>> Funding for this program was made possible in part by Symetra.

This program was also made possible by Thistle Feeder and by grants from the following organizations.

Finally, Look, Listen, and Learn was made possible by contributions from viewers like you.

[ Music ] >> Hello, friends.

Hello, Possum.

>> [gulping] Oh, hi, Auntie Lena.

>> What you munching on, Possum?

>> Oh, it's slug stew, one of my favorites.

It's always so yummy.

But -- >> But what's wrong?

>> Well, I was asked to be captain of my soccer team.

>> Oh, well, congratulations.

But what does that have to do with slug stew?

>> I only have a week to choose my team, and I was thinking about who I want on my team, and then Frog stopped by with some slug stew.

>> Oh, well, that was nice of Frog.

>> Yeah, it was.

But, well, he's never made me slug stew before, and it's not even my birthday.

>> Oh, I think I know what's bothering you.

Do you think Frog may have made slug stew, so you will pick him to be on your team?

>> Maybe.

But he's really good at soccer, and I was going to choose him anyway, but, well, now it doesn't feel fair.

>> Do you feel like Frog might be trying to bribe you?

>> Bribe?

>> Yes.

Bribing is when you offer someone something, so they will do you a favor in return.

>> But we're friends.

Frog doesn't need to do that.

>> You know, this reminds me of Piper Sky's Pink Popsicle Shoes.

>> What?

Popsicle shoes?

Those sound awesome.

>> They sure do, and just like you, Possum, Piper had a sticky situation with her friends that she had to work out.

Would you like to hear the story?

>> Uh-huh, and I want to see those shoes.

>> Me too, Possum.

Let's go to Fairwood Library and listen with our friends as Ms. Antoinette reads Piper Sky's Pink Popsicle shoes by Rashan Ali.

[ Music ] >> [both] Hi, friends.

I'm Ms. Antoinette.

>> My name is Imani [assumed spelling].

>> And today we're at the Fairwood Library in Renton.

Imani, what are we reading to our friends today?

>> Today we're going to be reading Piper Sky's Pink Popsicle Shoes.

>> Written by Rashan Ali and illustrated by Ahad Pace.

"Look how far I can kick that ball.

I jump so high, I can't even touch that stop sign.

I run as fast as a track star.

I'm Piper Sky, the coach's daughter, and my pink popsicle shoes make me do some amazing things in this town of Terrantodd.

Piper Sky loved her pink popsicle shoes so much that she wished she could wear them forever.

Those shoes had the shiniest purple, orange, and green rhinestones.

They even had popsicles stitched on the flap.

She absolutely adored them."

We both have something similar to Piper Sky's shoes.

>> Yeah.

>> We both have sparkly pink shoes.

Yeah.

"All of Piper Sky's friends wanted to wear her spectacular shoes.

She wanted to share them, but there was only one way she would give her friends that chance.

It was really simple, but only Piper knew the secret.

One day, Piper Sky and her little sister Charly Star were playing in the park.

She saw her friend Ella walking toward her, carrying two yummy smoothies.

Piper Sky loved smoothies.

'Hi, Piper.

I brought us creamy strawberry pineapple smoothies.

If I give you one, will you let me wear your pink popsicle shoes?'

Piper calmly answered, 'No, my friend.

I wear these with pride, and you know that I won't take any bribes.

These shoes have powers I would like to share, and those powers are only in this pair.'"

What kind of powers do you think those shoes have?

>> To jump high, run fast, and kick hard.

>> And kick hard.

Okay.

"Ella was very angry and stormed off, sipping her tasty smoothie.

Piper Sky waved goodbye and returned to what she enjoyed most, which was having fun with her sister.

After playing for a while, she saw Jen from her swim team walking towards them."

She loves playing with her sister.

Do you like playing?

>> Yeah, I like to play with my big sister at the park.

>> At the park?

"'Hello, Jen.

How are you?'

she asked.

