Just before the Easter break, it was the Junior and Senior Infants turn to lead the whole school assembly. Ms. Murray had set us the challenge of researching the topic 'Toys and Games Now and in the Past' so our SESE lessons for the week centred around this. We then had to decide how to present what we had learned to the rest of the students and staff.
Tessa, Eric and Kieran discussed and demonstrated a pull along duck, some Russian dolls and a train set to highlight that old toys were mostly made out of wood and had to be pushed, pulled or wound up in order to make them move. Then, Aiveen showed off our 'Jack in the Box' that we had made ourselves using an old box, some pipe cleaners and a toilet roll holder. She asked everyone to close their eyes so that Jack could quickly jump into it. We sang the rhyme 'Pop Goes the Weasel' and right on cue Jack popped out to rapturous applause from the audience! Next up we had Brandon, Caoimhe, Daniel, Conor and Mark who did comparisons between toys of the past and modern toys. Brandon talked about a very old ragdoll that he had brought in which had been made by hand using soft fabrics and materials while Caoimhe showed us a modern Barbie doll made out of plastic and boasting a range of accessories. Daniel and Conor demonstrated how the use of plastic in toy-making has helped children to be more creative by comparing basic wooden blocks to a very detailed and colourful Lego house. Mark then showed us that some toys now have batteries and remote controls by revving his remote-control car and driving it in and out through all the other toys!
After that it was time to move onto our segment on Games from the past. First up, we had Molly Mae, Tadhg, Róisín, Alex, Hailey and Melissa who taught us how to play 'ring a ring o' roses' and a clapping game called 'a sailor went to sea, sea, sea'. These were popular playground games that don't require any equipment. Next, we had Eleanor, Ruth and Seóna who showed us some skipping skills to try out, explained the rules of hopscotch and urged us to make use of the grid on the yard during breaktime, and demonstrated the traditional game of conkers. During the demo, the conkers remained intact and Seóna explained that long ago people would often bake or put varnish on their conkers to prevent them from cracking! Finally, we had Emma and Liam who love to play card games and marbles at home with their families. Emma talked us through a card game called 'old maid' and Liam set up his marbles in a circle on the floor and showed us the best way to knock as many of the marbles out and become the winner. Donnacha finished off our presentation by sharing some fun facts that we had learned (e.g. teddy bears were named after American President Teddy Roosevelt), and by thanking everyone for listening.
Ms. Murray praised the children for their excellent work and gave us extra yard time as a reward! A special thank you to Ms. Griffin's 1st and 2nd Class who gave us lots of encouragement and reassurance before the assembly started which really helped us.
