Play School

- Season 11

(1976)

Aka 11.1 ep#441 Jan and Alister look at an alarm clock, a watch and a grandfather clock. Interest is focused on their sizes and the sounds they make. Each needs winding to make it work and the alarm clock needs to have its alarm wound also. The song ''In the House' gives opportunity to make the sounds of different clocks. A shoe box, paper plate and gum-leaves make a grandfather clock which is used during the week when singing 'Hickory Dickory Dock'. A cardboard cutout mouse on a stick is animated on the box clock. Both 'Grandfather' and the Play School clock say one ...

Aka ep#442 Jan and Alister demonstrate some of the things that people do when they get up in the morning: they brush hair, clean teeth, shave and polish shoes to the song 'This Is the Way'. The box 'Grandfather Clock' says one o'clock, so before the story they sing 'Hickory Dickory Dock'. The story is 'Lucy and Tom's Day' by Shirley Hughes, which follows the activities of two children at different times of the day. Shopping time: first Jan makes her shopping list and finds her shopping bag, then she sings 'Let's Go Walking'. Alister is the butcher and Jan buys ...

Aka ep#443 Jan and Alister look at the mice, Henry and Henrietta, a mouse being the subject of the song of the week 'Hickory Dickory Dock'. Alister looks at the cuckoo clock, showing how the clock indicates the half-hours and the hours. Both sing 'The Cuckoo Clock'. Rhythm sticks and woodblocks are used for the tick tocks. 'Hiccups' by Barbara Ker WIlson, is told by Jan, with Alister providing the hiccups. Jan encourages participation in an eating mime with a banana, soup, an apple and water melon featured. Through the windows it is feeding time for animals, including...

Aka ep#444 Jan and Alister play a 'how-do-you-do-game' with their fingers: 'Two Fat Gentlemen'. They then introduce themselves and shake hands with the song 'How Do You Do?'. The toys are included in the introductions. 'Hickory Dickory Dock' is sung before the story which is an enactment of 'Two Fat Gentlemen'. Both presenters dress up as fat gentlemen, thin ladies, tall policemen, small schoolboys and tiny babies. The wall used in the story becomes Humpty's wall for Humpty Dumpty and a piece of cardboard makes a see-saw for an enactment by Jemima and Humpty of 'See ...

Aka ep#445 Jan and Alister make a 'papier-mache' mouse by simply soaking and shaping newspaper. This mouse becomes the Hickory Dickory Dock mouse for 'Hickory Dickory Dock'. Bathroom objects are introduced for a floating and sinking demonstration. Articles include a face washer, nail brush, soap, soap container. Floating and sinking is continued in imaginative play with the soap container becoming a boat, overloaded with a cargo of soap. It begins to sink, and is rescued by a soap-container 'tug'. Bath time activities are included in the action song Wash Your Dity ...

Aka 120.1 ep#446 Lyn and Don are moulding clay. She experiments with various shapes, finally making a bell. Don makes a face and leads us to the activity song 'Put Your Finger on Your Nose'. Lyn demonstrates how a potter's wheel works, spinning and moulding. Don spins as a wheel and introduces other activities: jumping, sliding. Through the windows children are skating. Some tumble on ice. Lyn tumbles with toys, singing 'Ring a Roses'. They increase the tempo of the song and this leads to the slow/fast game, 'Roly Poly' with hand spinning actions. Don stirs flour, ...

Aka ep#447 Lyn and Don pile clothes for various parts of the body into a big basket. They dress quickly, checking with the viewer where they should wear each article before putting it on. They finish with socks which leads to the participation song 'Mr. Funny Feet', sung by Don. Lyn, with socks on hand, jumps them (as feet) then repeats the song. She then converts one sock into a hand puppet, first a dog (by adding sticky paper eyes and matchbox ears), then a rooster (with one matchbox as a comb). Finally, it becomes a snake (by simply removing the matchboxes). Don ...

Aka ep#448 Lyn and Don cut out (or draw) pairs of pictures of cars, dogs, planes, horses and cats to paste on cards, and sing 'Let's make a...'. The cards are used to play simplified snap, with the viewer being invited to call out 'snap' when the cards match. Don then mimes various things (represented on the cards) with an invitation to identify each. The visiting animal is a cat. Lyn grooms it, singing 'Warm Kitty'. Through the windows there are big cats (cheetahs) with mother cheetah playing games with her kittens. Don plays a game with the toys; a climbing game ...