'I'm great, but I could be better.

I brought your favorite warm peanut butter cookies and a tall glass of milk.

I'll give you my cookies and milk if I can wear your pink popsicle shoes.'

Piper Sky smiled and said, 'No, my friend.

I wear these with pride, and you know that I won't take any bribes.

These shoes have powers I would like to share, and those powers are only in this pair.'"

Jen angrily walked away, eating her warm cookies.

She thought Piper Sky was being so mean.

Piper Sky and Charley Star continued to play, but Charley wondered why Piper did not let her friends wear her shoes.

Ella and Jen had offered her a smoothie and her favorite cookies, yet she didn't budge.

She knew her sister always loved to share.

There must be something really special about those shoes, Charley thought."

So, Imani, if you were Piper, would you have traded your shoes for a smoothie or cookies and milk?

>> Not if they bribed me.

[ Music ] >> "After a long day, Piper and Charley headed home.

During dinner, their dad, affectionately called Coach, asked about their day.

Piper told him about Ella and Jen's gifts.

He reminded her, 'Always share, and never expect anything in return.'

'I know, Coach, I know,' Piper chuckled.

That night, before they drifted off to sleep, Charley Star asked her sister if she could wear her pink popsicle shoes.

Piper Sky answered with a smile.

Sure, little sister, of course you can.

Charley Star was surprised.

Hadn't Piper refused to let her friends Ella and Jen wear her shoes today?

Then Charley smiled.

She was sure Piper agreed to let her wear the shoes, because they were sisters.

Each year in Tarrantodd, there was a huge festival.

It was a family fun day with games, races, face painting, rides, and jumpy houses.

Piper Sky and Charley Star were walking toward the colorful jumpy house when they saw Ella and Jen.

The girls were surprised to see what Piper's little sister was wearing.

Charley Star was wearing Piper Skye's pink popsicle shoes.

The girls could hardly believe their eyes.

'Why did you let Charlie wear your beautiful pink shoes?'

Ella asked.

Piper calmly replied, 'Because she didn't want anything in return.

And most of all, she did not try to bribe me.

She just asked politely, so I let her wear them.'

'That's all she did?

That's the secret?'

blurted Jen.

'Yes.

The shoes mean a lot to me, but not more than my friends do.

The next time you want something from someone, including your friends' -- >> [both] "Just ask."

>> "The girls hugged and walked over to the jumpy house to play.

By the end of the day, Piper Sky gave Ella and Jen a chance to wear her special shoes."

>> So they all got to wear them.

>> "The girls ran faster, kicked harder, and jumped higher with Piper Sky's pink popsicle shoes.

They were amazed.

And the best part was that Piper finally got a chance to share with her friends.

All they had to do was" -- >> Ask.

>> Imani, thanks for reading with me today.

Are you ready to say goodbye to our friends?

>> Yeah.

>> [both] Bye, friends.

>> I was right.

Piper's shoes were so cool.

>> They were, and all of her friends got a chance to wear them.

>> So since Piper let her friends wear her shoes, does that mean that I should pick Frog to be on my team?

>> Well, remember what Piper's dad told her?

>> Oh, always share and never expect anything in return.

>> Exactly.

If you want Frog to be on your team, you should pick him and let him know that he doesn't need to make you anything to ask for a favor.

>> Yeah, I do nice things for my friends all the time.

Remember when I made Raven that calming jar?

>> I sure do.

It's an important part of friendship, finding ways to let our friends know that we think and care about them just because.

There's a difference between doing something for someone to be kind and doing something for someone because you'll want a favor from them.

>> How can I tell the difference?

>> Well, it might not be easy, but asking Frog why they made you the stew is the best way to find out.

>> Oh, yeah, that does sound hard.

And, well, I don't want Frog to think I'm mad at him.

>> Sometimes having a tough conversation is an important part of friendship so you and your friend can understand each other better.

