look at the site plan. Where does
McDiggerson have to go?
The route arrangement should be agreed together. The children decide which way the route
will go. One of the children will draw the agreed route onto the site plan.
The children can also think about what other routes there could be.
*
The site plan to be used must be printed out. The instructor should mark the challenge points
on the plan in advance.
”What’s that? What’s this?”
SHiggy Hedgehog’s younger siblings are going through a stage where they question everything.
McDiggerson must be able to answer their questions. Help him to explain the following words:
Smart phone, TV, printer, newspaper, charger, radio, games console, landline phone,
camera and letter.
The children will explain the words in turns. The others can guess what word is in question.
They can also think about which of the devices require electricity to work.
*
Postcards. The instructor must print out the attached postcards in advance.
Time to invent!
McDiggerson has got bored of the endless arguing between Tash and Dash. He wants to test
what the squirrel twins actually know. Come up with statements for McDiggerson.
In turns, the children come up with sentences that are true or false. The others guess whether
the statement is true or not.
Can I have permission?
7-year-old Gonzales the Cheetah is asking for help from McDiggerson. Help McDiggerson to
answer Gonzales’s questions.
There are different kinds of age ratings. On Gadget Island age ratings are used for audiovisual
programmes. At what age
a) can Gonzales move to his own home?
b) can Gonzales get a library card?
c) can Gonzales drive a car?
d) can Gonzales eat his dessert before his main course?
e) can Gonzales drive a moped?
f ) can Gonzales brush his own teeth?
g) can Gonzales get married?
h) can Gonzales decide who he plays with?
i) can Gonzales ride a bike on the pavement?
j) can Gonzales move about alone?
k) can Gonzales make all of his own decisions?
Strange photos
Mole McDiggerson finds Marvain’s photography studio with his cameras, and wants to surprise
Marvain with some strange photos. Help McDiggerson to set up the following arrangements.
In this task a camera can be used and photos taken. Or you can use a frame you’ve made
yourself, to indicate where you want the edges of the picture to be.
Make arrangements showing the following
a) everyone’s hands
b) everyone’s feet
c) one eye for each person
d) everyone’s noses
Think about how you could set up a picture showing, for example, 5 knees and 7 hands, or 14
feet, 3 heads and 9 hands.
*
Camera or frame. Instructor to make the picture frame of cardboard in advance.
Let’s organise!
Don Wolf is very careful that all guests coming to his home are in order. Show Mole
McDiggerson how it should be done.
Line up
a) In order of date of birth: youngest on the left, oldest on the right.
b) Alphabetical order by first name, starting from A.
c) In height order: shortest on the left, tallest on the right.
d) By hair colour: Darkest on the left, lightest on the right.
You can also come up with other ways to order participants.
7+7=14
7-year-old Grizzly has found a new game where the age rating is 12. Grizzly wants to play the
game and is delighted when McDiggerson comes to visit. Help McDiggerson decide whether
Grizzly’s claim is correct.
Grizzly claims that because he is 7 years old and McDiggerson is 7 years old, together they make
14 years old, and therefore they can play a game for 12-year-olds.
Discuss Grizzly’s claim. Think about why it isn’t true.
Letters into words
The letters in Marymoo the Cow’s advert are all mixed up. McDiggerson must find out what the
advert says. Help McDiggerson find out what the advert says. Use the letters to form words.
What’s the longest word you can make?
*
Letters from GADGET ISLAND. The instructor will print out or write the letters on pieces of paper
in advance.
Smart phone
Television
Printer
Newspaper
Charger
Console game
Landline phone
Radio
Camera
Pictures: Papunet image bank, www.papunet.net, Sergio Palao
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Letter