Aka ep#449 Lyn and John make pictures by sticking bits of wool and string to cardboard. Lyn makes free shapes. John outlines the shape of three mice. He sing 'Three Blind Mice' with participation, then appropriately he removes the tails of the mice. The story is 'The Bear Tail'. Little Ted wants a tail and samples some from a tail shop. The bird tail, horse tail and monkey tail do not suit him and he settles for remaining 'tail-less'. John sings 'The Monkey', and invites participation in being a monkey, then a bird and a horse. He dons the horse's tail for fun. Lyn ...

Aka ep#450 Lyn and John experiment with the sounds one can make by blowing into water with various sized tubes (thick tubes to thin straws). They note the bubbles which disappear. By adding soap fluid they get better bubbles. Lyn sings 'Bubbles'. She blows up a round balloon, and lets the air squeak out. John invites participation in a matching mime. Lyn releases a blown up balloon. Another shaped balloon (sausage-shaped) is blown up with a matched participational mime by John. Lyn shows that the air escaping from a balloon can blow a blob of paint about. The story is...

Ep #451 Lorraine and John are playing with hula hoops, spinning them on the floor, on their arms and around their waists, singing as they spin. The hoop becomes a circus hoop for John and Little Ted to jump through the hole. The poem of the week 'Holes' is presented with many items that illustrate the 'holes' concept: shoe with hole in sole, sock with hole in toe etc. Lorraine is tearing holes in sheets of paper, first to make patterns for paper mats, then a paper dress for Jemima. It is two o'clock on the clock. The story is 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar' by Eric ...

Aka ep#452 Lorraine and John are gathering all the things they need for a camping trip. A warm jumper (Lorraine has difficulty finding the hole to put her head through), a parka, a tent (they use an old blanket with a hole in it) and bush hats to keep off the flies. They sing 'We're going on a Holiday'. They look at the calendar before gathering some picnic items together: a hamper and an esky. They recite 'Holes'. The big hole of the 'Useful Box' is closed and the 'Useful Box' becomes the engine of a car. The steering wheel is a paper plate and a broom handle. Seat ...

Aka ep#453 Lorraine and John use car tyres as swings and experiment with various ways of swinging. They sing 'The Daring Young Man on Flying Trapeze'. The Play School pets use holes; the mice and guinea pigs to enter their houses and the mice to enter the exercise wheel. John sings 'I am a Mole'. Lorraine uses a finger as a caterpillar singing 'How Does a Caterpillar Go?'. A megaphone is shown and how it works, prepares the way for the story. It is two o'clock on the clock. The story 'Hare's House' is about a caterpillar who takes over a hare's cave (the megaphone) ...

Aka ep#454 Lorraine and John use a simple insert puzzle of a horse. This is followed by the action game 'Build the House up Very High'. After the calendar, the poem of the week 'Holes' is recited. Lorraine mimes drilling a hole in the road with a pneumatic drill. She sings 'Hole in the Road'. It is four o'clock on the clock. The story is 'Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel' by Virginia Lee Burton. John invites us to feel cold with him. The question, 'how to get warm?' introduces the activity song 'This is the Way'. Boxes are used as stairs for Big Ted to climb. '...

Aka ep#455 Lorraine and John use plastic bottles and tubing in an experiment which shows how water flows from high to lower levels. The water is poured into the top bottle and we see the level rise until it reaches a hole and flows through the tubing inserted into the side of the bottle into the next bottle. In the same way, the water proceeds to a third bottle, then along a final length of tubing into a water wheel where a bell rings as the weight of water turns the wheel. 'Holes' is recited. John is digging a hole in the garden. The activity song, 'Do you Plant Your...

Aka ep#456 The poem this week is 'The Robot'. Jan and Alister use kitchen utensils in a game where a part is visible for identification of the whole objects. The final object; a kettle, introduces Alister singing 'Polly Put the Kettle On', accompanied on autoharp. Jan sings 'I'm a Little Teapot'. Awareness of body parts and their names are presented in a series of strange body positions struck by Jan. The poem of the week is recited with a mechanical robot. Jan constructs a robot with boxes and cardboard cylinders. Alister does a stiff-bodied robot walk. The story is ...