>> Yeah.

>> Yeah.

This is a hard situation, but we know we can do hard things.

And when we have hard situations to think about, we also know that we can take a break and shake things up.

>> Oh, yeah, let's shake things up.

What should we do?

>> Well, I don't know about you, but I've still got popsicles on the brain.

>> Me, too.

Are we going to make popsicle shoes to wear?

>> I was thinking about making something to eat to go along with your slug stew.

>> Yippee-yi-yay!

>> Let's join Miss Alex in the kitchen with our friends and see what ideas she may have.

>> Hi, friends.

I'm Miss Alex.

>> And I'm Raya [assumed spelling].

What are we making today?

>> We're going to make chocolate-covered banana pops.

>> Oh.

>> Do you want to know what the ingredients are?

>> Yes, please.

>> All right.

So we've got bananas; we've got coconut oil, a cup of chocolate chips, and what we're going to do is we're going to melt these into this melted chocolate, add some sprinkles, as well as some popsicle sticks.

>> Okay.

So should we go ahead and get started?

>> Yeah.

>> All right.

So we've got this banana here.

Why don't you go ahead and peel it, and then we're going to cut it in half.

>> Oh, okay.

>> And we've got these wonderful kid-friendly knives.

>> I'll pop it right here.

>> Okay.

>> And then I'll cut it in half.

>> That's right.

Oh, good job.

It's pretty equal there.

Yeah.

All right.

So we're each going to take part of the banana.

So why don't you put one on your plate.

All right, and I'll put one on mine, and then we're going to put the sticks in the banana.

So let me give it a try first, and I see if we kind of put it in the middle.

All right.

That's about right.

Good.

Good job.

All right.

And then the next step is my favorite part.

I love chocolate.

>> Me, too.

>> All right.

So what we're going to do is twirl it around in the chocolate, and let's give it a try here.

Oh, look at that.

Oh, yum.

Let's see if it stays on the stick.

There we go.

>> Okay.

>> All right.

Good job.

There we go, and then we get to add some sprinkles.

And we've got a couple different options.

We've got colorful ones and blue ones.

>> What are you going to choose?

>> Gee, I think I'm going to do both.

>> Okay, me, too, then.

>> All right.

[ Music ] >> So now they're ready to go to the freezer.

Okay, Raya.

I made some earlier, and they've been in the freezer for three hours.

So let's give it a try here.

One of my favorite parts about making this was shaking things up and putting the sprinkles on.

How about you?

>> My favorite part was doing this with you.

>> Wow.

Thank you so much.

Here.

Cheers.

Let's try it.

That's pretty good.

I love the chocolate and the mix with the bananas here.

>> Yeah.

>> So do you like to cook at home?

>> Yeah.

>> Yeah?

What kinds of things?

>> I make cookies, cakes.

Sometimes I make pizza.

>> Whoa.

All my favorite foods, cookies, cakes, and pizza.

And that's lovely, and do you share with your family?

>> Yeah.

>> Oh, that's wonderful.

So, Raya, thanks so much for making these chocolate-covered banana pops with me today.

>> Thanks for showing me how to.

>> All right.

Let's say goodbye to our friends.

Ready?

>> Bye.

>> Okay.

Bye, friends.

>> Yummy.

Auntie Lena, would you help me make banana pops for my new soccer team?

>> Of course, Possum, and don't you forget to talk with Frog and tell him he doesn't have to give you anything when he wants a favor.

He can just ask.

>> Why do you think Frog didn't just ask me in the first place?

>> Frog probably meant well when he made you the slug stew.

Many people try and bribe someone without even knowing they're doing it.

>> Really?

>> Of course.

Have you ever really wanted something and didn't know how to ask for it?

>> Yeah.

Yesterday, I wanted to stay up later so I could play.

>> And did you find yourself being a little nicer to Mama Possum when you asked her to stay up longer?

