Clues for Tired and Hungry
Clues for Tired and Hungry
Body clues can help adults plan care, but they do not replace real observation. The aim is connection and response, not a performance task.
Today's Approach
Amara is about 1 year 9–10 months old. Keep each activity to 3–8 minutes. Looking, pointing, making a sound or saying one word, staying quiet, pausing, or declining all count. Use only the poster and audio; do not require objects, answers, repetition, performance, touch, or eye contact.
A4 Teaching Picture
Open the teaching picture to download or print
Goals
- Communication: hear and see “The child rubs their eyes and yawns. The child may be tired.” and “The child looks at food. The child may be hungry.” in natural descriptions.
- Understanding: Adults use time, context, and the child's signals to provide care.
- English: understand two short descriptions with picture support, without repeating.
- Quantity: the adult points one-to-one through one sock, two shoes, and three birds, without requiring an answer.
Materials
- Only the A4 teaching picture above, printed or displayed full-screen.
- The English audio below at a comfortable volume.
- No cards, toys, food, containers, or any other physical objects are needed.
1. Chinese Picture Talk
Time: 5–8 minutes.
A child rubs their eyes and yawns; in another scene a child looks toward the table and vocalizes while an adult responds. Say slowly, “孩子揉眼睛、打哈欠。孩子可能累了。” and “孩子看着食物。孩子可能饿了。” once each, then pause to notice what Amara actually attends to.
Amara may look anywhere, point, make a sound, say one word, stay quiet, pause, or decline. Do not ask “What is this?” or “Who is doing it?” Do not correct, score, or request a retelling.
2. English Time
Time: 3–5 minutes.
Download today's English audio
Transcript: English time. Listen, look, or point. The child rubs their eyes and yawns. The child may be tired. The child looks at food. The child may be hungry. One sock. Two shoes. Three birds. All done.
Play it once. The adult may gently point to the matching picture as the audio plays. Repetition, movement, and looking at the adult are not tasks.
| English | Chinese | Possible response |
|---|---|---|
The child rubs their eyes and yawns. The child may be tired. | 孩子揉眼睛、打哈欠。孩子可能累了。 | Look, point, make a sound, or say one word |
The child looks at food. The child may be hungry. | 孩子看着食物。孩子可能饿了。 | Listen quietly, pause, or decline |
3. Early Quantity: 1, 2, 3
Time: 3–5 minutes.
Use only the three separate bottom boxes: one sock, two shoes, and three birds. The adult moves one fingertip one-to-one and says “one, two, three” once. Do not count the main picture, words, or border, and do not ask Amara to identify numerals.
4. Adult Response and Boundaries
Time: 3–5 minutes.
The adult can say, “I noticed your signal.” Describe the place Amara looks toward. If she turns away, pushes the screen, becomes quiet, or says no, respond promptly: “You want to pause. We will stop.”
Safety and Development Note
Adults use time, context, and the child's signals to provide care. The poster and audio support shared looking only; they never replace real supervision. Adults are responsible for real safety, hygiene, feeding, body care, and necessary boundaries. Do not use quizzes, correction, rewards, scores, forced repetition, or comparison.
Gentle Bedtime Recall
Time: 3–5 minutes.
Say “The child rubs their eyes and yawns. The child may be tired.” and “The child looks at food. The child may be hungry.” once, then point through the bottom groups of one, two, and three. Looking, pointing, a sound, one word, quiet, pausing, or declining may all end today's recall.