exhibition learning guide for early learning

EXHIBITION LEARNING GUIDE
FOR EARLY LEARNING
The Wiggles exhibition is for anyone who has
ever enjoyed The Wiggles, particularly families
with children under six years old and
kindergarten children visiting as part of an
excursion. The Wiggles entertain and educate.
The basis of their success is an understanding
of the integrated and complex principles of
early childhood development and learning. The
Wiggles exhibition offers Wiggly learning
experiences that children and adults will enjoy
This guide is for teachers, parents and carers
who accompany children to The Wiggles
exhibition as part of an excursion.
In this exhibition learning guide you’ll find
• Introduction (page 2)
• Enhancing the experience (page 2)
• Exhibition text (page 4)
• Exhibition map (page 5)
• Learning chart (page 6)
• Exhibition book (page 11)
• Bookings information (page 12)
Introduction
The opportunities for learning available
throughout the exhibition have been developed
to accord with the principles of the Early
Learning Framework for Australia, Belonging,
Being and Becoming (EYLF) produced by the
Australian Government Department of
Education, Employment and Workplace
Relations (available online). This framework
emphases the importance of play-based
learning and recognises that children need to
be active participants in their own learning as
they develop physical, intellectual, creative,
social and emotional competencies. It expresses
the belief that all young Australians should
have the opportunity to become successful
learners, confident and creative individuals and
active and informed citizens.
The EYLF links with exhibition experiences are
identified in the chart on pages 6–10. Different
sorts of play are also identified in this chart.
Children will vary in how they respond to any
experience depending on a host of factors,
including who is with them at the time.
Enhancing the experience
Prior to the visit
• Talk about the experience ahead … have
children predict and reason what they might
see at the exhibition. All ideas, especially the
justified ones, should be treated as possible.
They also provide a trigger for conversations.
• Talk about what a museum is … ask the child
to tell you what they think they might see and
do at the exhibition. Asking and listening to
the reply ‘What do you think will be there?’
provides prediction and anticipation.
• If the child thinks they’ll meet The Wiggles
(or the characters) just explain that The
Wiggles and their friends won’t be there but
there’ll be lots of things to see and do and
again ask children for their ideas. ‘What else
do you think you might see?’
• Tell a story about how you’ll get there. ‘One
day Millie and her Mummy went to the
Powerhouse Museum. They were going to see
an exhibition about The Wiggles and their
friends.’ You can elaborate with as much
detail as you like but don’t take it further
Making fruit salad in Anthony’s Room
than arriving at the Museum. You may wish
to write up the story and create a simple
story book that outlines the adventure, eg
The day I went to The Wiggles exhibition at
the Powerhouse Museum.
• On the day of your trip to the Museum
ensure you collect transport tickets, these will
be useful additions to the story. Once at the
Museum take photos and collect items that
can be included in the story.
EXHIBITION LEARNING GUIDE FOR EARLY LEARNING 2
At the Museum
After the visit
Encourage children to engage safely in as
many experiences as they’d like, at their own
pace. Even the most gregarious children can
take time to feel comfortable in a new situation.
• Take the opportunity to talk with the children
after the visit is over about what they did,
what they saw and what they liked (or didn’t
like) and why. Remember to talk about what
you saw, what you liked and why.
• Some children might just want to watch what
others are doing, at least for a while.
(Onlooker play)
• Young children are often happy to engage in
an experience in the company of another
child but won’t want to talk to them or share
ideas or equipment. (Parallel play)
• Others will interact with another child or
children on a needs basis and may ask
another child when they want something.
(Associative play)
• Don’t quiz them about what they did or saw
but ask as if you really want to know.
• Here are a few examples of statements or
questions than can trigger further discussion.
Obviously there are no right or wrong answers!
1. I wonder what fruit we’d need if we made
fruit salad at home.
2. I wonder how old Murray was when he
started to play the guitar. How can you
tell?
• Other children may be happy to engage in a
cooperative interaction with others, sharing
ideas and discussing what they are doing.
(Cooperative play)
3. I couldn’t see what Wags was reading. I
wonder what books he likes best.
• Avoid disciplining other people’s children.
Divert your own child’s interest if necessary.
5. When The Wiggles were on the stage they
looked different to the way they usually
look.
• Consider the number of children at one
experience and come back if busy.
4. I wonder how Captain Feathersword
knows which end of the ship is the front.
• Offer help when it appears to be needed but
give children opportunities to solve their own
problems.
