Catching Apples
Episode # 150. Falling Oranges
In a large, circle-shaped box, the children give the Storypeople three orange trees. Wind shakes the trees and oranges fall one-by-one. Mr. Man tries to catch each orange before it hits the ground, but what will he do when his arms are so full he can’t hold any more? The children provide him with a wheelbarrow, and Mr. Man finds out that the wheelbarrow can hold a lot more oranges than his arms can hold.

Directions
Make a game out of cleaning up toys. Provide your child with a box big enough to fit at least some of the toys. Ask your child to predict how many of the toys on the floor will fit into the box. Then conduct an experiment by picking up the toys together and counting each one as you put it in the box. Help your child notice things like how the size of each toy relates to how many toys will fit in the box. When the box is full, check to see if his prediction was correct and celebrate if it was. Look for other opportunities in your daily routine to do size-related prediction, like how many groceries will fit in the grocery bag, or what size backpack you need to carry all the library books, etc.

Talk About It
While viewing the Falling Oranges episode, you might start a conversation by asking your child: “How can Mr. Man tell which tree the orange will fall from next (hint: it shakes)?” or “Mr. Man can’t hold any more oranges. What could we do to help him?” At snack time, share an orange with your child and help them learn the names of the parts of an orange (e.g., segments, peel or rind, seeds, flesh, juice).

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 Falling Orange episode you might describe the oranges as falling or dropping.