Theme Notes
Series 157: Trees
Trees
In this series, we explore the many vital roles trees play in our environment and our everyday
lives. We look at how trees grow, the foods they provide, the animals that find shelter in trees
and the paper and other products trees provide us with. Throughout the week, we do a
variety of tree- related activities including decorating trees, and exploring the wide variety of
trees. On Wednesday, some special visitors come to play, a toy poodle and her puppies!
Monday
SONGS
Would You Like to Be a Tree?
Composers: P. Casey & C. Campbell
Some Trees Stand Tall
Composer: Jean McKinlay
Publisher: E.S. Wigg & Son
The Spotty Song (A Leopard Had Lots of Spots)
Composer: June Tillman
PRESENTERS
Justine Clarke – Andrew McFarlane
PIANIST
Peter Dasent
STORY
The Sun
Author: Kate Lynch
Illustrator: Lamia Aziz
Publisher: Reed Children’s Books
Tutti Frutti
Composers: Richard Penniman, Dorothy La
Bostrie, Joe Lubin
Publisher: Boosey and Hawkes
Don’t Sit Under the Apple Tree
Composer: Sam H. Stept, Lew Brown & Charles
Tobias
FILM
Animals Patterns
(Play School, ABC)
IDEAS FOR LATER
Measure how tall your toys are, then
measure yourself and compare!
Go for a walk and look for big, mature
trees. Feel the texture of the bark and
leaves. Stand against their trunks and
compare heights.
Page 1 of 10
Theme Notes
Series 157: Trees
MAKE AND DO
How to Make a Spotty Play Dough Picture
You will need:
Play dough
A collection of bottle lids, such as milk bottle lids
Squash the play dough out flat with your hands.
Press bottle lids into the dough to make patterns. You might like to sort your lids into like piles
and make alternating rows in the play dough, or mould your play dough into a shape and
decorate it with lids.
Page 2 of 10
Theme Notes
Series 157: Trees
Tuesday
SONGS
Dumpty Diddle Dee Dee
Ring a Ring o’ Roses
Composer: Traditional
Publisher: Origin/ABC Music Publishing
This Little Piggy
Composer: Traditional
Publisher: Origin/ABC Music Publishing
PRESENTERS
Justine Clarke – Alex Papps
Here’s a House
Composers: John Fox & Warren Carr
Publisher: ABC Music Publishing
PIANIST
Peter Dasent
TOLD STORY
The Three Little Pigs
(A story told by the Play School team)
FILM
Animals Eating
(ABC Archival Footage)
ANIMATION
This Little Piggy
(Play School, ABC)
IDEAS FOR LATER
Make some paper chains and use them to
decorate a tree.
Squeeze or juice different fruits and
vegetables to make a refreshing drink.
Page 3 of 10
Theme Notes
Series 157: Trees
MAKE AND DO
How to Make Fruity Fridge Magnets
How to Make Lemonade
You will need:
Coloured sponge (we used yellow,
green and red)
Safety scissors
Tape
Black marker
Magnets with sticky backs
You will need:
Juice of 5 lemons
6 cups warm water
1 cup caster sugar
Mix all ingredients together in a large jug and
refrigerate until ready to serve.
Cut fruit shapes from coloured sponge. If any of
the fruit you have chosen has leaves or a stalk,
cut these features from a different coloured
sponge and tape to the back of your fruit, so
the tape doesn’t show.
Add details with a black marker, such as seeds
or patterns on the fruit skin.
Stick a magnet on the back of each fruit.
Page 4 of 10
Theme Notes
Series 157: Trees
Wednesday
SONGS
This is the Way…
Composer: Traditional
Publisher: Origin/ABC Music Publishing
My Little Puppy (Rags)
Composer: Elizabeth Deutsch
I Have Made a Pretty Nest
Composer: Ann Elliott
PRESENTERS
Justine Clarke – Rhys Muldoon
PIANIST
Peter Dasent
STORY
In the Nest
Author: Anna Milbourne
Illustrator: Laurence Cleyet-Merle
Publisher: Usborne Publishing Ltd.
I Can Fly (Like a Bird)
Composer: Lucille Wood
Publisher: Bowmar
Give Me a Home Among the Gum Trees
Composers: Wally Johnson & Bob Brown
Publisher: Mushroom
Aeroplanes
Composer: L. Orchard
Publisher: Holmes McDougall Aust.
FILM
Glider Flying
(Play School, ABC)
IDEAS FOR LATER
Make a kite from a paper bag! Decorate a
paper bag, attach a piece of string and
then take it for a fly outside.
