1: Who are You?

It’s Mango’s birthday, announces Schloff to the others. While Mango’s asleep, the Shooz plan a surprise.

They wrap up a mysterious parcel in tinfoil. Only Mathilda knows what it is, and she’s not telling. Then they plan the entertainment: Each shoe will dress up as one of the others – Mango will have to guess the false and real identity.

Sid the runner borrows the Mathilda the nerd’s glasses, and covers his colours with brown watercolours.

Schloff uses toilet paper tubes to become the bodyguard, Groombie, and slicks his bright green fur down with yellow paint.

Gina the dancer paints herself orange and blue and borrows Sid the runner’s eyebrows and moustache.

Groombie the bodyguard rolls down his top and uses belts which (Hey!) just happen to be lying at the bottom of the Lost Property box, then tries out a few dance moves on tippy-toe, whirling the belts a little recklessly.

Mathilda the nerd uses bits of lawn from outside and Schloff’s hat and hey presto – a bunnyslipper. With plastic teaspoon ears as a last-minute addition.

Feverishly excited, all jump up and down outside Mango’s bowl till he wakes up and emerges from his shell. Now he has to guess who’s who, before he can have his gift. Amazingly, this doesn’t take Mango long.

As a reward, his gift is dropped into the bowl and all watch him unwrap many layers to reveal – a ping-pong ball! Mango tries to stash it in his clamshell but it won’t stay. Each shoe leans in, falls in or jumps in to help, and all lose their disguises. After the ball flies out of the water for the fifth time, everyone’s wet, but Mango cheers them up – he’ll share the ball! They can have a game of soccerbowl with Mango as the goalie.

All the Shooz cheer – an excellent idea. After the game, with Mango winning by a fin, it’s time for the Shooz to sing ‘Who are YOU?’ playing out the episode with a dance which they invite the viewers to join. (Click here for Who are You?)

2: Wet & Dry & Warm & Cold

Schloff (bunny slipper) and Gina (dancer) are talking to Mathilda (nerd) who says it looks very wet out.

Groombie the wellie comes in and says it’s also very cold. Sid bounces out of the box and mourns ‘no run today’. They discuss ‘dry’, ‘wet’, ‘warm’ and ‘cold’. Schloff refuses to let Gina sit inside him and row him around for extra warmth. Mango asks questions about what is dry and wet at the same time? (A bath towel). Cold and hot at the same time? (Bathwater). All these revelations appear in a bubble floating up from Mango and popping in mid-air, after which the picture goes full-screen. A Human comes down the passage and all revert to their ordinary states. Ends with song: 

2) WET AND DRY AND WARM AND COLD

Wet and dry and warm and cold 
They all feel different so I’m told
Wet is water, wet is rain, 
Jump into a puddle and out again –

But when I wear my boots and hat
Umbrella, raincoat, and all that
Then I am dry and snug and warm
The cold and wet can’t do me harm.

Wet is swimming in the deep sea cool
Or diving deep in a swimming pool
In the end the towel will dry
Then Towel is wet and dry am I!

Bath-time brings the steam all round
Hot’n’cold water rushing round 
With soap and foam I love to play
My boats and ducks can sail away.

And all these feelings have a way
Of making it a super day!

3: Clever Clogs

After Schloff refers to Mathilda as a ‘clever clogs’, the Shooz ask what that is.

All try to guess as to what a clogs can be. Finally, Sid zips up to Mango’s bowl and knocks on it with his laces to wake him.

When Mango wakes he blows a bubble featuring a Japanese koi pond from his dream, which floats up above them. Then he answers their question, and many bubbles float above them revealing shoes from all over the world.

Clogs, Japanese wooden sandals, beach thongs, Florsheim shoes and high heeled court shoes. All decide on a favourite, and viewers are asked about theirs. Song: ‘Shoes are cool.’
(Still being composed!)

 

4: Sounds Like…

The Shooz hear a strange sound.

All kinds of guesses at what it could be, including ‘It sounds like a mouse’, (Schloff), who once saw one in the kitchen.

