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49 Episodes 1983 - 1984
Episode 1
28 mins
aka ep184.1 Jan and Don make a cardboard dog kennel, an aeroplane and play a matching game - various dogs' heads (fluffy, smooth, spotty, hairy) are matched with tail ends. A hangar and runway are made out of a box and brown paper. Through the windows a dog arrives by plane at an airport. The story is 'Anybody at Home' by H.A. Rey.
Episode 2
28 mins
aka ep184.2 Benita and Don dress up with a dog costume out of brown skivvy, oven mitts, peaked cap back to front with brown sock ears pinned on, stuffed pantihose tail. They make a puzzle with magazine pictures cut out or torn to be reassembled. They complete an elephant jigsaw. Through the windows is a European toy factory. The story is 'Country Pet Show'.
Episode 3
28 mins
aka ep184.3 Jan and Don have a cavalier King Charles Spaniel and two pups visit. They make paper pet food and bone for Fido. A cat puppet is made out of a paper bag with features drawn on. The animation of 'Old Mother Hubbard' is shown. Through the windows there are cats playing. The story 'The Dog and the Butcher' is performed.
Episode 4
28 mins
aka ep184.4 Benita and Don make balloon people - features from material pieces and drawn with felt pen - hair made of wool. Scrap fabric dress held over hand. Balloon sheep and dog. A box becomes a bath and a horse. Through the windows two puppeteers dress up and perform as emus in a Sydney Park. The story is 'Harry the Dirty Dog' by Gene Zion and Margaret Bloy Graham.
Episode 5
28 mins
Noni and John spin eggs: a raw egg spins slowly, a hardboiled egg spins fast. You can tell the difference without breaking them open. They make an egg and tomato sandwich, a collar and identity disc for Fido and a bed for Diddle out of an ice-cream container. Noni and John feed the Play School goldfish. Through the windows a goldfish is bought. The story is 'Leave Herbert Alone' by Alma Marshak Whitney.
Episode 6
28 mins
aka ep185.1 Big ted and Little Ted are suitably equipped with hat, boots and rucksack for a bushwalking holiday. They camp out, cook sausages, sleep in sleeping bags. They play a game deciding who should not live on the mountain. Through the windows there is a bus trip to a school camp. The story is 'A Bed For Tiny Ted'.
Episode 7
28 mins
aka ep185.2 Noni and Don draw a beach scene. Humpty is dressed as a lifesaver. Jemima and Hable are taken by train to the beach. Humpty the lifesaver helps to rescue Hamble. Humpty is taken for a row in a surfboat. Through the windows are lifesavers and a family at the beach. The story is 'The Little Coal Truck'.
Episode 8
28 mins
aka ep185.3 Benita and Don prepare Humpty and Jemima for a car trip to a farm. Into Humpty's useful bag are put crayons, paper and a car made from a matchbox. A Shetland pony visits and is groomed and fed a carrot. Jemima rides Buckeroo and rounds up Sam and Diddle. Through the windows a family goes on holidays leaving Robbie the cat at the cattery. The story is 'The Picnic' by Letitia Parr told with finger puppets.
Episode 9
28 mins
aka ep185.4 Benita and Don make a shoebox suitcase which they pack for Hamble and Big Ted to take on a holiday overseas. Big Ted is given a camera. The toys board a ship and travel to a tropical island (painted background is rolled across behind ship to give impression of movement). Through the windows there is Samoan Dancing. The story is 'The Owl and the Pussycat'.
Episode 10
28 mins
aka ep185.5 John makes a travel agency shop but Jan decides to have a holiday at home. Jan and John have personalised party plates and balloons for a toys' party at home. They play a game matching vehicles to the surface the travel on - bus, train, ship and plan. They make a cereal box dragon. The story is 'I Can Do It' by Shigeo Watanabe. Through the windows people are receiving gifts and watching a Chinese New Year Parade.
Episode 11
28 mins
aka ep186.1 Noni and Don make clothes stuck on paddle pop stick figures. They decorate hats with feather, scarf, cherries, fabric flower in elastic band. The poem of Miss Gloria Grand is performed with the decorated hat, long gloves and skirt, feather boa, shoes and milk bottle top jewellery. The 'Bananas in Pyjamas' animation is shown. Through the windows there is Carnivale in the Weest Indies. The story is 'A Pile of Clothes'.
Episode 12
28 mins
aka ep186.2 Benita and Don make a space monster from modelling clay. Space sounds are made with small cymbals and hand bells. A Moon buggy is made with large blocks, umbrella and round cushions for wheels. They play with a hoop. Benita and Don dress-up as an astronaut (overalls, white gumboots, ski gloves, motor bike helmet, rucksack with box and cardboard roll aerial). Through the windows there are funfair rides at Sydney's Luna Park. The story is told by the presenters and called 'The Ah-Uh Planet'.