And remember, you now have lots of material
to help finish that story you told before you
arrived. Together you may chose to write it up
as a book called The day I went to see The
Wiggles exhibition at the Powerhouse Museum
and the child may scrapbook or illustrate.
Fixing the Big Red Car in Sam’s Room
Find the Big Red Car toy among the Museum’s toy cars
• Show appreciation by commenting directly
on what children are doing.
EXHIBITION LEARNING GUIDE FOR EARLY LEARNING 3
Exhibition text
There is a variety of types of text in the
exhibition. There are two main formats for the
written text: labels for adults and labels for
families.
All labels are in plain English with the family
labels intended to be read by or to the child.
Older siblings and/or skilled readers could also
be encouraged to read them aloud to very
young children. These labels were written with
the child’s interest and life experiences in mind
and were designed to both promote discussion
within the group and closer observation of the
exhibition object. Please look out for them as
you enjoy the exhibition.
Labels for adults
$QWKRQ\·VYLROLQ$QWKRQ\OHDUQWWKH
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%HUQDGHWWH·VLQ/DORU3DUNLQ6\GQH\·V
ZHVWHUQVXEXUEV+LVWHDFKHU6LVWHU
'RPLQLFVDLGKHKDGDZRQGHUIXOHDU
IRUPXVLF
%HDWOHVUHFRUG$QWKRQ\·VPXP0DULH
ERXJKWKLPDFRS\RIWKLVUHFRUGIRU
KLVILUVW&KULVWPDV´,XVHGWRVLQJ¶VKH
ORYHV\RX·WRKLPDQGKH·GVLQJWKH
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Labels for families
Anthony’s skivvy
$QWKRQ\LVWKHEOXH:LJJOH
+HZDVWKHEDE\LQKLVIDPLO\ZLWK
VL[ROGHUEURWKHUVDQGVLVWHUV1RZ
KHKDVWKUHHFKLOGUHQRIKLVRZQ
'R\RXKDYHDQ\EURWKHUV
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The Wiggles with some of their objects from the exhibition
EXHIBITION LEARNING GUIDE FOR EARLY LEARNING 4
Exhibition map
1. Welcome Wall
Stage
2. Talking Door
Dorothy’s
Garden
8
3. Anthony’s Room
Fruit salad and numeracy activity table
9
4.
7
Jeff’s Room
‘Wake Up Jeff!’
Reading chair
Electronic drawing wall
5. Murray’s Room
‘Play Your Guitar With Murray’
Musical instruments
10
6. Sam’s Room
Fix Sam’s car
Sam’s neighbourhood
6
7. Wags’ Kennel
11
SS Feathersword
3
8. Dorothy’s Garden
Make a rose
Write a postcard
5
4
9. Stage
10. Henry the Octopus
11. Captain Feathersword
1
3
12. Big Red Car
2
12
Note: there is only one entry and exit
1
Strollers
To ensure the freedom of movement
and safety of all our visitors, strollers
and prams are not permitted in the
exhibition space. Stroller parking is
available near the exhibition entry.
EXHIBITION LEARNING GUIDE FOR EARLY LEARNING 5
Experience
Learning
opportunities
EYLF links
Parent/Carer
contribution
Extending the
experience
Staff welcome
Responding to a
greeting (social)
Children are
effective
communicators
Collect and view a
range of different maps
eg the zoo
‘Hello everyone’
welcome wall
Sequences
Pre reading
(thinking, curiosity)
Children have a
strong sense of
identity
Ask the child if they
remember some of the
sights they saw on the way
to the Museum … and
wonder if you will see
them on the way home
and in what order.
Entry
Exhibition
introduction
Talking door
Independence sense
of self. Responding
to a greeting
(social/ emotional)
Play sequence game
‘How do you get to …?‘
give children a
destination and suggest
ways of getting there
Anthony
‘Anthony’s
welcome’
audiovisual
Responding to
another sort of
greeting (social/
emotional)
Anthony’s object:
violin
Museum objects:
model apples
Children have a
strong sense of well
being
Ask the child to
challenge you with
finding a selected
object.
Conversations
around fruit … its
shape, colour, the
seeds, healthy foods
(social, language,
relationships)
Sequencing
(thinking)
Relationships (social)
Invite the child to
scan the objects …
(good practice is to
scan from left to
right) and then
comment on or
locate objects of the
same colour,
different colours,
same and different
sizes.