Use two chairs and a blanket to make a
cubby house.
Page 5 of 10
Theme Notes
Series 157: Trees
MAKE AND DO
How to Make a Colourful Bird
You will need:
Coloured paper
A safe, manual shredder or a pair of safety scissors
Hair roller
Marker
Two feathers
Tape
Play dough
A large colourful bottle, such as a recycled laundry detergent bottle
Cut a large triangle from coloured paper. Roll it into a cylinder and push it through a hair
roller, with the pointy end left poking out for a beak.
Draw two eyes on the paper, just above the beak, with a marker.
Poke two feathers into either side of the hair roller for wings.
Use a safe manual shredder to shred some coloured paper, or use scissors to cut paper into
long thin strips. Take a bunch of shredded paper, pinch it together at the end and tape it to
the end of the hair roller for a tail.
To make a nest, scrunch and mould some shredded paper into a small bowl shape. Roll
some eggs from play dough to go inside.
To make a colourful tree, fold a few sheets of different coloured paper in half, lengthways.
Make long cuts down the length of the paper right up to, but not touching, the end. Splay
out the cuts to make colourful branches. Stick in the top of a large bottle tree trunk.
Page 6 of 10
Theme Notes
Series 157: Trees
Thursday
SONGS
Round and Round the Garden
Composer: Traditional
Publisher: Origin/ABC Music Publishing
Come-a-Look-a-See
Composer: Traditional
Publisher: Origin/ABC Music Publishing
Too Ra Loo Ra Loo Ral
Composer: James Royce Shannon
PRESENTERS
Justine Clarke - Rhys Muldoon
PIANIST
Peter Dasent
STORY
The Elephant and the Bad Baby
Author: Elfrida Vipont
Illustrator: Raymond Briggs
Publisher: Penguin, UK
The Elephant Wobbles
Composer: Peter Charlton
Publisher: ABC Music Publishing
On the Ning Nang Nong
Composers: Spike Milligan & E. Welch
FILM
Plant Nursery
(Play School, ABC)
IDEAS FOR LATER
Visit a local nursery and look at the
seedlings and plants in their various stages
of development. Buy some seedlings to
plant at home. Water and care for them
and watch them grow.
Use a variety of dried seeds to make a
collage using paste or clear contact.
Make a healthy snack with dried fruit,
sunflower seeds and pepitas.
Page 7 of 10
Theme Notes
Series 157: Trees
MAKE AND DO
How to Make a Baby Mobile
You will need:
A coat hanger
Coloured paper
Safety scissors
Pegs
Tape
Ribbon
Hair clips
For your first mobile decoration, cut a spiral from coloured paper and peg it to the coat
hanger.
To make a paper chain for your second mobile decoration, cut coloured paper into strips,
about 2cm by 10cm each. Form a loop with the first strip and tape to secure. Thread the
second strip through the first loop, then form another loop and tape to secure. Continue until
your paper chain is the desired length and peg it to the coat hanger.
For your third mobile decoration, clip hair clips onto a piece of ribbon and peg to the coat
hanger.
Hang your mobile up for your toys or a younger brother or sister to look at.
Page 8 of 10
Theme Notes
Series 157: Trees
Friday
SONGS
The Paper Song
Composers: P. Reade & J. Whitfield
Publisher: ABC Music Publishing
Like a Leaf or Feather
Composer: Mary Champion De Crespigny
Publisher: EMI Music
There Was a Princess Long Ago
Composer: Traditional
Publisher: Origin/ABC Music Publishing
PRESENTERS
Justine Clarke – Rhys Muldoon
PIANIST
Peter Dasent
Two Little Apples
Composers: p. Zajan & M. Miller
Publisher: EMI Music
TOLD STORY
I Have Nothing to Wear
(A story told by the Play School team)
FILM
T-Ball
(Play School, ABC)
IDEAS FOR LATER
Go for a walk in your garden or a local park
and collect leaves, seed pods and flowers.
Use your finds to make a nature collage or
stick them in play dough to make a nature
sculpture.
Use a magnifying glass to observe the
different parts of a tree. Bark, leaves and
blossoms take on a different view when
magnified.
Play a game of baseball, cricket or soccer
with your toys.
Page 9 of 10
Theme Notes
Series 157: Trees
MAKE AND DO
How to Make Leaf Prints
You will need:
A collection of leaves
Coloured paint
Paper
Cover one side of a leaf with paint and press onto paper to make a print. Try making prints
from lots of different shaped leaves using lots of different colours.
Once dry, you might like to cut out your leaves and tape them to a brown paper tree trunk.
Page 10 of 10