Finally the mystery is solved – Hilda has a squeak. After dreadful puns from Groombie (Are you squeaking to me?),
Mango introduces a quick series of sound-bites from nature, including frogs, bees, cicadas, and birds, each one adding to the racket.

The viewers can contribute a few sounds too. Finally, Mathilda says she knows a song. ‘Old MacDonald’ follows, with Mango encouraging young viewers to participate in the ‘ee-eye, ee-eye-oh’ and the animal sounds. In the finale, the Shooz act out the motions too, and invite the viewers to join in. 

4) OLD MACDONALD HAD A FARM

Old MacDonald had a farm, E I E I O,
And on his farm he had some ducks, E I E I O.
With a quack-quack here and a quack-quack there,
Here a quack, there a quack, everywhere a quack-quack.
Old MacDonald had a farm, E I E I O.

Old MacDonald had a farm E I E I O,
And on his farm he had some bees E I E I O.
With a zzzz-zzzz here and a zzzz-zzzz there
Here a zzzz, there a zzzz, everywhere a zzzz-zzzz –
Old MacDonald had a farm E I E I O.

Old MacDonald had a farm E I E I O,
And on his farm he had some cats, E I E I O.
With a meow-meow here, and a meow-meow there
Here a meow, there a meow, everywhere a meow-meow.
Old MacDonald had a farm E I E I O.

Old MacDonald had a farm E I E I O,
And on his farm he had Some pigs, E I E I O.
With an oink oink here, and an oink oink there
Here an oink, there an oink, everywhere a oink-oink.
Old MacDonald had a farm E I E I O.

Old MacDonald had a farm E I E I O,
And on his farm he had some horses, E I E I O.
With a neigh neigh here
And a neigh neigh there
Here a neigh, there a neigh
Everywhere a neigh neigh.
Old MacDonald had a farm E I E I O.

5: Password Please!

Groombie has made his new base under the table. The others can only enter if they know the password.

(Gina is practicing her ballet in a far corner). Mango explains ‘password’. Gina arrives back, and Groombie comes out.

He explains the password story to Gina, and she offers to do a new dance for Groombie in return for the password. He agrees, and the others come up with offerings too – soon all are together under the table, wondering what they’re hiding from.

Schloff asks Groombie about the password idea. Turns out he heard a mother give her child a very secret password, and ‘she must never go with anybody who doesn’t know it, ‘cos some people are tricksy.’

All like this idea. Now it’s time to sing. Ends with song: ‘Password please’, with a call-and-response format the viewers can respond to as well.

5) PASSWORD PLEASE:
Password please, you have to say
The password please, or go away.

It’s not that I don’t like you here
But I need to hear it in my ear.

I’d like to let you through the door
But then, what is the password for?

It keeps us safe ‘cos if you know
The password then we’re good to go.

6: Mango Says!

Groombie tells the others how important it is to listen carefully so they can help.

This after Gina has tangled her ribbons because she didn’t listen to Sid who told her the right way. Schloff snores loudly during Groombie’s lecture.

Mango announces a test of skill: Who knows how to listen properly? They begin a game of Simon Says, slightly adapted. The viewers can join in.

When only Gina and Schloff remain, Mango announces that the winners must come up and join him on the table by his bowl. Both hop up, and are immediately disqualified as well, because he didn’t say ‘Mango says.’

Song and dance: ‘Stand up, sit down, one finger one thumb.’ 

6) ONE FINGER ONE THUMB

One finger, one thumb
keep moving 
One finger, one thumb
keep moving
One finger, one thumb
keep moving
We’ll all be merry and bright

One finger, one thumb,
one arm, one leg
keep moving
One finger, one thumb, one arm, one leg
keep moving
One finger, one thumb, one arm, one leg
keep moving
We’ll all be merry and bright

One finger, one thumb, one arm, one leg,
one nod of the head
keep moving
One finger, one thumb, one arm, one leg,
one nod of the head
keep moving
One finger, one thumb, one arm, one leg,
one nod of the head
keep moving
We’ll all be merry and bright

7: Shapes that fit together:

Sid comes in and talks about running along the top of a high wall, fitted together with lots of pieces.

