Toys in Space

Product Information

Look at the spread showing the Hoctopize meeting the toys. What is the Hoctopize thinking and feeling? Write this inside your outline.

Toys in Space by Mini Grey KS1 Book Topic - Teachwire Toys in Space by Mini Grey KS1 Book Topic - Teachwire

This opportunity for connection and reflection prepares children to inhabit the emotional landscape of the book and makes the eventual reading experience richer and more relevant. Inviting a response As the night progresses, everyone helps shape the story. But how will the explorers get home? And did they really meet an alien? When the spaceship arrives, the author repeats the word bigger. Why is this? Can you think of some synonyms for the word ‘bigger’? Create your own audio recording of this story, including the narration, the speech, music and sound effects.The toys and the Hoctopize are very different, but they probably have some things in common. Talk about what they may share, as well as some of the differences. Make sure everyone understands the idea of a ‘story within a story’ and draw attention to the way the toys help shape the action. Did Wonderdoll invent everything? Or did the adventure really happen? Here's an interesting blog from the Tower Hamlets Schools Library Service: towerhamlets-sls.org.uk/blog-lost-toys

Toys In Space - Twinkl Toys In Space - Twinkl

What about aliens with other quantities of fingers or tentacles? Draw them, then show how they count and do their sums. If you have access to a safe, high location, drop the toys and time how long it takes for them to reach the ground. Collect data to analyse and display. Look at pictures of the amazing variety of life on earth and talk about the way creatures evolve to fit the place they live. What might creatures from another planet look like? Look at pictures of the amazing variety of life on earth and talk about the way creatures evolve to fit the place they live. Investigate possible conditions on other planets and discuss how alien life-forms might adapt (or look at aliens in other books….)

Use ‘Touch and Tell’ as you move around the room to capture ideas and thoughts. Now ask children to wake up slowly, stretching and showing surprise at finding themselves in such a strange place. How do they feel, so far from home? What do toys get up to when their owners aren’t looking? Share other books such as One True Bear by Ted Dewan, the Teddy Robinson stories by Joan G Robinson (out of print but available second-hand) and Traction Man by Mini Grey, and ask your class to create their own stories and illustrate them. Telling stories to toys Wonderdoll invents this story to help the toys overcome their fears. Invite your class to create all sorts of different stories and provide special storytelling areas where they can tell them to an audience of toys. These areas can be just big enough for one child plus a toy, or larger to accommodate a group. Think dens – sheets draped over washing lines, enormous cardboard boxes – and decorate them with paints, cushions and bunting. Have any of them been lost? What happened, and how were things resolved? If you like, you can use role-play to extend the discussion.

Space National Aeronautics and Educators Grades 5-12 Space

There is a massive amount in this book for your class to engage with and they will be keen to talk about the story, as well as relate it to their own experiences. What did they think about the book and the way it was illustrated? Did it remind them of anything else they’ve read? Did anything suprise them? From ever-inventive, award-winning author-illustrator Mini Grey comes a hilarious and heartfelt new adventure: a motley group of toys left outside in the garden become true friends and brave heroes - in space! Text Rationale: Why not give the silhouettes to another class and invite them to make the same response? Parachuting down to earthWhen the toys are accidentally left outside overnight, some of them are concerned. The dinosaur doesn't like the dark, and the stuffed horse whinnies, "I may get damp!" Ask your class to plan a party, complete with traditional games, food, invitations and decorations. Talk abut the different tasks and assign pairs or groups of children to each task. Make a date for the party and allow each child to invite a toy as a guest. Stargazing Ask children to pretend they are presenting a TV news report about a recently-discovered planet, with one child narrating while the others mime. Move on to individual or group writing, and video children reading their ‘news reports’. The secret life of toys Before reading, collect some ‘lost toys’ and introduce them to your class. How might each toy have come to be lost? How could the toys be reunited with their owners? Invite children to talk about their own toys. Look at the spread showing the ‘Room of a Thousand Lost Toys’. What do the words mean on the Sleep-o-meter? Can your class think of other words to describe the sleeping toys?