Models
Episode # 139. Heavy Suitcase
In a cube-shaped box, the children give the Storypeople a blue suitcase. Grandpappa tries to lift the suitcase, but it is too heavy. So he takes some things out, but it is still too heavy. By the time he takes enough things out, he has taken out enough parts to build a car! The children magically put the car together and Grandpappa drives away, but not before he puts the suitcase in the trunk.

Directions
Invite your child to help you assemble a model. Young children won't yet have the fine motor skills needed to assemble most models themselves, but they can help. Show your child how lots of individual parts make up a single object. Where there are creative decisions to make, like what color to paint the model, let her help choose. If your child does not have the patience needed to work on the model for very long, give her a puzzle to assemble and note how it, too, uses lots of pieces to make up a single picture.

Talk About It
While viewing the Heavy Suitcase episode, you might start a conversation by asking your child: "What do you think could be in the suitcase?" or "What do those parts belong to?"

As you talk about the things on screen, you can help expand your child's vocabulary by alternating the words you use with their synonyms. In the Heavy Suitcase episode you might describe what was in the suitcase as a car or an automobile.