Episode 13
28 mins
aka ep186.3 Benita and Don have Cocky, budgies, mice, guineas and fish visiting Play School. Animal coverings picture (feathers pasted on kookaburra, sequins on fish, toothpicks on plasticine echidna, fur fabric on kangaroo). Dolls are dressed from Sweden, India, Japan, New Zealand and Scotland. They make sheep with socks and another with a plasticine body. They dress-up as Scottish dancers with a kilt and beret. Through the windows a sheep is being shorn. The story is 'Animals Should Definitely Not Wear Clothes'.
Episode 14
28 mins
aka ep186.4 Noni and Philip make a cloak from light weight material folded in four, hole cut for head and cut round at the bottom. There are figures (in swimsuit, raincoat and ski suit) matched to weather pictures (sun, rain, snow). An umbrella mobile is made with an old umbrella frame - cork on tips, decorated with scraps of material, paper, tinsel, etc and hung upside down. They dress-up as superman, with the cloak; a king with cloak decorations added with masking tape (material, milk bottle tops, paper, etc) cake frill crown. Through the windows is an umbrella factory. The story is 'North Wind and the Sun'.
Episode 15
28 mins
aka ep186.5 Benita and Don dye old bits of sheet with vegetable dye. They play a clothes mix-up game with pictures of ballerina, cowboy and footballer stapled on top of each other, cut in three. They dress up with a sheet to become a ghost, bride and mountain. Through the windows a girl prepares for and goes to a ballet class. The story is 'The Tale of Tom Kitten'.
Episode 16
28 mins
aka ep187.1 Cardboard cylinders make a city with traffic lights and a park. Trees are made with scrunched up paper for leaves. Birds are made and an aeroplane with a cardboard box hangar. Through the windows an aeroplane prepares for flight (fuel, food for passengers). The story is told with photographs and called 'Oscar the Seagull'.
Episode 17
28 mins
aka ep187.2 Benita and John blow bubbles. They mime being a bubble. They make boats out of lids with paper sails. The Boats are blown along with balloon air. A hot air balloon is made with cloth draped over a rotary line. Cardboard box balloon trip in which a bird, a cloud and a helicopter (all Benita) are encountered. The story is 'Elizabeth and her father go sailing'. Through the windows there are hot air balloons.
Episode 18
28 mins
aka ep187.3 Benita and John make a flapping bird, butterfly and caterpillar. They look at disused birds nests and caterpillars. They make butterfly pictures by making a hand print then folding the paper to make a second print. Through the windows a butterfly emerges from a cocoon. The story is 'The Hippo who wanted to fly'.
Episode 19
28 mins
aka ep187.4 Benita and John make hats. Witch's hat - newspaper cone. Crown - cardboard band with cylinders. Pirate hat - cardboard with slit. Baby's bonnet - cereal box. Space helmet - box with coat hanger antenna. Helihat - icecream container, cylinder propeller. Vehicles are made with a cardboard box becoming a helicopter, a sailing boat, a submarine and a rocket. They look at a cut-out of the moon. Make moon and star mobile. The story is 'Little Bear Goes to the Moon. Through the windows we see a moon walk.
Episode 20
28 mins
Benita and Alister make model planes - helicopter, biplane, piston monoplane, jet. Cardboard box plane is made from cylinders slit and folded out for propellers (later becomes a jet). Egg carton goggles. Paper glider. The story 'Old Macdonald's Farm' is told using chroma key to make the plane seem to fly. Through the windows there is a Birdman rally and flight of ultra-light aircraft.
Episode 21
28 mins
aka ep188.1 Noni and John dress 'olden days' dolls in Victorian clothes - petticoat, knickerbockers. There is an 'olden days' cradle. Talking doll mime. Photographs of children in the olden days. An Australian dolls house. Soldier drill. The story is 'The Tale of Two Bad Mice'. Through the windows we see the Cumnock (in NSW) Toymakers.
Episode 22
28 mins
aka ep188.2 Noni and John wash Hamble's clothes using yellow bar soap, a wash board, a mangle or wringer, wooden clothes pegs - as in the olden days. Noni dresses in old-fashioned clothes. Photographs of ways of travelling (horses and bullocks) in the olden days. Little Ted and Jemima go by wagon to the bush. The story is acted out in song 'Oh, soldier soldier, won't you marry me...'. Through the windows we see Old Sydney Town near Gosford.
Episode 23
28 mins
aka ep188.3 Benita and John make a horse and coach using mop and wheelbarrow. Old pictures of bushrangers bailing up a coach. Photographs of horses working. Bushranger play using clothespeg bullets and cardboard cylinder gun. Old rocking horse. Hobby horse with broomstick and boot. Playing the spoons. A lagerphone and a bush bass are made. The story is 'Here Comes Brumby Jack'. Through the windows there is brumby mustering in the Snowy Mountains.
