TEN TOWN
GUIDE TO ERIC EIGHT
GUIDE TO ERIC EIGHT
Brief version of the story
This is Eric Eight. He is a snowman who lives
in an igloo, high up on the snowy hills of Ten
Town. King One and his friends like to visit
Eric Eight and play games with him in the
snow. Eric Eight loves winter sports and he
has even built his own ice rink. He likes to
skate round it eight times - in a figure of eight,
of course!
HOW TO INTRODUCE ERIC EIGHT:
What you need to have ready:
King One and Eric Eight’s flashcards
King One’s Crown (see PA1.09)
Eric Eight’s hat and scarf
What you say to the children is in italics
What you do is in brackets
The Eric Eight Story
(Hold King One and Eric Eight’s flashcards number side showing)
In Ten Town there are snowy mountains. This is where Eric Eight lives. King
One and his friends like to go up the mountain to visit Eric Eight. He has his
own ice rink and likes to skate around it in eight times, in a figure of eight, of
course!
Eric Eight is made of eight snowballs, four for his head and four for his body.
He likes eight kinds of winter sports; skating, skiing, snowboarding,
tobogganing, curling, ice hockey, ski jumping and most of all, snowball fights!
He does not look at King One because he is too busy looking forward to see
who else is coming up the mountain to play!
(Retell the story, with one child being King One with his crown and one child
being Eric Eight with a scarf and hat.)
Number Formation
(Hold up the Eric Eight flash card)
Let's write a number eight together:
“All the way round, don’t you stop,
Not until you’re back to the top!”
.
Ten Town subscribers are licenced to print these resources for their own teaching requirements.
Ten Town® is a registered trademark and © Ten Town Limited
TEN TOWN
GUIDE TO ERIC EIGHT
Ideas for practical number formation
 Ask the children to re-tell Eric Eight’s story in their own words.
 Ask a few children to come and “trace” over the number on both sides of the
flashcard with their fingers.
• Make number eight using thick string glued onto card. The children can then
take 'rubbings'.
• Draw very large eight in chalk on the hall floor or in the playground for the
children to walk around. Encourage them to repeat the rhyme as the walk.
 Laminate a picture of Eric Eight and ask the children to form the number
using Play-doh or Plasticine. (Reusable A4 laminated character cards are
available to purchase separately for this purpose).
• Once the children have practiced writing eight in the air and in sand, move
onto writing on a chalk board, white board or IWB.
Where next?
Ten Town was created primarily as a numeracy scheme, however Ten Town
offers many cross-curricular opportunities that can be implemented across all
the areas of learning and development within the revised EYFS framework.
There are many links to Understanding the World (UW) as the children take
part in scientific experiments and learn about life in other environments. Eric
Eight also links to Communicating and Language (CL) as children play games
that involve speaking and listening.
As with all of Ten Town, there are links to Expressive Arts and Design (EAD)
as the children learn about Eric Eight they will sing songs, dance and use their
imagination during the many opportunities for role-play and story telling
There are a range of teaching resources for the character Eric Eight.
Eric Eight’s printable resources:

Practical Activities (PAs).
There are 13 Eric Eight Practical Activities including things to make like
Eric Eight’ Home and things to do like Eric Eight’s Jigsaw along with
over 25 suggested extension tasks. Each activity contains suggested
areas of learning and development along with the Early Learning Goals
that the activities work towards.

Consolidation Activity Sheets (CAs).
These printable sheets include “identifying sets of eight” sheets, a
number formation tracing sheet, as well as some fun colouring-in
activities.

Sing-a-long Song Lyrics
To help you accompany Eric Eight’s song.
Ten Town subscribers are licenced to print these resources for their own teaching requirements.
Ten Town® is a registered trademark and © Ten Town Limited
TEN TOWN
GUIDE TO ERIC EIGHT

Finger Modelling sheet
How to finger model the numbers.

Eric Eight’s Certificates
There are four certificates available to print
i)
For demonstrating correct number formation
ii)
For good work
iii)
For good effort
iv)
The Ten Town Reward Chart - to be used with the Ten Town
Sticker Set (sold separately).
Eric Eight’s online resources (also via the Ten Town Map):

Eric Eight’s animation
Animated introduction to the Eric Eight’s story

Eric Eight’s song
Animated version of Eric Eight’s song (To the tune of “London’s
Burning”)

Eric Eight’s Tracing Game
Practice formation of the number eight. The two levels allow for
differing abilities of mouse control.

Eric Eight’s More or Less Game (Coming Soon)
This is a fun way to practice this important mathematical concept.

Eric Eight’s Activities
These are interactive versions of the “find the sets” consolidation
activities. They can be modelled as a group activity on an IWB or then
played by an individual on a computer.
How to use the resources:
Below is a flow chart that gives you a simple way to use the resources. This is
just a suggestion. You can use them to suit your children’s learning style.
As there are many Practical Activities, Interactive and Printed Consolidation
Activities, these can be repeated as required.
Ten Town subscribers are licenced to print these resources for their own teaching requirements.
Ten Town® is a registered trademark and © Ten Town Limited
TEN TOWN
GUIDE TO ERIC EIGHT
ERIC EIGHT: SUGGESTED LEARNING PATHWAY
Introduction
Animated Story
Finger Modelling
Sing along Lyrics
Interactive Song
Tracing Game
Interactive Consolidation
Activities
Consolidation Activities
Practical Activities
More or Less Game
Certificate
Ten Town subscribers are licenced to print these resources for their own teaching requirements.
Ten Town® is a registered trademark and © Ten Town Limited