OddBits
BROKEN MEANS INVENT - *when a toy is a little bit broken, you don't give up; you make up a rule to fix it, and then you can play.*
Loading audio…
Press play to listen along. The line being read lights up as you go.
Show full transcript
Loading transcript…
OddBits is a cheerful little one with messy brown hair and green dungarees, and a lap full of funny odd toys. And do you know what OddBits loves most of all?
Broken toys!
Not because broken is best. Because a broken toy is a puzzle. And OddBits knows the magic answer to every broken toy puzzle.
You make up a rule.
One day, OddBits finds Bumpy the board. Bumpy is a game board, all bright squares in a row. But right in the middle, there is a HOLE. A hole where a piece should sit.
A little friend comes over and frowns. "Oh no. Bumpy is broken. We can't play."
"We CAN play," says OddBits, bouncing. "We just need a rule for the hole! What should the hole do?"
The friend thinks. And thinks. Then a smile starts. "Um... if you land in the hole... you get a FREE TURN?"
"YES!" OddBits claps. "That's a rule! Now the hole isn't broken. The hole is the best square on the board!"
They play. Hop, hop, hop, and plop into the hole! "Free turn!" And now everybody WANTS to land in the hole.
That's OddBits' happy idea.
A broken toy is not the end - make a rule, and play again, my friend!
A grown-up can play too! Find a toy with a missing piece or a funny wobble. Say together, "What's our rule?" Then make one up and say it out loud. Try it! If it's fun, keep it.
When the game is over, OddBits hugs Bumpy the board. "You're not broken," OddBits whispers. "You're special. You needed a rule, and we made one." And the little friend feels tall and proud, because they didn't just play a game. They invented one.
The OddBitsPals ensemble
OddBits is part of OddBitsPals's distributed-narrative cast. Each character embodies a different curricular primitive; together they teach the full subject.
-
Scrap
Brings a broken bit to fix — a board with a hole, a dice with a blank side (the broken constraint)
-
Mop
Brings another broken bit — there is always something odd to make a rule for (more constraints to invent around)
-
Nib
Tries your invented rule and plays it WRONG, so you get to correct it — teaching the rule is how you know it (protégé loop)