Aka ep#457 Jan and Alister use mouth, tongue and lips for talking, nose for smelling and so forth. A touch game is played to recognise these parts of the body. Jan puts two felt figures together, making mistakes with positions of body parts and their quantities. The robot poem of the week is recited. A broom is dressed to make a scarecrow and Alister sings 'When All the Cows Were Sleeping'. Jan blows to provide wind to move Alister's scarecrow. The story is 'The Wind Blew'. 'Two Little Boats' is sung with matchbox boats with leaf sails and is repeated to mime being a ...

OUTSIDE BROADCAST at Taronga Zoo, Sydney. Aka 122.3 ep#458 Jan, Lorraine and Alister visit the zoo with a group of children. They visit 'Friendship Farm' where zoo visitors may handle and feed the animals. We see a cockatoo, feed some donkeys, then cuddle a rabbit. Jan says the poem 'There Once was a Rabbit Who Developed the Habit'. Alister and the children sing 'Baa Baa Black Sheep'. Lorraine feeds one of the sheep. The story is 'The Gingerbread Man'. 'The Zoo' is sung before we look at some of the other zoo animals. First, spider monkeys, when Jan introduces a ...

Aka ep#459 The poem 'The Robot' introduces stiff-bodied movements. Alister varies this with loose limbed walking in response to music. 'What Do We Do With This and That?' is sung. An imaginative finger play is done and Jan sings 'Open Shut Them'. Alister finger paints, responding to piano accompaniment with design and stiff and floppy hand movements. The story is 'The Squiggle' told and illustrated by Jan. Alister participates in a scribble movement. Through the windows there is painting. Jan uses body paint to highlight the bones of her face including nose, forehead,...

Aka ep#460 Jan and Alister use blocks of various shapes and sizes to build a tower and sing 'Build it Up'. The song is repeated for physical participation. The presenters attempt to create shapes with their own bodies and finally, measure themselves and the robot for height. 'The Robot' is recited. The story is 'Mr. Tall and Mr. Small' about a giraffe and a mouse. An animal movement song is sung to the tune of 'A Tall Thin Man'. Through the windows an elephant is being washed. An activity song follows (tune, Farmer in the Dell) in which we wash various parts of the ...

Aka 123.1 ep#461 The story today is 'Peter and the Wolf', told simply with puppets on sticks and the theme music for Peter, his grandfather and the animals. The program commences with Alister making a simple bird puppet of polystyrene and placing it on a ruler. Lorraine flies like a bird, singing 'Zoom'. With Warren, we look at a grand piano, seeing how the keys are played and plucking the strings to see the source of the sounds. The song of the week 'Sing Me', emphasises some of the emotions music can convey. 'Peter and the Wolf' is told on the top of the piano. The ...

Aka ep#462 Lorraine and Don have a selection of home made instruments. Lorraine makes a largerphone, hammering bottletops on long nails into a broomstick. With a rolled paper horn, a metal coathanger triangle and a biscuit tin drum (covered with brown paper) they sing 'Oh We Can Play', inviting participation from the viewer. Today Don dresses as a drummer boy. On an old coat, he puts bottletop medals and a crepe paper sash. His hat is made of a supermarket bag. He sings 'The Grand Old Duke of York', as he marches. The story is 'Drummer Hoff' by Barbara Emberley, a ...

Aka ep#463 Lorraine and Alister feed the mice and cocky and listen for their sounds. 'Sing Me' is sung by Lorraine. Alister feeds a pet monkey, and it climbs on his shoulder. Lorraine mimics the monkey's movements and sounds. 'The Monkey' is sung. Alister tells the story 'In the Forest' by Marie Hall Ets, with Lorraine playing the paper horn. After the story there is animal movement in the song 'I Went to Walk in the Woods One Day' (sung to the tune of 'I Went to Visit a Farm One Day'). Alister introduces the finger play 'Little Cottage in the Wood'. Through the ...