Episode 24
28 mins
aka ep188.4 The toys 'fly' from England via Greece to Australia. The plane is a cardboard box hauled on a curtain track. Countries are representative. Old pictures of sailing ships. 'Ship' made from wheelbarrow, tea towel sail, coat hanger anchor is sailed from England to Australia, carrying goods and passengers. Sailor's jobs: 'look out to sea', 'scrub the decks', 'pull on the ropes'. The story is 'Joseph'. Through the windows there are tall ships in Plymouth Harbour in the UK.
Episode 25
28 mins
aka ep188.5 OUTSIDE BROADCAST - IN THE BUSH - Benita and John walk in the bush looking and listening as they go. They see flowers, insects, a lizard. They collect tadpoles and yabbies. A boat race is held with gum nuts on pieces of bark. They cook sausages and make billy tea. The story is 'Mouth Man Meets the Hairy Man'.
Episode 26
28 mins
aka ep189.1 Benita and John make Cheese and Potato pie, showing how hands can be used to knead the pastry dough and roll the dough. The pie is decorated with a grated cheese hand pattern. Through the windows there is a montage of hands. The story is 'The King, the Mice and the Cheese'.
Episode 27
28 mins
aka ep189.26 Benita and John use hand mimes to give clues to song titles. We pick up objects with our feet. Ted disappears in a trick box with an opening back and front. Through the windows puppeteers dressed in black act out milking a cow. The story is 'Pete and Roland'.
Episode 28
28 mins
aka ep189.3 Two rabbits from the zoo visit. Body shadow in front of sheet for animal guessing game. Through the windows puppeteers dressed in black perform 'Little Miss Muffet'. The story of 'Kate Grows a Pumpkin' is told by using hands and toys in shadow behind a screen.
Episode 29
28 mins
Aka ep189.4 Noni and John make thick finger paint with cornflour and water. The paint is then used on a board to make different designs, and paper is pressed down on the paint to make prints. They perform the story of 'Looking for a Mate' using different gloves. Through the windows there are jugglers from theatre group Pipi Storm.
Episode 30
28 mins
aka ep189.5 Wooden puzzles of Big Ted and Hamble are completed. Play School toys are matched to their outlines. Obstacle course is made using selected parts of body. We used balancing on rope on floor, crawling through box, moving on cushion, rolling under rope. Eat a hanging apple - with no hands. Through the windows are children exercising. The story is 'Where's Spot?'.
Episode 31
28 mins
aka ep190.1 Jan and Alister make a wooden weaving frame and weave into it things found on trees. Jan makes a Play School family tree and Alister draws pictures to hang up in it. The story is 'Alex's Bed'. Through the windows is a dugout canoe race.
Episode 32
28 mins
aka ep190.2 Jan and Alister re-pot a kumquat tree and a lemon tree. Alister shows his own fire-fighter's equipment and a knapsack spray. Alister and Terry (a bush fire fighter) look at a fire truck and demonstrate its pump in action. The re-potted trees are watered. The story is performed with the toys and called 'Diddle Climbs the Apple Tree'. Through the windows there is a bushfire.
Episode 33
28 mins
aka ep190.3 Benita and Alister have a look at Snip the baby possum and Peppina and Peppino. A picture is made out of a leaf rubbing. Another leaf picture is made by pasting a leaf to see-through paper and framing it. A bird is made out of a pipe cleaner, cotton wool and a seed pod. Pin the tail on the Squirrel is played with a blind fold. Through the windows are squirrels in a tree. The story is 'Straw for a Nest'.
Episode 34
28 mins
aka ep190.4 Noni and Alister blow drawings of trees - using food dye and drinking straws. Different types of trees on a mural. A Humpty hunt is held through a home-made jungle. The story is 'The Tree'. Through the windows there are working elephants.
Episode 35
28 mins
aka ep190.5 Noni and Alister set up a winter scene and a summer scene, leaves fall and it rains. Toys leap about a 'crazy tree'. 'Lazy and Warm' is sung, while Humpty is rocked in a hammock. The story is 'Mushroom in the Rain'. Through the windows there is climbing of a tree.
Episode 36
28 mins
Ep191.1 John and Benita play freeze game. Len provides percussion stimulus for What's Next song. Box Bus has dowel axle and cotton reel wheels. Which Bus Stop is Next? game is played. The Wheels of the Bus is performed with participation: wheels going round, bumping and chattering in bus. Little Red Wagon is performed with participation: jolting, axle breaking, wheel dragging in wagon. Music making and junk machine with old car parts. The story is 'The Axle's broken'. Through the windows cars are being wrecked for spare parts then crushed.
