Theme Notes
Series 246: Our Home
Our Home
The home plays a vital role in the life of every child. Families live in a diverse range of
environments; however integral to each home is a sense of belonging, a sense of being
loved and a sense of self. Home is where we feel safe and secure and are free to be
ourselves.
This week in Play School we explore this sense of home. We look at some of the different
rooms that might make up a home, the families and friends that live in homes, cleaning and
decorating the home, different animal homes and neighbours. On Thursday, we welcome a
new toy into the Play School Family – Dan! Dan is introduced through a told story and
welcomed into the fold.
This week the Play School calendar is the caravan home of cardboard roll family, the
Carter’s. Each day the Carter’s tow their caravan to a different region of Australia. They visit
a rainforest, the outback, the beach and a city.
Caravan is packed and off we go,
Not driving too fast or too slow,
Going round Australia, lots to see,
With mum and dad my brother and me!
Page 1 of 11
Theme Notes
Series 246: Our Home
Monday
SONGS
May We Come Over to Your Place
Composer: Henrietta Clark
Publisher: ABC Music Publishing
Little Boxes
Composer: Malvina Reynolds
I Live on a Street
Composer: Jay Laga’aia
Publisher: ABC Music Publishing
PRESENTERS
Alex Papps - Andrew McFarlane
PIANIST
Franky Valentyn
STORY
On Mother's Lap
Author: Ann Herbert Scott
Illustrator: Glo Coalson
Publisher: Clarion Books
Would You Like to Be a Tree?
Composers: P. Casey & C. Campbell
Move Over and Make Room For
Composer: Traditional
Publisher: Origin/ABC Music Publishing
Snowy Pokey (Hokey Pokey)
Composer: Jimmy Kennedy
Publisher: Campbell Connelly & Co.
FILM
Backyard
(Play School, ABC)
IDEAS FOR LATER
Make some pumpkin soup.
Make a nesting bag to attract birds to your
garden! Fill an empty onion bag with
nesting materials such as raffia, ribbon,
small sticks, and wool. Suspend the bag
from a tree and watch birds take things to
make their homes.
Page 2 of 11
Theme Notes
Series 246: Our Home
MAKE AND DO
How to Make a Colourful Paper House Picture
You will need:
A large sheet of white cardboard
Coloured crepe paper
Safety scissors
A paint brush or roller
Water
Cut crepe paper into squares and triangles
Thoroughly wet the cardboard with water using a paint brush or roller.
Lay the crepe paper shapes on the wet cardboard. Match up squares and triangles to make
colourful houses.
You might like to remove the crepe paper once it has dried – the colours will have bled
through and left colourful house prints.
Page 3 of 11
Theme Notes
Series 246: Our Home
Tuesday
SONGS
The Old Grey Cat
Composer: Traditional
Publisher: ABC Music Publishing
Cleaning
Composers: M. Sullivan & C. Adams
Watermelon
Composers: Peter Dasent & Baysting
Publisher: Origin/Control
PRESENTERS
Teo Gebert – Georgie Parker
PIANIST
Franky Valentyn
TOLD STORY
In a Fix
(A story told by the Play School team)
FILM
Underground Home in Coober Pedy
(ABC Archives)
Australia is a Big Land
Composers: Colin Buchanan & Keith Robert
Publisher: Rondor
Take you Riding in My Car
Composer: Woody Guthrie
Publisher: Essex Music
Hip Hip Hooray (Yippee-Yi-Yay)
Composers: Peter Dasent & Sophie Emtage
Publisher: Origin/ Control
ANIMATION
Little Mouse Looking for a House
(Play School, ABC)
IDEAS FOR LATER
Drape a sheet over a table or some chairs
to make a cubby house. A chair also
makes a good horse, car or even a puppet
theatre!
Play a cat and mouse dress-up game!
Tape two short pointy ears to a headband
for a mouse and larger, triangle ears to
another headband for a cat.
Page 4 of 11
Theme Notes
Series 246: Our Home
MAKE AND DO
How to Make Avocado and Tomato Dip
You will need:
1 avocado
1 tomato, finely chopped
1 tablespoon cream cheese
A squeeze of lemon juice
Corn chips
Mash avocado with a fork in a small bowl.
Add tomato, cream cheese and a squeeze of lemon juice. Stir to combine.
Dip corn chips into the dip for a yummy snack!
Page 5 of 11
Theme Notes
Series 246: Our Home
Wednesday
SONGS
Welcome
Composer: Jay Laga’aia
Publisher: ABC Music Publishing
I Like Peace, I Like Quiet
Composers: Michael Cole & Peter Gosling
Publisher: EMI Music/Control
PRESENTERS
Karen Pang – Jay Laga’aia
PIANIST
Brian Castles-Onion
STORY
Waddle Giggle Gargle
Author & Illustrator: Pamela Allen
Publisher: Penguin Books, Australia
FILM
Artpark
(Play School, ABC)
Bikeling
Composer: Jay Laga’aia
Publisher: ABC Music Publishing
I Like Swimming
Composers: Phil Barton, Ben O’Hara & Kristy
Gentz
Publisher: ABC Music Publishing/Larrikin
Scuttle Little Crab (Swim Little Duck)
Composer: Roberta McLaughlin
Walk Like an Egyptian
Composer: Liam Hillard Sternberg
Publisher: Columbia
ANIMATION
Look What I Can Do
(Play School, ABC)
IDEAS FOR LATER
Turn an empty shoe box into a caravan for
your toys or some cardboard roll people. A
shoe box also makes a great doll’s house,
toy car garage, teddy bear’s bed or
treasure chest.
