The Two Tuba Switch

Product Description

Communicative 4

Skills

• Memory and recollection are necessary when replaying and talking about the story. A child must be able to recall the characters, talk about the objects and verbalize emotional states that can be learned throughout the book.
• Action concepts such as open, close, put in, take out, can be taught and reinforced through play and reading when the child opens the book or the tuba, puts the pieces into and takes them out of the tuba, puts the top on or takes it off of the tuba, and puts the characters on and off the chair.
• Language development opportunities through the pictures in the book and the toy tuba, chair, boy and dad can be reinforced in a tangible way when the child reads, points to pictures and/or plays with the toys.

Play Ideas

• Label toys with the word or beginning sound such as “t” for tuba.
• Have children dictate a story about a “switch”.
• Have children play out a story with or without a script to encourage language development and language understanding.

Social/Emotional 4

Skills

• Life skills, especially in regards to emotional development, such as what to do if you’re lost, how to deal with shyness, and understanding the feelings of others can be discussed and dealt with through reading this book and playing with the included toys.
• Pretend play opportunities are abundant with the two people characters, the chair and the large tuba that they can fit into. Children can use these items to create their own stories or act out the story in the book.
• Self-esteem issues surrounding shyness, anxiety, fear, happiness, sadness, and hope can be talked about and played out using this toy.
• Children can match the characters to the pictures in the book. Older children can act out or watch a scene played out with the toys and then find it in the book.

Play Ideas

• Read the story and have the child act out different characters utilizing the toys or just pretending without the toys. Taking different roles will help the child understand different perspectives.
• Encourage children to talk about their own shyness and recognize how it affects them like it does Mitch (the main character in the story).
• Compare the stances and expressions of the people. Talk about how their stance lets others know how they are feeling.
• Read this book to a group of children and have them talk about times they were shy and what they can do for themselves or others when they recognize shyness.

Sensory 3

Skills

• Visual discrimination and attention between pictures of objects and the objects themselves can be practiced when reading the book.
• Visual processing is necessary to discern the different items for play and the different objects pictured in the book.
• Eye-hand coordination is practiced when putting the pieces into or taking them out of the tuba as well as placing them on the top which serves as a switching board to spin and make Mitch (the main character) switch.

Play Ideas

• Put the people in a rice, bean or sand table and have the child find the pieces before they use them.
• Play with the set in the tub or water table.
• Play on a dark background to make the pieces visually stand out.