>> I may have hugged her a little tighter and helped her clean up the tree without her asking.

>> Well, that was nice of you, Possum.

But see, sometimes we just do a little extra, and we don't mean any harm by it.

We're just excited to have our wishes come true.

>> So what should I do next time someone tries to bribe me?

Just ask them what they want?

>> Yes, just ask.

>> Okay.

Well, can I just ask you to do some art with me?

>> Well, of course you can.

You know, there were some extra popsicle sticks from the banana pops.

It'd be great to find a way to use them.

>> For art?

>> You know it.

Our friend, Mr. Isaiah, has a knack for finding ways to use everyday items to make cool art.

Let's join him at Arte Noir to see what he can make with popsicle sticks.

[ Music ] >> Hi, friends.

It's Mr. Isaiah.

I'm at Arte Noir in the Central District in Seattle, Washington, and today we're going to make some popsicle stick picture frames.

So today for our materials, we have a paintbrush that we're going to be using to spread some glue.

We have eight popsicle sticks.

You can get these at any kind of craft store.

We have some glitter and some gems and different types of tape that we're going to use to decorate our popsicle sticks, paper plates to kind of help with the drying process, and some pictures that are going to go in our frames.

All right.

I'm going to start by decorating each popsicle stick.

This is going to be the really fun part where you can be creative and think about using your favorite colors or some of your favorite materials like gems, jewels, glitter or tape or anything like that.

So I'm going to start with my glue.

I'm going to put a really thin layer of glue on this popsicle stick.

It can be great to use a paintbrush to spread this out, so you have a thin, even layer and no kind of clumpy areas of glue.

Now you're going to want to go a little fast because glue can dry quickly.

So I'm going to grab some glitter and I'm just going to sprinkle it on my popsicle sticks.

You can use different types of glitter if you want different colors or different sizes.

I'm going to use different shades of blue and yellow because those are my favorite colors.

[ Music ] All right.

There's one.

We're going to let the glue dry a little bit, but what's cool is we can work on the other ones while we're waiting for the first ones to dry.

You could try doing this project with some popsicle sticks that you even ate over the summer.

You can use them in a fun project in a way that we can reduce and reuse and recycle.

[ Music ] And don't forget to just ask for help if you need it.

An adult can really help with the gluing process.

It can get a little messy.

All right.

Now that we've given our popsicle sticks a little bit of time to dry, we're going to start constructing our picture frame.

So let's grab our pieces of paper that we're going to use as a mat and also some wipes if you have any glitter on your hands like I do.

Now this one, especially glitter and glue, can get a little messy.

So make sure you're taking care of your space and keeping your area clean.

So I'm going to start by constructing my outside of my frame.

I'm going to take two of my popsicle sticks, and I'm going to lay them out perpendicular.

That means that they're going the same direction, but they're not touching.

Next, we're going to take two more popsicle sticks, and we're going to construct the outside of our frame.

I'm going to take my glue.

I'm going to put a little bit of glue, kind of like a nice dot of glue on the edge of each of my popsicle sticks that I've laid out.

This is going to tell me where I'm going to lay down my other popsicle sticks.

I'm going to start with one side, line it up to the other side.

There we go.

That's one.

Let's do the second part.

So that's our outside frame.

Let's go in and make our inside frame.

I'm going to grab my four other popsicle sticks.

I'm going to put two more dots on the inside, right underneath my top popsicle stick.

I'm going to put my popsicle stick just right under there.

And I'm going to do the same thing for the bottom.

And I'm kind of lining up so it's right next to my bottom popsicle stick.

There we go.

Now I'm going to want to do the same thing, but for the sides.

So still kind of lining it up, even though one is going to be a little bit higher because it's sitting on top of the other popsicle sticks, so I kind of want to imagine where those are going to be first.

Then I'm going to grab my glue.

I'm going to put two dots right on the inside.

[ Music ] Where my popsicle sticks are going to go.