Find a book about Egypt and the pyramids
at the library.
Page 6 of 11
Theme Notes
Series 246: Our Home
MAKE AND DO
How to Make a Fabric Painting
You will need:
A piece of calico fabric
Different coloured paints
Recycled plastic takeaway containers or plates
Paste
Paint brushes
Things to decorate your calico painting with, such as tinsel, patty pans and ribbons
Pour different coloured paints into separate plastic containers or plates. Pour in some paste
and mix together with a paint brush.
Use brushes to make different patterns on the calico fabric with the paint/paste mixture. Try
zigzags, swirls, circles, squares and stripes.
While the paint/paste mixture is still wet, stick on tinsel, patty pans, ribbons and other
decorations.
Once dry, use the material for a picnic rug, a curtain in a cubby house or a special cape.
Page 7 of 11
Theme Notes
Series 246: Our Home
Thursday
SONGS
Who's That Tapping at the Window
Composer: Traditional
Publisher: ABC Music Publishing
Bananas in Pyjamas
Composer: Carey Blighton
Publisher: ABC Music Publishing
When You Wish Upon a Star
Composers: Leigh Harline & Ned Washington
PRESENTERS
Teo Gebert – Georgie Parker
PIANIST
Franky Valentyn
TOLD STORY
Dan’s New Home
(A story told by the Play School team)
FILM
Japanese Wishing Tree
(Play School, ABC)
ANIMATION
Dingle Dangle Scarecrow
(Play School, ABC)
IDEAS FOR LATER
Stick a collection of collage items onto a
piece of clear contact. Once you have
finished your collage, place another piece
of clear contact on top. You might like to
make a themed collage, such as a collage
of red things or a collage of things found in
the garden.
Making a Star (Making a Hat)
Composer: Peter Dasent & Sophie Emtage
Publisher: Origin/Control
Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star
Composer: Traditional
Publisher: ABC Music Publishing
Highway Number One
Composer: Gary King
Publisher: ABC Music Publishing
The More We Are Together
Composer: Traditional
Publisher: ABC Music Publishing
Come to the Party
Composer: George Dewey
Publisher: A&C Black
Page 8 of 11
Theme Notes
Series 246: Our Home
MAKE AND DO
How to Make a Star Wand
You will need:
Shiny cardboard
Safety scissors
Paste
Things to decorate your wand with, such as tinsel, foil, glitter, paint, patty pans and
sequins
A cardboard cylinder
Tape
Cut a star shape from shiny cardboard.
Paste decorations onto the star.
Tape the star to a cardboard cylinder.
Page 9 of 11
Theme Notes
Series 246: Our Home
Friday
SONGS
Cows in the Kitchen
Composer: Traditional
Publisher: ABC Music Publishing
Snail, Snail
Composers: Roberta McLaughlin & Lucille
Wood
Publisher: Chambers Harrap Publishing
PRESENTERS
Alex Papps – Georgie Parker
PIANIST
Franky Valentyn
STORY
Angus and the Cat
Author & illustrator: Marjorie Flack
Publisher: Farrar, Strauss & Giroux
Dinosaur Roar
Composer: Peter Dasent, Arthur Baysting &
Justine Clarke
Publisher: Origin/Control
Friends All Together
Composers: Peter Dasent & Sophie Emtage
Publisher: Origin/Control
I've Been Everywhere Man
Composer: Geoff Mack
Publisher: Belinda Music Australia
FILM
Dinosaurs
(Play School, ABC)
ANIMATION
Der Glumph
(Play School, ABC)
IDEAS FOR LATER
Create an artwork using a collection of
different leaves and ferns collected from
your garden or a local park. Use a paint
brush or roller to cover each fern/leaf in
paint, and then make prints on a piece of
paper. Once dry, draw some dinosaurs
eating the leaves and ferns.
Using the recipe below as a guide, make
lavash bread spirals and experiment with
different fillings.
Page 10 of 11
Theme Notes
Series 246: Our Home
MAKE AND DO
How to Make Veggie Lavash Spirals
How to Make a Stretch Dinosaur
You will need:
Lavash bread
Cream cheese
Grated carrot
Alfalfa Sprouts
You will need:
Paper
Coloured pencils, markers or crayons
Safety scissors
Tape
Spread cream cheese on a piece of lavash
bread.
Draw the head and long neck of a Diplodocus
dinosaur on a piece of paper. Decorate with
coloured pencils, markers or crayons and then
cut out with safety scissors.
Sprinkle grated carrot and alfalfa sprouts over
the cream cheese
Roll up the lavash bread and cut in the middle
to reveal colourful spirals inside.
Fold the neck over and under in small sections,
like a fan.
Draw a body for your dinosaur. Decorate the
body and cut it out.
Tape the head and neck of your Diplodocus
dinosaur to its body. Have fun pulling the long,
folded neck up to make your dinosaur’s neck
grow, and pushing the folded paper back to
make it shrink.
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