Mango shows a few examples of walls in his bubble show. All kinds of tessellated shapes appear. Honeycombs, spiderwebs, his own scales, a stained glass window…

A few boxes of jigsaw puzzles and the window frame are discovered when the Shooz look for ‘local’ examples. But now it’s puzzle time and everyone will help to make a puzzle, including viewers at home.

A piece of paper is torn into four and put together again, so all the pieces fit. Then, each piece is torn again to make another one, making it harder. Will they put it together again after they tear each piece again?

Especially after Groombie hides a piece inside Schloff? Fortunately Mango spots this from on high… Ends with ‘Tessel-tessel-tesselated.’

7) TESSEL-TESSEL-TESSELLATED
Tessel-tessel-tessellated
These are shapes that are related
Bricks in walls we all have seen
With no big spaces in-between

Tessel-tessel-tessellated
Special shapes that are related
Spider builds her clever trap
With shapes that fit without a gap

Tessel-tessel-tessellated
Special shapes that are related
And busy bees when they go home
Find time to build a honeycomb

Tessel-tessel-tessellated
Special shapes that are related
The lovely scales of every fish
Are patterns quite ingenious

Tessel-tessel-tessellated
Special shapes that are related
Our jigsaw puzzle fits so tight
All the pieces must be right.

Tessel-tessel-tessellated
Special shapes that are related
When we go out now, we’ll see
With eyes that see things differently!

8: Weather: What is a ‘nice day?’

Mango asks the Shooz this question after Gina admires the view of the garden from the window.

There is a loud argument when the Shooz all shout. Mango shows them a Karoo farmer looking for rain; a boy looking out of the window at a cityscape with his skateboard and it’s pouring; washing being fetched in quickly as big drops fall but the women are laughing; animals coming to a river that’s almost dry.

Mango’s questions the viewers: ‘Do you like the rain?’ Gina says rain is just rain. It depends on whether you need it or not. Groombie and Schloff loudly voice their opinions. Mango starts a song about the rain called Pitter Patter. All do the gestures as they sing.

The Shooz turn to the viewers: Is it raining where you are?
After a quick introduction to the San and Native American rain dance tradition, Groombie shouts ‘Let’s make it rain with a rain dance!’ and a rain dance begins, to play the episode out. Groombie encourages the viewers to dance and stomp as well, to a Zulu song about the rain (to be sung about 3x faster). 

|8) PITTER-PATTER, PITTER-PATTER
Pitter-patter, pitter patter, pit – pit – pat
Pitter-patter, pitter patter, just like that.
Hush and do be very quiet, listen to the rain –
Tiny little raindrops running down the windowpane.

Rain song in Zulu: Imvula (for rain dance at end of Episode 8)

9: Pitch & Toss:

Gina has a cold.

After a big sneeze, a used Kleenex comes sailing out, in the direction of the wastepaper basket, but landing in Groombie with a squelch. Mathilda leaps up to grouse at Gina who apologises.

Groombie graciously accepts. They agree it could have been worse if Schloff had caught it! All giggle at Mango’s image.

But Gina has an idea for a game. Groombie offers to be the wastepaper basket, (‘again’), and Schloff forms them into a queue.

They hurl various objects into the obliging Groombie and note how the type of object has a bigger effect than the distance.

Schloff takes a turn so Groombie can prove how good his aim is. Also, because Groombie has started to jump out of the way, to tease the others. Mango encourages the viewer to practise at home. Song: ‘Let’s try again.’ 

9) LET’S TRY AGAIN
Let us try and try and try
We’ll get better by and by
In the hat or in a pot
We will try to hit the spot
Pitch and toss – now here we go
Will it go in now? Yes or n-o-o-o-o?
We’ll try again with all our might
And finally – we’ve got it right!
YAY!