[ Music ] Press down.

Perfect.

Now we have the base of our picture frame.

The next step is we can go in and we can add even more different types of decorations.

I have all these fun gems that I picked out.

If you couldn't tell, my favorite colors are blue and yellow.

So I'm going to put all these kind of different blue and yellow gems on my picture frame.

It's kind of looking like the ocean to me, which is my favorite place to be.

We're going to let this dry for a little bit and then we'll put the final touches by putting our picture frame in.

All right.

Now that we've given our picture frame a little bit of time to dry, it's time to put our picture in.

So I'm going to very carefully flip my picture frame over like that.

We're going to use our glue again.

So I'm going to use a little bit of glue on just on the outside edge of my photo -- [ Music ] -- and go right around the corners.

[ Music ] And this is actually a photo of me and two of my closest friends.

They're my friends because they're really honest.

If they need something, they just ask, and they're kind of my closest family friends.

And there we have it, our finished picture frame.

There might be some glue on the sides.

Don't worry about that.

It's going to dry clear.

Let's leave it alone so we can let it dry.

Thanks so much, everyone.

Bye for now.

[ Music ] >> It's time for Movement Minute.

[ Boing Sounds ] >> Hello, friends.

My name is Miss Angie with the Double Dutch Divas.

Welcome to Movement Minute, and we are at the Midtown Plaza.

Today, we're going to show you different ways to use your jump rope.

You can use it to stretch.

You can put it in the air.

Go from left to right five times.

Two, three, four, five.

Then you can take it down to the ground.

One, two, three, four, five.

And the last one, you can wrap it around you and go from right to left.

One, two, three, four, and five.

Thank you for hanging out, friends.

Have a good day.

>> Look, Auntie Lena, I'm a picture.

>> Oh, that's so nice.

May I?

All righty.

Thank you.

You know, I love using leftover things to make art.

>> It's fun, and I'll show Frog how to make them, too.

We can make one to put the team picture in.

>> That will be wonderful, Possum.

Then you and Frog can show your teammates that you care about them just because.

>> We will, Auntie Lena.

>> I'm glad we learned more about friendship today.

It's important to remember that it takes courage to be a good friend.

It means telling the truth, knowing what you want, and asking for what you want, right?

>> Right.

Because friends don't bribe friends.

But you know what, Possum?

>> We can do hard things.

>> Yes, we can, but what I wanted to remind us that the thing friends like to do most is have fun together.

>> Oh, just like you and me, huh, Auntie Lena?

>> Just like you and me, Possum.

>> Oh, thank you, Auntie Lena, for being my friend.

>> You're welcome, Possum, and friends, thank you for taking the time to look, listen, and learn with us today.

Remember, you're the best you that the world will ever see.

>> Bye for now.

>> Bye.

[ Music ] Today's story, Piper Sky's Pink Popsicle Shoes, talks about what it feels like to want something that someone else has.

And like Possum's friend, Frog, we may beat around the bush to get it rather than just asking for it.

What makes it hard to speak up and just ask for what we want?

My guess is we're afraid we won't get it, or we may not know what we want, and sometimes we don't believe we deserve it.

As caring adults, it's our job to help teach early learners to ask for what they want.

And a great way to do this is to practice with them.

Encourage them to recognize and ask for help when they need it.

Talk with kiddos about asking for what they want and why.

Introduce them to the concept of bribery.

Do they know what it is?

Sharing stories such as Piper Sky's Pink Popsicle Shoes provides examples so they understand what it means to offer someone something for a favor or a bribe.

As Auntie Lena says, conversations about bribery can be hard to have; yet they are necessary to help our early learners to be kind, to be good friends, and to be the best that they can be.

[ Music ] >> Funding for this program was made possible in part by Symetra.

This program was also made possible by Thistle Feeder and by grants from the following organizations.

Finally, Look, Listen, and Learn was made possible by contributions from viewers like you.