With Cian having been poorly for most of the last month, Ioan and Finny were keen to find an activity to cheer him up. Ever since he was a newborn, he has loved the calm music from Hushabye Lullaby on BBC iplayer.

One of his favourite songs is Snuggly Buggly, with HushaBug the caterpillar in it.

Resources

  • Hushabye Lullaby episode: ‘Snuggly Buggly’ on BBC iplayer
  • Pom poms
  • Needle
  • Thread

Method

First of all, they tipped all of the pom poms out to find the colours they needed.

Cici spent a long time lining up his pom poms, then just moving them along the table to make HushaBug travel around.

The ‘Snuggly Buggly’ song is Cian’s comfort when he’s poorly. Normally he’d be singing this at the top of his voice.

I showed Cics how to thread the red and orange pom poms. We were using real sewing needles, rather than children’s needles, to be able to push the needle through the pom poms.

Once Cian had threaded his last pom pom, he then turned around and threaded back through all the pom poms in reverse order.

When he had rethreaded all the pom poms and got back to the head, he sewed two smaller pom poms on the side as antennae.

Then, with Cici now confident, he made a second caterpillar while Finny and Ioan started sewing theirs. I love it when they are absorbed in an activity, from the concentrating faces, to the complete silence they work in.

Once they had finished, we tied the thread together in a loop, so it could be hung as a decoration, or pulled around to make HushaBug move.

This provided hours of entertainment for Cian and definitely got him back smiling again.

Their finished caterpillars.

DfES Early Learning Goals (2017)

Physical development

ELG 04 – Moving and handling:

Children show good control and co-ordination in large and small movements. They handle equipment and tools effectively, including pencils for writing.

Personal, social and emotional development

ELG 08 – Making relationships:

Children play co-operatively, taking turns with others. They take account of one another’s ideas about how to organise their activity. They show sensitivity to others’ needs and feelings, and form positive relationships with adults and other children.

Expressive arts and design

ELG 16 – Exploring and using media and materials:

Children safely use and explore a variety of materials, tools and techniques, experimenting with colour, design, texture, form and function.

ELG 17 – Being imaginative:

Children use what they have learnt about media and materials in original ways, thinking about uses and purposes. They represent their own ideas, thoughts and feelings through design and technology, art, music, dance, role-play and stories.