Teaching Sequence

15 minutes

Tune In: Watch the episode

15 minutes

Find Out: Finding our feather wands

15 minutes

Take Action: Time to play

Tune In: Watch the episode

Step 1.

Begin by watching the Bluey episode Featherwand.

Bluey 'Featherwand' - ClickView (https://clickv.ie/w/zlmx)

Featherwand synopsis: Bluey and Mum are off to Chloe’s party and Bingo isn't invited. But armed with a magic featherwand that makes things incredibly heavy, Bingo can now stop them from leaving the house.

Step 2.

Reflect on the episode with children by using the following questions as prompts:

I wonder how Bingo felt when she wasn't invited to Chloe’s party?
How did Bingo's family help her?
Did they play along with her game with the magic featherwand?
Did she include everyone in the game?
What did Bluey want to do? Did she want to stay or go?
How did Bingo include her when she wanted to stay?

Using questions that prompt 'I feel...' thoughts for children begins a journey of expressing their feelings and showing empathy towards others to develop social and emotional skills. 'I feel...' thoughts are often based on emotions from the heart. They are a great way to talk about feelings and create an opportunity for children to think about how others may feel in certain situations, fostering empathy.

For more evidence-based advice on developing oral language in children, click here.

Find Out: Finding our feather wands

Preparation

Find a few different objects that could be used as a feather wand. If you have a feather it would be wonderful to use this for the activity. Alternatively, let the children find natural items to use as their own feather wand.

A play-based learning environment naturally encourages talking, listening and thinking. Play provides opportunities for children to learn as they discover, create, improvise and imagine. When children play with other children, they create social groups, test out ideas, challenge each other’s thinking and build new understandings. Play provides a supportive environment where children can ask questions, solve problems and engage in critical thinking.

To find out more about the value of play, click here.

Step 1.

Invite the children to join in playing a game of magic feather wands. The first thing to do is find something they can use as a feather wand outside. It can be made of anything! Encourage children to use natural items like a long leaf, a small twig or a flower. Perhaps they may even find a feather!

Step 2.

Once the children have found their items bring them back inside and sit in a circle. Ask the children to place their items down in front of them so that everyone can see what they have found.

Ask each child if they would like to share something about their item with the group.

Make sure that you ask each child to participate in sharing something in the circle, even if it is holding up the item so others can see it. This action promotes inclusion and lets the children know that they are important and valued in the group.

Inclusivity
The Featherwand episode shows different elements of inclusiveness. It shows that sometimes we don't get to do what we would like to do. It empowers the children to be in charge of their emotions and find interesting solutions.

Inclusive practices provide equal access to opportunities and experiences for people who might otherwise struggle to be involved. Encourage children to see the unique appearance, personality, quirks, beliefs and interests of individuals as bringing something special to the world that nobody else can duplicate. This includes viewing themselves as unique and worthwhile.

As educators, we must celebrate diversity in our groups and make sure that we are promoting inclusive activities. Creativity is a wonderful way to build inclusiveness in groups. Children who have different perspectives can offer unique approaches to creative games.

Step 3.

It is now time to focus on what the feather wand can make people do. Ask the children to think of what Bingo’s feather wand power was.

Give the children some time to think about what power their featherwand has. Use the power of a pause here and wait a few seconds so the children can form their ideas before they share:

How will the featherwand work? What power does it have?
What types of actions can your featherwand make people do?
Think of other ideas that a featherwand might make people do.

Some ideas might include making things heavy, making people dance, making people talk nonsense/jibberish or even making people swim like a fish!

Take Action: Time to play

Step 1.

Begin the featherwand game while staying in the circle. As the educator, start the game of featherwand: raise the featherwand up and give the instructions to the children.

Say in a loud clear voice:

My feather wand has the power of making everyone jump like a frog!

Step 2.

Invite everyone into the circle, and the ones you touch with the wand start making the action. Some children will be chosen, and others will not be. Remind the children that this is fine and it might be their turn next time. Encourage them to be a great watcher, see how others are doing and celebrate the fun time that is being had.

Step 3.

Call a stop to the feather wand action and ask the children to sit down on the ground. Let the children know you will select someone else to use their feather wand.

Choose a child to use their featherwand; make sure that everyone is listening closely to hear what the featherwand's power is so they can all play along.

Ask the child to say in a loud clear voice:

My feather wand has the power of...

Step 4.

Keep playing the game of feather wand with the children. Try and include as many children as you can. Swap the roles over and see how many actions the feather wands can do. The feather wand game can continue in smaller groups if the children wish to continue the game further.

Social and emotional learning
Developing emotional intelligence is a life-long learning journey. Helping children recognise their own thoughts and feelings is essential to children growing into happy and healthy bigger kids and eventually adults.

In order to improve children's social and emotional understanding, evidence suggests that learning should be embedded regularly into activities and daily interactions. In addition, young children need steady guidance and support from caregivers; this is crucial as children learn by imitating the healthy norms modelled and reinforced by the adults they are close to.

The ultimate aim here is to improve the ways children interact with each other, think of others and positively navigate the world in pursuit of their goals.

Find out more about Social and Emotional Learning here.

You might like to encourage children to make their own fun feather wand using natural materials. They can then play the feather wand game with their friends and family at home.

Inclusivity - The Turn Taking Game

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