Activity 01
Role Play: House or No House
Divide class into pairs; one child acts safe inside an imaginary house during rain or animal visits, the other outside facing challenges. Switch roles after 5 minutes, then discuss feelings in a circle. Record three protections on chart paper.
Name three things a house gives us that we need.
Facilitation TipDuring Role Play: House or No House, give each student a tag with their role (family member, rain, wind, stray dog) so every child participates and experiences the difference shelter makes.
What to look forShow students pictures of different weather conditions (heavy rain, strong sun, wind). Ask them to point to their house drawing or a picture of a house and explain one way it helps them during that specific weather.
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Activity 02
Model Building: Mini Houses
Provide cardboard, sticks, leaves, and cloth. In small groups, children build models showing protection from rain (slanted roof) and animals (walls). Test with water spray and toy animals, noting what works best.
Tell me how a house keeps us safe when it rains or when it is very hot outside.
Facilitation TipWhen doing Model Building: Mini Houses, provide only recyclable materials like cardboard, matchboxes, and straws to encourage creativity and keep the focus on purpose rather than decoration.
What to look forAsk students: 'Imagine you are playing outside and it starts to rain heavily. What would you do? Where would you go?' Listen for responses that involve seeking shelter in a house or a similar safe place.
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Activity 03
Neighbourhood Walk: Spot the Shelters
Take a short schoolyard or nearby walk. Children draw or list houses seen, noting materials and protections like doors for privacy. Back in class, sort drawings by type and share one protection each house offers.
What do you think would be hard about living outside with no house?
Facilitation TipOn the Neighbourhood Walk: Spot the Shelters, ask students to note one thing they see that protects people or animals, then share these observations back in class to build collective understanding.
What to look forGive each student a small piece of paper. Ask them to draw one thing a house protects them from and write one word to describe that protection (e.g., 'Rain', 'Sun', 'Dog', 'Safe').
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Activity 04
Matching Game: Needs and Protections
Prepare cards with weather/animal pictures and house features (roof, walls, door). In pairs, match them and explain, for example, roof to rain. Play twice, fastest pair wins stickers.
Name three things a house gives us that we need.
Facilitation TipFor Matching Game: Needs and Protections, use picture cards instead of words so emergent readers can focus on the concept rather than decoding text.
What to look forShow students pictures of different weather conditions (heavy rain, strong sun, wind). Ask them to point to their house drawing or a picture of a house and explain one way it helps them during that specific weather.
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Generate Complete Lesson→A few notes on teaching this unit
Start with experiences students already have. Let them describe times they felt protected at home during rain or heat, then move to imagining life without walls. Avoid starting with definitions; instead, let the activities reveal the concept naturally. Research suggests concrete, multisensory experiences build stronger mental models in young children, so combine touch (model building), movement (role play), and observation (neighbourhood walk) to reinforce learning.
By the end of these activities, students will confidently name three protections a house offers and explain why these matter. You will see this in their drawings, role-plays, and conversations as they move from simply naming walls to describing safety, comfort, and privacy.
Watch Out for These Misconceptions
During Role Play: House or No House, watch for children who assume only big or fancy houses count as real homes.
Bring picture cards of different homes—slums, flats, huts, bungalows—and have children sort them into 'protects us' and 'size' piles, then discuss why all belong in the first pile.
During Model Building: Mini Houses, watch for students who only include roofs in their designs.
Ask them to add walls and a door using recyclable materials, then prompt them to explain how each part protects from sun, rain, or animals during a class share.
During Matching Game: Needs and Protections, watch for children who think animals do not need shelters like humans.
Add picture cards of animal homes (bird nests, dog kennels, cow sheds) and ask students to match them with needs like safety from predators, heat, or rain during the game.
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