This is a web portal where visitors meet characters from the television programme the Circus Kiosk. Several other pedagogical UR websites can also be accessed via this portal.
Target Group
The Circus Kiosk is primarily intended for pre-school children.
Description
The web site environment is loosely based on the television programme the Circus Kiosk. The main tv characters also figure on the web site.
Carmen the Cat has a problem solving kiosk on the outskirts of an everyday suburb. Here, we also find Carmen’s assistant Kickan and a very knowledgeable monkey called the Professor. Moreover, there is Aisorv, a very shy puppet whose entire vocabulary consists of one word: ”Aisorv”, and an elk by the name of Svante. He’s very keen to talk and answer questions, but rarely manages to utter much more than: “Er… Sort of thing…” Last of all, there is Rut.
Aim
The Circus Kiosk is a pedagogical web site where children are meant to play and learn. The portal features newly-produced pedagogical games, links to all of UR’s web sites for pre-school children as well as the UR media player with access to all current tv and radio productions. The pedagogical games on the web site match several of the Lpfö 98 learning targets.
Learning targets according to Lpfö 98
The Circus Kiosk’s web sites match the following Lpfö 98 targets:
•The activities should encourage children to increase their understanding of themselves and the world around them. The pedagogical games are designed to stimulate children’s natural curiosity and desire to explore and learn about their surroundings.
•The aim is to help children develop their ability to listen, talk about things, reflect upon things and express their opinions, as well as to understand instructions and make active choices and receiving feedback on these. These are the underlying aims for all the games in the Circus Kiosk. An additional aim is to help children become more independent and rely on their own ability and competence.
Structure
In all, there are ten Circus Kiosk games:
1. Home page – The Circus Kiosk - exterior
2. The Circus Kiosk - interior
3. The Professor’s Room (Professorns Rum) – letters, numbers, shapes
4. The Suitcase (Kofferten) – sorting, recognising, finding similarities.
5. The Tiger Book (Tigerboken) – letters.
6. The Theatre Cupboard (Teaterskåpet) – problem solving, logical thought
7. The Problem Solving Box (Problemlösarlådan) – logical thought, spatial awareness.
8. The Piggy Bank/ Change Machine (Spargrisen/växlingsapparaten) – counting, maths
9. The Maths Boxes – numbers, counting
10. The Buddy Kiosk of Assorted Games – here you find all the UR web sites for this target group
The Professor’s Room (Professorns rum) – cross stitch
In this game, the players have to identify specific letters, numbers or shapes. The set-up is reminiscent of the dot-to-dot format, but here the players have to help the Professor embroider his cloth. When all the letters, numbers or shapes have been correctly identified, a picture will reveal itself.
Start
The players start by deciding whether you want to play with letters, numbers or shapes. Once the choice has been made, a random letter, number or shape appears which then has to be made or embroidered. For example, if letters have chosen, an A may appear. On the Professor’s cloth the letters A, B, C, D and E are visible. The players must now identify and click on all the A’s on the cloth. When they click on an A, the picture of a capital A takes shape. Once all the A’s have been identified, you can see the full picture of a capital A and hear the sound “A” being uttered. After this, the capital A is transformed into an ape and you hear the word “ape”.
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Should a player choose numbers, a number 1 may appear. On the Professor’s cloth the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 will now be visible. The players should then find and click on all the 1’s on the cloth. Once all the 1’s have been identified, the full picture of the number 1 will appear and the word “one” will be heard. After this, the 1 is transformed into a picture of one animal – a whale.
Aim:
The aim is to help children develop their vocabulary, their understanding of symbols and their communicative skills. This game is also intended to get children used to playing around with words as well as encouraging an interest in the written word.
The Suitcase (Kofferten)– sorting things
This is a sorting game. The players must first choose according to what category the items should be sorted. There are three categories: colours, toys or the main characters’ personal belongings. Once a choice has been made, the suitcase will show up with a number of items all jumbled up. The lid of the suitcase contains pockets where the items should be placed. When the all the items in the suitcase have been successfully sorted out, the game is over. At this stage, the players can choose to either continue sorting or to change activities. The items in the suitcase are selected at random, so the sorting game can be played for as long as you like.
Items for sorting
Colours: New balloons from The Circus Kiosk
Toys: Photographs from the tv programme Katten musen tiotusen
Items from the kiosk: New items from the Circus Kiosk (please see Excel sheet for details)
Aim
Working with themes when sorting the items in the suitcase aids and diversifies the children’s learning.
The Tiger Book (Tigerboken) – letters
This game is intended to familiarise the players with the letters of the alphabet. It consists of two parts: writing and making words.
Writing
The part called “Writing” is based on a new pedagogic method, writing your way to reading, developed by Arne Trageton, a Norwegian researcher.
