A DAY WITHOUT SCREENS · CHOOSING WHAT TO DO
The Things To Do Cards
L1 · around 2 to around 6 · Sixteen cards · The canonical reference for this curriculum
Cut sixteen cards from any card or carton. Each card is larger than a hand, so that no card and no piece of a card is small enough to swallow. Draw the objects named under On the front. Never draw a person on a card.
Every lesson quotes one line from this file and points here for the rest. Nothing on these cards is repeated in full inside a lesson.
Where a room does not hold what a card asks for, run the minimum version. The minimum version is not a lesser version and no lesson changes because of it.
Card 1 · Pour and Pour
Domain: PD · First out on the mat: week 1
On the front. A jug and two cups standing on a tray.
What she does. Fills one cup from the jug, fills the second cup, then pours both back into the jug.
Materials. One jug, two unbreakable cups, water.
Minimum version. One cup and one bowl, water from the tap.
Card 2 · Big Paper
Domain: EAD · First out on the mat: week 1
On the front. One large opened sheet and one thick crayon lying on it.
What she does. Draws anywhere on the sheet until she stops on her own.
Materials. Any large sheet, one thick crayon or one stick of chalk.
Minimum version. Chalk on the floor inside a square the adult marks.
Card 3 · Wipe It Clean
Domain: PSED · First out on the mat: week 2
On the front. A folded cloth and one table top.
What she does. Wets the cloth, wrings it out, and wipes one table from one end to the other.
Materials. One cloth, one bowl of water.
Minimum version. One damp cloth and one chair seat.
Card 4 · Cups In A Tower
Domain: PD · First out on the mat: week 2
On the front. Six cups stacked into one tower.
What she does. Stacks six cups into one tower, then takes the tower apart.
Materials. Six unbreakable cups of the same size.
Minimum version. Six identical containers of any kind.
Card 5 · Tell It Back
Domain: CL · First out on the mat: week 3
On the front. An open book lying face up, pages showing.
What she does. Turns the pages of a book she already knows and says what is on them.
Materials. Any book with pictures.
Minimum version. One page of any printed paper with a picture on it, the same page every week.
Card 6 · Fold The Cloths
Domain: PD · First out on the mat: week 3
On the front. Six folded cloths in one stack.
What she does. Folds six cloths in half and stacks them.
Materials. Six cloths or towels.
Minimum version. Six sheets of paper folded in half.
Card 7 · Make A Sound
Domain: EAD · First out on the mat: week 4
On the front. A pot, a wooden spoon and a closed box.
What she does. Strikes each of the three things once, then strikes them again in an order she chooses.
Materials. One pot, one wooden spoon, one closed box.
Minimum version. Two hands, the floor and a wall.
Card 8 · Sit With A Friend
Domain: PSED · First out on the mat: week 4
On the front. Two mats lying side by side.
What she does. Chooses a place on one of two mats and sits there beside another child.
Materials. Two mats or two chairs.
Minimum version. Two places marked on the floor.
Card 9 · Line Them Up
Domain: PD · First out on the mat: week 5
On the front. Eight objects standing in one straight row.
What she does. Puts eight objects in one row running from one end of the mat to the other.
Materials. Eight objects, each larger than a fist.
Minimum version. Eight cups.
Card 10 · Look Out And Say
Domain: CL · First out on the mat: week 5
On the front. An empty window frame.
What she does. Stands at the window or the doorway and says three things she can see.
Materials. A window or an open doorway.
Minimum version. The doorway, standing on the inside of it.
Card 11 · Carry The Water
Domain: PD · First out on the mat: week 6
On the front. A can with a handle and a bucket.
What she does. Carries water from one place to another and pours it out.
Materials. One can or one bottle with a handle, one bucket.
Minimum version. One cup carried across the room to a bowl.
Card 12 · Sweep This Bit
Domain: PSED · First out on the mat: week 6
On the front. A brush and one marked square on the floor.
What she does. Sweeps one marked square, working from the far edge towards herself.
Materials. One brush, one square marked with chalk or tape.
Minimum version. One brush and one corner the adult names.
Card 13 · Build It Up
Domain: EAD · First out on the mat: week 7
On the front. Eight boxes stacked and leaning.
What she does. Stacks eight boxes as high as they will go, then knocks them down.
Materials. Eight boxes, each larger than a fist.
Minimum version. Eight folded cloths stacked into a pile.
Card 14 · Show Me Where
Domain: CL · First out on the mat: week 7
On the front. One arrow.
What she does. Takes one adult or one child to a place in the room and names it.
Materials. Nothing.
Minimum version. Nothing.
Card 15 · Two Hands Full
Domain: PD · First out on the mat: week 8
On the front. A basket with cloths in it.
What she does. Fills a basket, carries it across the room with two hands, and empties it.
Materials. One basket or one tray, six cloths.
Minimum version. One bowl carried with two hands, filled with anything in the room larger than a fist.
Card 16 · Put It Back
Domain: PSED · First out on the mat: week 8
On the front. A shelf with one gap in it.
What she does. Takes one thing off the shelf, uses it, and puts it back in the gap.
Materials. One shelf or one marked place.
Minimum version. One mat with outlines drawn on it.
Rules that hold for every card
- No card depends on a creature, a plant, a season, a weather condition, a food or a festival. A card that would need one is run in its minimum version instead.
- No card depends on finding something. Every card works completely when the thing it names is not there, and the minimum version is how.
- Where children touch water or the floor, and something appears that is not on this list, stop, move the children back one full step, touch nothing, and deal with it alone.
- Every object a card asks for is larger than a fist. The youngest child on the mat is two.
- The word screen appears nowhere on a card and is not said to the children.
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