Education Notes for Parents and Educators

Practical guidance for parents and educators using Tippy and Lobo videos, stories, activities, and website resources with children.

Tippy and Lobo’s Adventures are gentle read-aloud stories for children and families. Each episode invites children to notice the world around them, talk about friendship and feelings, and take part in simple activities at home or in the classroom. The free website resources can support classroom read-aloud activities and friendship activities for young children.

The suggestions on this page are flexible. An adult might ask one question at bedtime, use a coloring page after the story, or build a complete lesson around an episode. Children can participate by speaking, pointing, drawing, moving, acting, using a home language, or dictating their ideas to an adult.

Using an episode together

Before the story

• Look at the episode image and ask what the child notices.
• Ask what the characters might discover.
• Introduce one or two words that may appear in the story.
• Invite the child to make a prediction, without expecting a right answer.

During the story

• Pause when the characters notice an animal, place, or sound.
• Ask, “What do you notice?” or “What do you wonder?”
• Talk about how a character may be feeling, using clues from the story and pictures.
• Let the child listen without interruption when that is more comfortable.

After the story

• Ask the child to retell what happened in the beginning, middle, and end.
• Talk about a kind, careful, or curious choice made by a character.
• Connect the story to the child’s own experiences.
• Choose one activity: talk, draw, color, play, move, or observe outdoors.

There is no need to use every suggestion. Follow the child’s interest and allow plenty of time for thinking.

What children can explore

Friendship and feelings

The stories offer natural opportunities to talk about:

• becoming comfortable with someone who is different;
• listening to another person or animal;
• showing kindness through a concrete action;
• asking permission and respecting personal space;
• being careful when something feels new or uncertain;
• welcoming, helping, and saying goodbye; and
• finding a place in a family, classroom, or community.

Helpful questions include:

• What helped the characters feel comfortable?
• How did one friend show kindness to another?
• How could you tell that a character felt unsure, curious, or happy?
• When might we ask before entering, borrowing, touching, or joining?
• How are the two characters alike? How are they different?

These are invitations to talk, not tests. Children may answer with words, gestures, drawings, or examples from their own lives.

Language and early literacy

After watching or reading an episode, children can:

• retell the story in three parts;
• arrange scene cards in story order;
• predict what might happen next;
• describe what they see, hear, feel, or wonder about in a picture;
• make a new title, ending, sign, map, or note from one character to another; or
• dictate a response for an adult to write down.

Repeated readings are welcome. Children often notice new details, words, and feelings each time they hear a familiar story.

Words from the story

Each episode can support a small, optional word list. Choose the words that fit the child’s age and interests rather than treating the list as a required test.

• Story words: names, places, animals, and important objects.
• Shorter words: simple words that may be useful for early reading and spelling.
• Theme words: meaningful words such as kind, friend, listen, or explore.
• Challenge words: longer or less predictable words for children who are ready for them.

Try tracing, copying, matching words to pictures, finding a word in the story, or using a word in a new sentence. Children may first explain a word in their own language or by pointing to a picture.

Questions about words can also support understanding:

• Listening: Where did listening help in the story?
• Friend: How did the characters act like friends?
• Explore: What did the characters explore?
• Gentle: When was it helpful to be gentle?
• Welcome: How did someone help a visitor feel welcome?

Nature, animals, and science

The stories encourage children to observe and ask questions about:

• animal features, sounds, movement, homes, and food;
• forests, ponds, farms, and other habitats;
• how animals and people share a place; and
• patterns such as birds gathering materials for a nest or animals preparing food.

Before giving an explanation, ask, “What do you notice?” and “What do you wonder?” Children can sort observations by setting, draw a habitat, make a simple map, or compare the story with what they see outdoors.

When observing wildlife, stay quiet, give animals space, and do not chase, touch, or feed them unless an informed adult says it is safe. Information about real animals and plants should be checked for the local area and clearly separated from the imaginative parts of the story.

Early math and problem-solving

Children can:

• count animals, sounds, flowers, or objects in an image;
• compare more and less, near and far, or large and small;
• map a path from one setting to another;
• sort leaves, pretend food, or picture cards by color, shape, size, or setting; or
• plan how a character can solve a simple problem safely.

Art, movement, and dramatic play

Invite children to:

• color, draw, paint, or make a collage of a story scene;
• build a nest, burrow, pond, farm, or market from safe recycled materials;
• use puppets, animal masks, or soft toys to retell the story;
• act out asking permission, listening, greeting, helping, or saying goodbye; or
• invent a gentle next adventure from the episode’s final clue.

There is no single correct artistic result. The value is in the child’s choices, conversation, and story-making.

Making activities accessible

Every child should have more than one way to participate. Adults can:

• read the instructions aloud;
• offer picture choices or objects to handle when appropriate;
• accept pointing, movement, drawing, gestures, home-language responses, or dictated answers;
• provide extra time and a quiet place to think;
• adapt cutting, writing, or outdoor activities as needed; and
• offer a sensory alternative when an activity involves sound, touch, movement, or being outdoors.

Keep adult instructions short, use clear contrast and readable text, and provide transcripts or captions for video content. For outdoor activities, include a responsible adult and follow local safety guidance.

Resources for adults

The episode pages bring together each story, its parent and teacher guide, activities, word study, transcript, and printable materials. The following organizations also offer useful information about reading together, conversation, play, and children’s learning:

• NAEYC: Asking Questions to Stretch Your Child’s Thinking
• NAEYC: Sparking Playful Learning with Your Child
• Reading Rockets: Print Awareness During Read-Alouds
• Reading Rockets: Repeated Interactive Read-Alouds
• CASEL: What Is the CASEL Framework?
• NGSS: K-2 Engineering Design
• NAEYC: Learning Stories

These links are offered for additional reading. They do not replace local curriculum guidance, professional judgment, or supervision of children during activities.