Opportunity for
success
EXHIBITION LEARNING GUIDE FOR EARLY LEARNING 6
Experience
Learning
opportunities
EYLF links
Parent/Carer
contribution
Extending the
experience
Fruit salad
activity table
Cutting and
controlling a tool
(physical, fine
motor)
Confident and
involved learners
Ask children to talk
about what they are
doing. Comment on
what you notice.
Shop with children to
buy fruit, such as a
banana, that can be cut
with a butter knife (only
under supervision).
Exploring cause and
effect, matching,
sorting, parts and
whole, fractions
(thinking, emergent
numeracy,
vocabulary
extensions)
Development of
relationships for
learning (social)
Handling the fruit
feeling the texture
and shape (physical)
Effective
communicators
Use numeracy
language, such as
fraction words. Half
is the easiest
fraction to begin
with. Count the
number of pieces
the fruit has been
cut into.
Use a short rhyme
from the ‘Fruit
Salad’ song … or
Rooty toot toot chop
up the fruit or slice
and dice fruit is nice
Ask if there are two
that look the same.
Electronic fruit
salad game
Cut the chosen fruit into
halves using the word
‘half’ as you cut. Each
half may then be cut in
half again and so on.
When cooking a simple
recipe point out how
measurements are
recorded and weigh out
ingredients.
Play a same and
different game eg car
spotting … spot the
green and red cars on
the way home.
Engagement with
technology (thinking
problem solving,
curiosity, observing,
decision making)
Jeff
Jeff’s objects:
piano accordion
‘Wake Up Jeff!’
electronic
interactive
Stimulus and
response, cause and
effect (thinking)
EXHIBITION LEARNING GUIDE FOR EARLY LEARNING 7
Experience
Learning
opportunities
EYLF links
Books
Enjoying texts
(thinking)
Confident and
involved learners
Literacy skills,
listening, matching
word to text
(thinking, quiet)
Effective
communicators
Parent/Carer
contribution
Extending the
experience
Visit a library and
encourage children to
select a book to bring
home.
Read and tell stories to
children.
Sense of well being
iPads
Technology
(thinking, quiet,
emergent literacy)
Phonics game
Phonics, cognitive
skills (thinking)
Encourage children
to identify objects
that begin with the
same sound
Electronic
drawing wall
Using fingers as
mark making
implements
(physical fine motor
skills refinement)
Ask children to
explain to you how
the digital wall works
Self-expression
(creativity)
Murray
Murray’s objects:
his guitar
Museum objects:
selecting a guitar
from a number
of stringed
instruments
Problem solving,
auditory skill
development,
refinement and
discrimination.
identifying an
object, (thinking,
Cognition)
Play the soft
guitar
Dramatic role play
(social/creative)
Mixing desk
Deconstructing and
combining sounds,
listening and
exploration of tone
colour (creative)
Confident and
involved learners
Sense of well being.
Sense of identity
Extend children’s
understanding of
other instrument …
how they look and
what creates the
sound
Engaging children in
musically related
activities at home …
sing songs together,
using household objects
to make sounds.
Encourage children to
move to music using
scarves
Support children’s
achievements.
Encourage them to
listen … provide
them with simple
vocabulary that
describes music …
quick, slow, jumpy
EXHIBITION LEARNING GUIDE FOR EARLY LEARNING 8
Experience
Learning
opportunities
EYLF links
Parent/Carer
contribution
Extending the
experience
Museum objects:
selecting a car
most like The Big
Red Car from a
number of toy
cars.
Thinking Same and
Sense of identity
Ask a naive question
like ‘I wonder why
the Big Red Car is
red?’
Observe cars on the
road … explore
differences in colour,
style, size and design.
Fix the Big Red
Car
Construction,
matching, (social
cooperation)
Comments like
‘Wags is enjoying
that magazine. I
wonder why?’
Encouraging reading.
Sam
Sam’s object: a
Sam doll
different
Confident and
involved learners
Effective
communicators.
Distance, directions
(physical eye-hand
coordination
Sam’s
neighbourhood
Wags the Dog
Wags in his
kennel
Relationships
(social, thinking/
language, quiet)
Effective
communicators
Read or tell a story to
child’s own pet
If you were reading
to Wags, which book
would you choose?
Wags’ writing
station
Helping a child to
manage the task
Dorothy the Dinosaur
Museum objects:
find Dorothy’s
bag
Dorothy on the
swing
Dorothy’s house
‘Make a rose’
activity table
Fine motor skills
(physical)
Pleasure in
achievement
(thinking)
Learning/
cooperation
(social, quiet)
Sense of well being
Visit a garden and see
how many different
flowers trees or shrubs
there are.
