Bing Small World Play

As a treat for Cian, following on from World Book Day, Finny decided to set up this small world play for our very own Bing. He loves thinking up ways to make the people he loves happy.

Resources

Bing books by Ted Dewan
Bing characters
Bath crayons
Magnatiles
Circus scaves
Grimm’s rainbow
Grimm’s house
Grimm’s building boards
Grimm’s cars

Method

Finny talked me through the tray as he built Bing’s town. He had drawn the road past Bing’s house, started making the park where Amma and Sula live, then built Flop and Bing’s house.

I loved that he had even added an upstairs for Bing’s bedroom, complete with a duvet and Hoppity.

Finny showed me the slide he’d made for the park. He had used magnatiles to make some play equipment, with a tunnel, wobbly bridge and slide, so Cian could act out one of his favourite Bing stories.

Finny proudly showed his Cian the tray. There were a few structural issues with the slide, which wasn’t built to withstand the forceful hand of a toddler.

Finny knows his little brother well, he was absolutely right that the slide was the part of the tray that Cian would love most. Cian role played Bing being scared of the slide, and needing Flop’s help.

Pando crawled in and out of the arches, while Finny focussed on rebuilding the slide… that concentrating face!

The scene that Cian was acting out, is from Bing Season 1, Episode 12: Here I Go. In it, Bing and Pando discover a new climbing frame at the playground. It has climbing bits, tippy bits and even a wobbly bridge. But when Bing gets to the top of the slide, it’s too scary for him to go down. Bing watches Pando to see how he does it, then he helps Hoppity Voosh to go down. When Hoppity likes it, Bing has a go too.

‘If you’re scared of doing something, you can watch someone else do it. And if they like it, you might like it too’.
Bing

Bing and Flop went round and round the slide, always stopping for a big hug at the bottom.

Amma, Charlie and Sula came to join them at the park.They took it in turns going down the slide and saying, “Here I go!” Charlie was crying because he couldn’t get down. Bing got stuck on the roof of the tunnel and needed Flop’s help.

After the slide collapsed, yet again, Cian set to work rebuilding it himself. One thing that I love about magnatiles, is that they build resilience. When the structures collapse, the child just has to pick the pieces up and start again.

The concentrating tongue was out while he built.

Luckily, Flop was able to lower Bing down from the top of the tunnel, then get down safely himself.

While Bing was part way through the tunnel, Cian accidentally closed off the tunnel with a magnatile, trapping Bing inside.

This was the moment he noticed his mistake. His shock quickly turned in to giggles. Although this wasn’t intended, he incorporated a trapped Bing in to his imaginative play.

Here, Bing was still stuck inside the tunnel. He finished off the video below by saying, “Oh no, he sad.”

This game then got played on loop, where Flop would excitedly open the roof of the tunnel to rescue Bing and it would snap back shut.

Finny returned and tried to tempt Bing away from the park and back home.

You can tell that Cian’s read ‘The Three Little Pigs’ one too many times, because Flop tried to blow his own house down.

These two will happily play alongside each other, each absorbed in their own story lines.

Cian decided to go on our slide, wanting Finn to watch him as he slid down, with the phrase I have heard countless times today, “Here I go!”

After playing on the slide, he returned to the table. We left this tray out and he kept returning to it for the rest of the week.

Here, all the characters got stuck inside the tunnel, so it was up to one of the wooden dolls to rescue them all.

DfES Early Years Outcomes (2013)

Communication and language

Listening and attention (30 to 50 months)

Listens to others one to one or in small groups, when conversation interests them.
Is able to follow directions (if not intently focused on own choice of activity).

Understanding (30 to 50 months)

Shows understanding of prepositions such as ‘under’, ‘on top’, ‘behind’ by carrying out an action or selecting correct picture.
Responds to simple instructions, e.g. to get or put away an object.

Speaking (22 to 36 months)

Learns new words very rapidly and is able to use them in communicating.
Uses gestures, sometimes with limited talk, e.g. reaches towards toy, saying ‘I have it’.

Personal, social and emotional development

Self-confidence and self-awareness (16 to 36 months)

Gradually able to engage in pretend play with toys (supports children to understand their own thinking may be different from others).
Demonstrates sense of self as an individual, e.g. wants to do things independently, says “No” to adult.
Expresses own preferences and interests.

Making relationships (30 to 50 months)

Seeks out others to share experiences.
Shows affection and concern for people who are special to them.
May form a special friendship with another child.

Making relationships (30 to 50 months)

Can play in a group, extending and elaborating play ideas, e.g. building up a role-play activity with other children.
Initiates play, offering cues to peers to join them.
Keeps play going by responding to what others are saying or doing.
Demonstrates friendly behaviour, initiating conversations and forming good relationships with peers and familiar adults.