10: Phone Home:

The boots have a tin-can ‘telephone’.

Mango invites the viewers to get help to make one, as tin cans have sharp bits.

Gina ‘phones’ Groombie under the table from the shoebox. ‘‘Password please!’’ shouts Groombie, and Gina whispers it back. The others remind her they all know the password. Gina says it’s secret so she has to whisper it back through the ‘phone’.

What’s the new password, she asks Groombie, who whispers it back, leaving the other Shooz frustrated but impressed.

Mango explains telephones with a quick history ending with smartphones. He says if a child is lost, they can give people a cell number to phone.

Finale: song to help remember the number so viewers can memorise theirs, using this tune. They don’t have to sing it to the policeman, though, says Mathilda. They can if they want to, says Schloff. Ends with the ‘Ring-ring’ song. 

10) RING-RING-RING 
I know how to phone my home
I can phone wherever I roam
If I sing our number, you’ll see
How you can phone this number for me.
I have this song to tell you best
(here’s-the-code), the number is next;
(First three here) and also these:
(The last four here) – oh ring it please!

11: Seasons:

Shloff the bunny slipper is sulking because nobody is going to come looking for him in the lost property box in this heat.

He knows it was cold when someone last wore him. Everyone wonders why, except Sid the runner, who’s doing laps around the classroom.

Mango explains about seasons, with images starring various pairs of shoes abandoned in one corner, to cheers from the ‘others’ who come into their own in ‘their’ time.

Mathilda the nerd is huffy about the summer holidays. Schloff feels slightly better. All he has to do is wait for winter.

Mango offers a story about the swallow who was left behind. Ends with ‘Seasons’ song with viewers and the Shooz acting out their reactions to the seasons, with Groombie fetching out an autumn leaf from under his sole, after which the others imitate falling leaves. 

11) SEASONS (CANON)

Sun and wind and rainy weather,
Moon and stars and day and night.
They all change in every season,
Autumn, winter, spring and summer bright.

12: Patterns from Nature:

Schloff is talking about an amazing thing he saw: his Boss had put him and his wife on a table next to the bath because the floor was wet.

They saw the water going down the plughole making a strange shape. ‘It was very beautiful but it made a horrible noise.’

All are spellbound. Gina can’t imagine it, so Mango makes a whirlpool in his bowl, and Schloff recognises it.

Mango explains about whirlpools – how their spiral shape is often found in nature. He presents bubble pics of a big whirlpool in a river, a nautilus shell, a spiral galaxy.

But there are more patterns, says Mango. Can the viewers think of any?

Of course the Shooz jump in with dappled things, random dots, striped animals, all with Mango doing his utmost to keep up with visuals. Ends with San story about how the Milky Way was formed and finally a song: ‘Stars, stars’.  

12) STARS, STARS

Stars, stars, what a lovely sight,
Children of the evening, glimmer in the night
Stars are the sailors’ faithful guide,
As they travel over oceans far and wide.

13: Follow the sun!

It’s a very rainy day.

The Shooz are confused because they don’t know what time it is, without the sun to tell them.

They discuss how and where the shadows normally lie, when kids come into the classroom, when they leave, when it’s teatime and so on. This is Mango’s cue to show a series of sundials, even a vertical one against a wall.  

The viewers could make their own, suggests Mango, with a stick in the ground, or a tall thin object on the windowsill. The song, ‘Let’s follow the Sun’ follows, with the Shooz imitating the actions in the song, and Gina inviting viewers to join in.  

13) LET’S FOLLOW THE SUN! 

What is next to do?
The sun gives us a clue
What time could it be?
Well, now – let us see!

Is it morning
Is it noon?
Is it evening,
Night coming soon?

Sun comes up, the sky is red,
Now it’s time to leave your bed!
When the sun’s above us all,
Our lunchtime shadows are so small…

Is it morning,
Is it noon?
Is it evening,
Night coming soon?

When our Sun he goes to rest,
And every bird must find its nest,
Soon the stars are hanging bright ~
And now it’s time to say goodnight.