Sense of identity
Effective
communicators
Becoming connected
with their world
Plant seeds and/or
seedlings.
Helping child
manage the task
Collect leaves and look
closely at them.
Sequences, problem
solving,
communicating
(thinking)
EXHIBITION LEARNING GUIDE FOR EARLY LEARNING 9
Experience
Learning
opportunities
EYLF links
Parent/Carer
contribution
Extending the
experience
Opportunities to
engage in physical
activities connected
with a sailing ship.
(physical, gross
motor activities,
thinking problem
solving, creative
and taking on
imaginary roles)
Sense of well being
Allowing the child
free time to explore
and role play.
Visit the waterfront. Are
any ships like the
Captain’s ship?
Active experience
(physical)
Sense of well being
Captain Feathersword
The Captain’s
objects
Museum object
Kaleidoscopes
Little red boat
Ropes and wheel
Pull up the
anchor and flag
What’s the difference
between SS
Feathersword and other
ships today?
Stage
Wiggles dance
floor
Recalling and
performing known
lyrics and
movements
(thinking)(social)
Sense of identity
Engaging in
dramatic play if it is
instigated by children
Sing and dance together
at home.
Engage children in
a conversation about
what they can see.
Visit the aquarium or the
beach and talk about
Henry.
Becoming connected
with their world
Henry the Octopus
Under the sea
Becoming aware of
aspects of underwater
world (thinking)
Becoming connected
with their world
Experiencing varying
points of view
(physical, hand/eye
coordination)
The Dock
Wiggles objects
Goodbye
Big Red Car
Dramatic play
(creative)
Sense of well being
Safety issues.
Sense of identity
Compare children’s own
family car and other
cars on the road in
terms of size, make,
style and colour.
Make a Big Red Car
from a cardboard
carton.
EXHIBITION LEARNING GUIDE FOR EARLY LEARNING 10
Exhibition book
The Wiggles Museum Adventure
Dorothy the Dinosaur and her friends The
Wiggles, Wags the Dog, Henry the Octopus
and Captain Feathersword are spending a day
at the Powerhouse Museum. There’s so much to
see and do … but Dorothy realises she has lost
her favourite handbag! So they set off to find it
and uncover some remarkable things along the
way. Join Dorothy and her friends on their
adventure as they explore the museum and find
trains and cars, engines and guitars, beautiful
old dresses and vases, and — eventually — the
missing handbag.
This new illustrated book is designed to
introduce the concept of the museum to a
young audience. It will also help parents and
carers of young children to get the most out of
their museum visits.
$14.95
32 pages with full colour illustrations
pb 220 x 220 mm
ISBN 9781863171397
Publication date: December 2011
Available from: Powerhouse Museum Shop or
online at powerhousemuseum.com/publications
Distributed by: NewSouth Books
tel: +61 2 8778 9999
www.newsouthbooks.com.au
EXHIBITION LEARNING GUIDE FOR EARLY LEARNING 11
Acknowledgments
This guide was prepared by the Museum’s Family and Community Experiences Department. The
learning chart and extension activities were developed by Dr Kathleen Warren and Susanne Payne.
Kathleen was Anthony and Murray’s lecturer at Macquarie University and has continued to advise
the group and its merchandisers. She has worked with Susanne, an experienced early childhood
teacher, on many projects including ‘The Wiggle and Learn Guide’. Together they gave the Museum
invaluable input during development of The Wiggles exhibition.
Senior partner:
For more information on the exhibition
The Wiggles exhibition,
visit the Powerhouse Museum’s website
http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/wiggles/
Group bookings: bookings are recommended for
groups, otherwise entry is subject to availability.
Maximum of 30 and minimum of 8 children per
group. $3 per child (Museum admission included),
adult carers are free if within the adult to child ratio
of 1:2 for under 5 year olds. Additional adults are
charged the adult rate.
For more information about education support
or your booking, contact Bookings at the
Powerhouse Museum:
Telephone — (02) 9217 0222
Fax — (02) 9217 0622
Email — [email protected]
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© 2011 Trustees of the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences. The design and images in this publication are copyright. Apart from fair dealing for the purposes of research, study,
criticism or review, or as otherwise permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission.
Text may be used under Creative Commons Licence, Powerhouse Museum, 2009. Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Australia.
The Powerhouse Museum, part of the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences also incorporating Sydney Observatory, the Powerhouse Discovery Centre and the NSW Migration Heritage
Centre, is a NSW government cultural institution.
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