Hi, everyone! Today I would like to show you a few of the popular stuffed animals (ぬいぐるみ) that you can often see at our school. These kinds of toys are sometimes called "plushies" or "stuffies", as well. Plush means the soft material used to make these toys. Stuffed means that something has been put inside them (so, we understand when we hear this name that the other person is NOT talking about real animals).
This stuffed animal is a bird. I use it during English class to show actions like "flying". The toy can open and close its wings. It's very cute!!
This one here is a seal. Yumi-sensei will use it if she is doing a "bomb speaking" activity in class. The seal is passed around from student to student while a timer is set to, perhaps, 3 minutes or so. Each student must make a sentence and then give the toy to the next student. Whoever is holding this seal when the timer reaches 0 has to give a short speech in English (because the bomb has exploded!). Also, this week we have been teaching Grade 6 students about sea animals. So I have used this toy as a kind of example of those types of animals.
This toy is a frog. Ayaka-sensei really likes frogs. She showed me a photo of the many frog stuffed toys she has at her home. For me, I sometimes use this stuffie during class because it's able to open and close its mouth. So it can be used to show an action such as "eating".
This last plushie is a type of raccoon. It can make sounds, and its tail can move in a circle. There is a battery inside it. If you turn the battery on, this toy is able to "roll over" because of the tail movements. Since it also makes a sound like an animal crying, it seems almost real!!! The younger students at Starry enjoy playing with it before or after class. For example, Marina-sensei teaches toddlers and kinder students. These kids often like to use all their senses during lessons (hearing, touching, seeing, etc.). So I think this toy raccoon is especially popular with children who are quite young.
I hope you enjoyed meeting these friends of ours at Starry!! Please come and say hi to them, if you have a chance...
- Peter