Aka ep#464 Lorraine sings the Play School theme accompanied by Don on the autoharp. After seeing how the autoharp works they sing 'Sing Me'. A piece of wood and various sized rubber bands are utilised by Lorraine to make a autoharp. With it, she sings 'Hey Diddle Diddle'. We look at a guitar and Don sings 'The Pussycat Says Meow'. Lorraine reads 'The Owl and The Pussycat' and Don repeats it in song. Diddle the Cat and Owl are used to introduce owl and cat participation dances. Through the windows there are New Guinea dancers at the Goroka Show. Don initiates dancing ...

Aka ep#465 Lorraine and Alister experiment with wind instruments (Swanee whistle, tin whistles, pipes of pan, recorder), finding the longer the instrument, the lower the sound. They sing with mime participation, 'Oh I Can Play' using each instrument. 'Sing Me' is accompanied by the biscuit tin drum which provides the rhythm for marching 'The Grand Old Duke of York'. The story is 'Whistle for Willie' by Ezra Jack Keats. After story, the difficulty of whistling is developed through the verse 'Whistles' and Alister sings 'Whistle While you Work'. There is opportunity for...

Aka 124.1 ep#466 Jan, Alister and Bob each make something with a shoebox, Then change their "make" into something different for example a house. Alister and Bob tell a story about a magician who sometimes succeeded in changing animals around. Bob plays his guitar. Through the windows children collect scraps of wood from a timberyard and take them back to their kindergarten where they make aeroplanes. The three presenters sing 'Zoom', by the windows, as aeroplanes, then change themselves into birds, then rockets.

Ep#467 Jan and John are cooking pikelets, watching the mixture change as it cooks. John sings 'Aiken Drum' whose clothes were made of food. The story is 'Meg and Mog' by Helen Nicoll, about a witch whose spells are not always successful. Jan pretends to be a cat and John a mouse, then Jan sings 'The Old Grey Cat'. John dresses up as a witch and pretends to change the toys with magic spells. Through the windows pizza is made. Jan and John wash their cooking utensils.

Aka ep#468 An old English sheepdog is visiting Play School. Jan makes a split book: pictures of a dog, a man and a fish are cut in half so that strange combinations can be made. John sings 'Swim Little Fish', changing his hands into a fish, a bird, a caterpillar and a cradle. The story is a traditional African story, 'The Saucepan Fish', in which a monkey puts a saucepan to unexpected use. John plays the finger game, 'Five Little Monkeys', then he and Jan play 'Just Like Me'. Through the windows a poodle is being clipped and shampooed, then John changes his appearance...

Aka ep#469 Jan and John are finger-painting, changing each others' pictures into something different. The story is 'The Elephant and The Bad Baby' by Elfrida Vipont and illustrated by Raymond Briggs, about a baby who never says 'Please'. John sings 'The Elephant Song', then pretends to be an elephant, taking the toys for a ride on his back. Jan makes a bed for Humpty out of a wooden fruit box, using hammer and nails, and John sings 'Bling Blang'. Through the windows a little girl is helping her father work with wood, and painting a toy high chair. Jan then take a dry ...

Aka ep#470 Jan and John build a tall tower with blocks, then Jan changes the arrangement into a road construction. John sings 'Riding in My Car' and Jan makes a traffic light which she changes as John drives around. Norman Hetherington and his puppets tell the story of 'Stroganoff's Circus' where nothing remains the same very long. The presenters experiment with a tape recorder, recording their own voices, and then play a trick, running the wrong voice or words. Through the windows there are the wrong sounds attached to the wrong thing: e.g. a horse sounds like a ...

Aka 125.1 ep#471 Jan and John are making egg-carton 'window boxes' for parsley and seed which Jan plants. John shows seeds which have been growing for a week. The poem of the week about gardens is spoken over still photos. John shows us the root system of an up-rooted parsley plant but makes the point that roots grow under the soil. He sings 'Mary Mary Quite Contrary', as he waters the plants. Introducing the notion of garden animals, John evokes the movement of a caterpillar, singing 'How Does A Caterpillar Go?'. We have a look at slugs and snails, noting various ...

Aka ep#472 Lyn and John are dressing up in gardening clothes: hats, gloves and overalls. Lyn says the poem of the week. We mime raking leaves, mowing the lawn and pruning trees. Through the windows children in an inner city backyard prepare the ground for some seeds, help peg out the washing and make mud pies. John makes mud pies, singing 'Pat-a-cake', then makes a birthday cake for the toys. We sing 'Five Little Candles'. John washes his muddy hands, singing 'Wash Your Dirty Hands', then mimes washing various articles of clothing; e.g. shirt and trousers. The story ...

