All Bodies Bingo - Activity Instructions

Tune In

Highlight the moment in the book when other children begin to show empathy for Jessica as they recognise ways in which they are also different. Ask children to identify the ways in which the characters are different.

“Jessica was different because she only had one hand. What made some of the other children in the book different?”

glasses
curly red hair
hearing aids
two languages
big scar.

Find Out

Two of these children had things they used that made them different from the other children. In the book, Ashley wears glasses. Why do some people wear glasses? What do they do? Also in the book, Ella wears hearing aids. What do hearing aids do?

Can you think of anyone else you know who has something to help them? Children might think of

wheelchairs
walking sticks
crutches
braces (both for teeth and for legs or bodies)
insulin pumps and/or continual glucose monitors (CGM)
breathing tubes and oxygen tanks
artificial hands/legs/arms.

As each suggestion is offered, ask if the children know what these aids do, and why people might need them. For example, A wheelchair helps people to get around. They might need them because they can’t walk, or they can only walk a bit.

Take Action

Invite children to play a game of bingo, each card having points of difference that the children may or may not have experienced or seen before.

Encourage and role model describing each card with familiar/common characteristics along with the point of difference or aid.

For example:

This person has brown hair, is wearing a purple dress and uses a wheelchair to get around.
This person has brown curly hair, green shoes that match his green shirt and wears a hearing aid.

As each card is described or shown, the children look for the matching picture on their Bingo Board, where they will place a counter until their board is entirely covered. To extend on children’s oral language and encourage children to look beyond the physical differences of the people, you could ask follow-up questions for each card, for example

How do you think this person is feeling?
What’s something you think this person would be really good at?
What game would you like to play with this person?

All Bodies Bingo

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