Episode 37
28 mins
Benita and John make paper clothes and doll. They play out her day (getting up, participation song). Child's play at Kindergarten continues theme. The story is 'You'll soon grow into them, Titch'. Sizes of clothes idea from story continues with hat shop play and dressing action. Final participation - drying action. Through the windows it's bath time for a baby brother.
Episode 38
28 mins
aka ep191.3 Benita and John use building blocks made of milk and cream cartons. Building idea is developed in action song. Rice, flour, dried peas and sugar are shaken for a listening game. Dairy product containers are used for farmer and animals in the story. The story is 'Old MacDonald'. Animal action follows story. A baby goat is bottle fed. Through the windows ice cream is made at home with an ice cream maker.
Episode 39
28 mins
aka ep191.4 Benita and John play a feeling game with cleaning items. Kitchen mop becomes paint brush for pattern making and What's Next game. Muddled up household chores are mimed. Sandwich board with knobs and pictures make John a House-Cleaning robot. Facemaking follows a mirror cleaning action. The story is 'Titimus Trim'. Through the windows people are cleaning a house.
Episode 40
28 mins
aka ep191.5 Benita and John use vegetables to make a 'spikey vegie monster'. Offcuts are used for vegetable printing and pattern making. John and Benita perform the story of 'The Great Big Enormous Turnip'. Pulling of turnip in story is developed in action then in 'tug of war' game. John makes a lei with egg carton pieces and tissue flowers and drinking straw spacers. Through the windows are Samoan children at kindergarten.
Episode 41
28 mins
aka ep192.1 Jan and Don make small Christmas cakes with some orange and pineapple. They make a baby rattle with empty cotton reels tied securely with ribbon. Through the windows people are visiting a new baby. The story is 'David's Waiting Day'.
Episode 42
28 mins
aka ep192.2 Benita and John do bubble painting, mixing paint, detergent and a little water. They blow bubbles over the surface with straws. Then they lower non-shiny paper onto the bubbles. A scarf is knitted for Big Ted. Paper lanterns are made for the Christmas tree. John and Benita are 'presents' - we guess what they are. A concert is given for the toys. There are presents for the toys under the tree. Through the windows is ABBA in Concert. The story is 'No Roses for Harry'.
Episode 43
28 mins
aka ep192.3 The presenters make paper bag decorations. They cut a bag into fringes, leaving space at the top. They tie off sections with bin ties to make animals, dolls and Christmas crackers. The presenters decorate the animals' cages with crepe paper streamers. There is a wooden nativity scene. Through the windows a donkey is riding on the beach. The story is 'The Christmas Book'.
Episode 44
28 mins
aka ep192.4 Benita and John decorate the Christmas tree. John is a Christmas tree behind three cardboard boxes. Benita 'decorates' him with old Christmas cards, tinsel and streamers. They make a five pointed cardboard star with a loop stuck on the back. They paint the star and dip tips in glitter. Through the windows is a large moving machine sculpture called a 'Tinguelley Machine'. The story is 'The Star (and George)'.
Episode 45
28 mins
aka ep192.5 In a cardboard box stable, the toys are dressed to make the nativity scene. John mimes Christmas jobs (decorating, cleaning, stirring the Christmas cake). Food colouring is added to white icing. With a paper poke we ice different shaped biscuits, including Santa, Christmas Tree, round and donkey. Decorate the biscuits with currants, glace cherries and dried apricots. Biscuits are placed in a shoe box lid covered with cellophane. Through the windows there are preparations for a Northern Christmas. Benita and John tell the story of 'The Animals' Christmas Presents' with the toys.
Episode 46
28 mins
Episode 47
Aka 166.4b ep#679b OUTSIDE BROADCAST at Chinamans Beach, NSW.
Episode 48
This replaced 16.45 from circa 1982 (aka series 174 Friday episode #720). Jan and John put paper clothes and hair on a large cardboard person.
Episode 49
28 mins
aka ep175.1 Benita and Don make a miniature garden in a foil pie plate with small plants and cuttings. Planting activity follows with song, 'Do You Plant Your Cabbages'. A coffee lid pond and a peg doll, 'Mary Mary Quite Contrary' are made for the garden. The calendar has a 'window box' full of flowers. Don makes a cardboard house for Mary, Mary then does actions to 'Build the House Up Very High'. The story is 'The Outside Cat'. The child is invited to purr and stretch like the cat in the story. Benita plays an inside-outside game with cutout objects that go inside the house or outside in the garden ending on wet washing hanging outside on the clothes line. Don sings 'Wet Washing', then through the windows we see children washing their dog. This is followed by washing actions. Don makes a cotton wool dog for Mary Mary's garden. The presenters then water the garden before inviting participation with song 'Rain is Falling Down'.