Aka ep#473 Lyn and John are feeding and watering the Play School pets. They mime the animals' actions for the song 'I Said Good Morning'. John reads the story 'Are You My Mother?' by P. D. Eastman. Lyn sings with finger play, 'I Have Made a Pretty Nest'. John is solving a puzzle: which baby animal belongs with which mother? Through the windows a child is grooming her pony. Lyn takes Big Ted for a ride on Dapple, singing 'A Cowboy Song'. Both trot and sing 'Yankee Doodle'.

Aka ep#474 Jan and John are dressing up the toys in warm clothes for the park. They sing 'What Shall We Do?' followed by the poem of the week. John makes a bicycle with blocks, a plank of wood and a broom handle for bars. They 'ride' to the park singing 'Round and Round'. Through the windows there is a picnic in a park. John mimes a kite flying in the wind and a model aeroplane with noisy engine. They have a picnic with the toys. Jan feeds the ducks. She sings 'Have You Seen the Ducks?' as John waddles like a duck. The story is about a picnic and is told with the toys...

Aka ep#475 Lyn and John look at vegetable plants to see how they grow: tomato plants and cabbages above the ground, carrots and potatoes under the ground. The vegetables are prepared for vegetable soup. They sing 'One Potato Two Potatoes' and 'Do You Plant Your Cabbages?'. The poem of the week is followed by the story 'The Tale of Peter Rabbit' by Beatrix Potter. John hops like a rabbit, then Lyn sings 'Little Cottage in the Wood', with hand actions. Through the windows there is coconut picking. John shows a whole coconut and one cut in half to reveal its centre. He ...

Aka 126.1 ep#476 Monday

Aka 126.2 ep#477 Tuesday

Aka 126.3 ep#478 Wednesday

Aka 126.4 ep#479 Thursday

Aka 126.5 ep#480 Friday

aka 127.1 ep#481 Lyn and John dress as a steward and air hostess and take the toys on a plane ride with Jemima as the pilot.

aka 127.2 ep#482 Jan and Peter make a raincoat for Big Ted and check if it is really waterproof.

Jan and Peter have frogs in Play School.

aka 127.4 ep#484 Jan and Alister are making boots. They find objects that float. Story is 'The Story About Pig'. Film shows various tropical fish swimming underwater.

aka 127.5 ep#485 Jan and Alister find out what happens to ice blocks when they get warm.

aka 128.1 ep#486 John and Benita are painting and experimenting with shapes and shades of colour.

aka 128.2 ep#487 Benita make Jemima a paper dress. John reads the story about Japhet The Tiger and the idea of camouflage is developed.

aka 128.3 ep#488 John and Benita make a cat and mouse from junk. The story is Millions of Cats.

aka 128.4 ep#489 Furniture is made for the toys out of the boxes including a television set with our own special toys version of Play School.

aka 128.5 ep#490 Benita and John are painting night and day pictures. They show how shadows are made and tell the story of the Farmer in the Dell.

aka 129.1 ep#491 Benita and John make a jigsaw puzzle. The story is about a big dragon and through the windows there are model dinosaurs.

aka 129.2 ep#492 Benita and John tell a story about some caterpillars. They use models made out of cotton reels. Through the windows is a hairdresser at work.

aka 129.3 ep#493 Benita and John listen to lots of sounds, including clocks and watches ticking, to hear if they make loud or soft sounds. The story is 'Benjy and the Barking Bird', about a dog and a noisy parrot.

aka 129.4 ep#494 Benita uses paste and John uses dry powder paint for finger painting. Through the windows there are shop windows being cleaned. The story is about an untidy junk shop.

aka 129.5 ep#495 Benita draws happy and sad faces. She cuts them up to make a jigsaw puzzle for John. Benita and John put on happy and sad faces. Through the windows there are clowns.

This is the first Christmas Special filmed in colour. The presenters look at the calendar together to find out it is Christmas Day. Peter sings Humpty Dumpty. The presenters pretend to be elephants. John dresses up as a clown and performs a circus show.