Teaching sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

15 mins

Tune In: Watch the episode

30 mins

Find Out: Play-based learning to develop patience

15 mins

Take Action: Boredom busters

Tune In: Watch the episode

Step 1.

Begin by watching the Bluey episode Road Trip.

Bluey 'Road Trip' - ClickView (https://clickv.ie/w/dSgx)

Road Trip synopsis: Bluey and Bingo find ways to entertain themselves on a family road trip, while Dad tries to stay ahead of the Grey Nomad convoy or risk getting a camping spot near the toilets.

Step 2.

Reflect on the episode with children using the following questions encouraging them to answer by starting their statements with 'I think...'

I wonder what Bluey and Bingo think when they are in the car?
I wonder what Bandit will do to get in front of the Grey Nomads?
I wonder what they all learn about the time it takes to get to the campground?
I wonder how we can have fun without technology?

Encouraging children to use 'I think...' statements helps them share their own thoughts and ideas about what is happening and initiates a thinking process that allows for individual interpretation without right or wrong answers. "I think..." statements can also serve as predictions and open-ended starters for discussions about what children are viewing. For more evidence-based advice on developing oral language in children, click here.

Find Out: Play-based learning to develop patience

Preparation

Organise an area of the learning centre where the children can lie down. Use rugs or mats as a comfortable cover if there is no grass or suitable surface.

Play-based learning naturally encourages kids to talk, listen, and think as they cooperate and interact with one another whilst working at the highest levels of imagination. By figuring out and enforcing the rules of the imagined play space, kids learn how to self-regulate their behaviours and interact socially in a positive way. Pretending, creating and helping allows kids to discover new things and learn about themselves and where they fit in the world. Imagination and play build worlds where kids can safely and confidently practise and experience other values.

Find out more about play-based learning here.

Step 1.

Invite the children outside to sit on the mat or area that you have set up. Once the children are seated encourage a discussion about the road trip that children saw in the episode.

Step 2.

Ask the children questions about road trips that they may have been on. Invite children to wait as other children tell their stories. As an educator, it is a great way to connect with previous experiences. Connection is important as it assists the children to develop cognitive pathways in their social learning. Developing patience is a skill that we learn over time from direct experiences of having to wait, be bored and have nothing to do.

Use focused questions to ask the children about their experiences on road trips. Begin by asking:

Have you ever been on a road trip?

Keep the conversation going by continuing the discussion with the children; this time allowing the discussion to be more like a chat rather than a series of questions and answers. When working in early childhood settings this is easy to do as the conversation flows, but sometimes inquiring questions are fantastic to use. For example:

Where were you travelling to?
How long did it take to get there?

Step 3.

Use questions like those below to find out what the children may have done during the trip:

Did it feel like the trip took forever?
What did you do to keep from being bored?
What did Bluey and her family on the road trip?
What games did they play? Did they need their devices?

In our technology-rich lives the reliance on electronic devices combined with a sense that we need to always keep children entertained is increasing our use of devices. Patience is a skill that is developed as we wait for things to happen. It can be a difficult skill for children to develop.

There are simple games we can play to help us develop our patience while we are waiting.

Young children have a hard time conceptualising time, meaning even a small period of waiting is going to feel like an age to them. They have not yet developed the capacity for delayed gratification, meaning they don’t understand how they will still be rewarded even if it doesn’t happen immediately. Try not to snap at kids when they’re impatient or ask if the wait is over yet (which they will do - frequently), as this will only reinforce the idea that waiting is a negative experience. Instead, stay calm and praise kids who are able to show even a bit of patience. Then you can slowly extend these wait periods so that kids’ stamina for waiting grows gradually. And make sure to never break your promise for what comes at the end of the wait, otherwise, children will learn to associate patience with going unfulfilled and revert to their impulsive ways. Find out more about practising patience here.

Step 4.

Invite the children to play a game of cloud watchers.

Children will need to lie down on their back and look at the sky. It is important to position the children so they are not directly in the sun. A shady spot is great.

Remind the children not to look directly into the sun, and to focus on the clouds in the sky. Try and choose a day that has good clouds that are in different formations - it is hard to do in an overcast sky with solid clouds. So choosing a good cloud day is important!

Step 5.

As the children begin to watch, look up into the sky. If there are clouds, encourage the children to use their imagination and see what they can make from the cloud, what does the cloud look like?

Pose some of the following questions:

What can you see?
Are there any shapes that can be seen?
Does it look like a dragon? Or a fish? Or maybe a marshmallow mountain?

If it is a perfect cloud watching day, lie back and watch the clouds in the sky. Let the children's conversation bubble with the sharing of the clouds. As they come we are waiting for the clouds to drift by; we can't hurry them, we are learning to use our patience as we play.

Step 6.

If the cloud watchers game can't be played, an alternative can be 'Bigger and Biggest'.

This game is set to be an active game to inspire imagination and curiosity. The Bigger and Biggest game is all about using what you have around you. The aim of the game is to find something then find something that is bigger.

Start this activity with a leaf, pick up the leaf and say:

This is big, but I wonder if I can find something bigger?

Step 7.

Allow the children free play time to explore this game of Big and Bigger. Encourage the children to work together in groups and see if they can find something bigger together.

This activity is open-ended and can be played in a variety of situations, in the learning centre on a rainy day, out in the play area or in the car. Patience is developed as the children use what they have in front of them to play. The children must use their patience until they find something bigger. It encourages them to look closely and take their mind off waiting.

Let the children continue with this open-ended experience to develop patience, bust the boredom and be creative.

Take Action: Boredom busters

Step 1.

Encourage children to create their own game of imagination to bust the boredom.

There are so many creative games that children invent. This is an important part of childhood development and playing socially with others.

Some examples could be creating their own memory cards!

Optional - The Zones of Emotional Regulation

After playing the games in this activity introduce your students to the Zones of Emotional Regulation.

Most of us use a limited vocabulary to describe our feelings when answering the question, “How are you feeling?” However, it’s important to equip students with a diversified vocabulary for accurately labelling and describing their feelings so that they can acknowledge the impact emotions have on them throughout the day.

Displaying the Zones of Emotional Regulation chart is helpful for students to visualise their feelings and lead them to build their emotional vocabulary, shifting them away from rote responses like “good” to more nuanced responses like “curious”, “calm”, or “excited”.

When introducing a new feeling word, position it in the appropriate colour zone, pair it with already known feeling words, and provide students with a definition in language that’s at their level. For example: “Relaxed is a green feeling, kind of like being calm after watching playing the cloud watchers game”.

Lead students to connect the physicality of emotions with the “heart thoughts”. For example, demonstrate body language and facial expression, then ask, “If I’m smiling and sitting quietly, how do you think I feel?”

Find out more about teaching emotional intelligence here.

Patience - Patience Games

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