Bye-Bye Boo-Boos!
🔅 Recommended Daytime Activity
Turning Two Things into One New Thing: A lot of inventions combine two everyday things into one new thing. When Earle Dickson created the Band Aid, he did that. He combined surgical adhesive tape and gauze to create the first Band Aid — which a person who was hurt could put on by himself or herself to feel better.
Description
Earle Dickson’s wife Josephine always got little cuts and burns when she was cooking. Earle invented the Band Aid 100 years ago in 1920 to help his wife. Let’s think of ways that we could use supplies we have at home to help our stuffed animals — just like the Bubble Guppies helped sick jungle animals!
Materials
☑ A doll or stuffed animal
☑ Supplies from around home to make a band aid, like tissue, toilet paper, or fabric and tape
☑ Printable (optional)
Set Up
Here’s how to explain this activity to your child:
- Earle Dickson invented the Band Aid 100 years ago to help his wife, who was always getting little cuts and burns when she was cooking. Band Aids were so easy to use that she could patch up her own boo-boos!
- Let’s make our own band aids to help our stuffed animals or dolls — just like the Bubble Guppies helped sick jungle animals. We can use a piece of tissue, toilet paper, or fabric and some tape to help it stick.
- Now let’s pretend to help one of our stuffed animals or dolls. Let’s ask what’s wrong and how our animal or doll feels. Then, let’s pretend to help them. Let’s clean the cut and then cover it with a band aid. Does our friend feel better?
Extend the Learning
Let the Bubble Guppies and our printable nurse hat inspire your pretend play session. And consider reading “Rosie Revere, Engineer” by Andrea Beaty and illustrated by David Roberts (or watch Astronaut Kate Rubins read it to you from the International Space Station thanks to Story Time From Space).
Words to Use
- Nurse – someone who takes care of people who are sick or hurt
- Injure – hurt
- Pretend – to act something out
- Band Aid – a bandage that covers up a cut; an adhesive bandage with a gauze pad in the middle to cover the wound
Simplify
Make a band aid together and put it on a doll or stuffed animal. Talk to the animal about how he or she is feeling.
Stretch
Create a pretend animal hospital and care for all the animals who visit the hospital.
Why?
- Pretend play builds children’s imaginations.
- Pretending to help others builds empathy and expressive language skills.
Conversation Starter
Try asking these questions at lunchtime or dinnertime:
What are some things from around home that we could combine to create something brand new — like a flashlight and a paper cutout could create a shadow projector … or a shoebox and some rubber bands could create a string instrument.