Trageton's method is based on children learning to write before they learn how to read by using the computer keyboard. The idea is that the children write their own stories. Step one involves the child writing a text by using the keyboard. This text is then printed out on paper. The next step involves the teacher listening to the child telling the story, and writing the account down next to the child's own text. After this, the child is asked to identify and circle a certain letter in his or her own text – maybe their own initial. Last of all, the child draws a picture to illustrate their story.
In the Tiger Book, this method is used in the following way: The users write their own stories. When pressed, each key on the keyboard produces an image of the letter along with an illustration. When the text has been finished, the players are asked to identify a letter chosen at random and click on it. Once the letters have been found, the page can be printed out. At this stage, the teacher can chose between ending the game or completing the method by carrying out the remaining steps mentioned above.
Words
In this last stage, the child is supposed to complete the word underneath a picture by filling in the missing letter. Both pictures and letters have been taken from the Circus Kiosk. The following words and pictures are taken from other parts of the kiosk:
1. whale (val) (the Professor's Room)
2. monkey (apa) (the Professor's Room)
3. car (bil) (the Professor's Room)
4. ball (boll) (the Professor's Room)
5. dog (hund) (the Professor's Room)
6. cheese (ost) (the Professor's Room)
7. snake (orm) (Ringel)
8. book (bok) (the Suitcase)
9. hat (mössa) (the Suitcase)
Aim:
The aim is the help the children develop their vocabulary and increase both their ability to play around with words and their interest in the written word. Moreover, the game is intended to increase their understanding of symbols and how they can be used for communicative purposes.
The Theatre Cupboard (Teaterskåpet) – circus acts
This game is set on a stage. Here, a number of different circus acts will be performed and it is up to the players to use a menu to decide which character is to perform which act. Before the act can be performed, the players have to carry out certain tricky tasks, which may be of a logical nature such as putting together a unicycle or selecting four balls for the juggler. As soon as the players have completed the task, the chosen character can perform the act. The animation inevitably ends with something going wrong.
Aim:
The children gain an ability to understand different conceptual nuances and recognize cause and effect. They also learn new ways of understanding the world around them. Additionally, the exercises help the children develop a basic understanding of numbers, shapes and the concept of measuring and to create a personal reference to time and space.
The Problem Solving Box (Problemlösarlådan) – mysteries
Something has gone missing, and now it’s mystery solving time! The game is set just outside the Circus Kiosk, and it starts with a close-up of the Problem Solving Box and the game host Ringel the Snake. Inside the box is, for example, Svante the Elk and his electric guitar. When Ringel tells the players that Svante’s guitar has gone missing, the guitar disappears from view. Now it has to be found again. Ringel parts with clues and suggests looking under, inside or behind different objects. In order to find the missing item and solve the mystery, the players have to be able to listen, understand instructions and combine several clues.
Once the mystery has been solved, Ringel turns up with a 20kr reward which can then be put in the piggy bank. There are a total of seven mysteries that are randomly allocated to each of the boxes.
Aim:
The children gain an ability to understand different conceptual nuances and recognize cause and effect. They also learn new ways of understanding the world around them.
The Piggy Bank/Change Machine (Spargrisen/Växlingsautomaten)
The Change Machine is accessed through the Piggy Bank inside the kiosk. Here, the players can play with the money they have earned through solving the mysteries in the Problem Solving Box: they can count their money and change it. Carmen is here to tell the players what they need to do. To get a 20kr note, they must first insert two 10kr coins, twenty 1kr coins or four 5kr coins. Thus, this is not a game where money is won or lost. The aim is simply to make the children aware of the fact that twenty 1kr coins equals a 20kr note.
Aim:
Additionally, the exercises help the children develop a basic understanding of numbers, shapes and the concept of measuring and to create a personal reference to time and space.
Maths boxes (Matteburkar)
Eleven maths boxes, each a different colour and shape, are standing on a spice shelf. When the players click on a box it falls off the rack down onto a table and its contents fall out. The idea is that the players count the items in the box and then place the box in its proper place on the spice rack, i.e. in front of the corresponding number. This game is based on the UR concept “Maths Boxes” which appears in the book “Matte på burk” (“Maths In a Box”) and in the tv programme “Maths Boxes”. The concept, which has been developed by Annika Thisner, is a playful method of approaching maths in pre-schools.
Aim:
Additionally, the exercises help the children develop a basic understanding of numbers, shapes and the concept of measuring and to create a personal reference to time and space.
The Thingumajig Cupboard (Mackapärskåpet)
This is an entrance to UR’s media player, which enables users to watch and/or listen to UR’s tv and radio productions.
The Buddy Kiosk of Assorted Games (Kompiskiosken)
The Buddy Kiosk is a virtual larder of games. Here you find links to all UR’s web sites for this target group:
• Rimrummet (The Rhyming Room)
• Katten musen tiotusen (Maths for Mice and Cats)
• Rosas bondgård (Rosa’s Farm)
• Tunggung (Tongue Flung)
• Bonk (Whack! Music from Everyday Sounds)