Monday, April 3, 2017

Irish Stories

This storytime was the week of St. Patrick's Day so I decided to look at some Irish stories. 

Outline: 

Opening Song: Put Your Hands Up High

Opening Rhyme

Story: Fin M'Coul The Giant of Knockmany Hill by Tomie de Paola




Song: Bog Down in the Valley-O

(Chorus)
O-ro the rattlin' bog, 
The bog down in the valley-o
O-ro the rattlin' bog, 
The bog down in the valley-o

And in that bog there was a tree, 
A rare tree, a rattlin' tree
With the tree in the bog
And the bog down in the valley-o.

(Chorus)

Now on that tree there was a limb, 
A rare limb, a rattlin' limb
With the limb on the tree 
And the tree in the bog
And the bog down in the valley-o.

(Chorus)

Now on that limb there was a branch, 
A rare branch, a rattlin' branch
With the branch on the limb 
And the limb on the tree 
And the tree in the bog
And the bog down in the valley-o.

(Chorus)

Now on that branch there was a twig, 
A rare twig, a rattlin' twig
With the twig on the branch,
And the branch on the limb 
And the limb on the tree 
And the tree in the bog
And the bog down in the valley-o.

(Chorus)

Now on that twig there was a nest, 
A rare nest, a rattlin' nest
With the nest on the twig,
And the twig on the branch,
And the branch on the limb 
And the limb on the tree 
And the tree in the bog
And the bog down in the valley-o.

(Chorus)

Now in that nest there was an egg, 
A rare egg, a rattlin' egg,
With the egg in the nest,
And the nest on the twig,
And the twig on the branch,
And the branch on the limb 
And the limb on the tree 
And the tree in the bog
And the bog down in the valley-o.

(Chorus)

Now in that egg there was a bird, 
A rare bird, a rattlin' bird
With the bird in the egg,
And the egg in the nest,
And the nest on the twig,
And the twig on the branch,
And the branch on the limb 
And the limb on the tree 
And the tree in the bog
And the bog down in the valley-o.

(Chorus)

Now on that bird there was a feather, 
A rare feather, a rattlin' feather,
With the feather on the bird,
And the bird in the egg,
And the egg in the nest,
And the nest on the twig,
And the twig on the branch,
And the branch on the limb 
And the limb on the tree 
And the tree in the bog
And the bog down in the valley-o.

(Chorus)

Now on that feather there was a flea, 
A rare flea, a rattlin' flea 
With the flea on the feather,
And the feather on the bird,
And the bird in the egg,
And the egg in the nest,
And the nest on the twig,
And the twig on the branch,
And the branch on the limb 
And the limb on the tree 
And the tree in the bog
And the bog down in the valley-o.

(Chorus)


Source: Mama Lisa's World

Story: Fiona's Luck by Teresa Bateman




Activity: Leprechaun rocks

Activity: Walking Rainbow

Craft: Leprechaun trap

Goodbye Song

How it actually went: 

The stories seemed to go over okay. Fin M'Coul is a little on the long side, but I think my kids are used to that by now. I was impressed that they were more observant about hidden imagery in the pictures than I was (there are 3 little men in several of the pictures in the giants' home). 

As you can see, the traditional Irish song that I found is quite long. I taught the kids to sing the chorus and I sung the verses. Even still, their attention spans weren't up to it, so I cut the song short after a couple of verses. 

Fiona's Luck is a really cute and clever story. I don't know if it's based on an actual Irish legend or not, but it's fairy-tale-esque and that was good enough for me. Plus, Fiona's dog looks a lot like my dog, so how could I resist. 

Picture of my dog, Baldur for comparison to the cover above.

I made the leprechaun rocks a day or two in advance. For those who opt not to follow the link above, leprechaun rocks are made with baking soda and water. Make a nice paste, something that you can form into a rock-like shape, and then hide toy gold coins inside. I added some green food coloring also for that St. Patrick's Day flare. Then I gave the kids spray bottles with vinegar so they could hunt for treasure. 

Using a spray bottle takes a while, so most of the kids wound up taking the spray top off and pouring the vinegar on. I had some rocks left over, so I used them again a few days later for another storytime. They definitely get harder the longer they sit, so that's something to keep in mind. 

The walking rainbow is cool, but it takes a really long time to get the full effect. Again, for those who didn't click the link, I'll describe what I did. For the walking rainbow you need 6 glass jars (I used old pasta sauce jars). In 3 of the jars you'll add water and food coloring: a jar of red, one of yellow, and one of blue. In between each of these, put an empty jar. Lastly, roll up some paper towels and connect the jars with them. So you'll have a paper towel half in the red jar and half in an empty one, and a paper towel half in the yellow jar and half in the same empty one, and so on and so forth. So through capillary action the empty jars become full of orange, green, and purple. ( I wish I had pictures, but I left my phone at home.)

I set this up about 4 hours before my program and it still wasn't long enough. A little bit of green had started to appear, so I was able to show that to the kids, but red wasn't doing its job so I didn't have any orange or purple. I think it took about 6.5 hours before I started to see any orange and purple (I had a timer running next to the experiment). This was another one that I used for my next storytime a few days later, and after 3 days it looked beautiful. 

I gave the kids some photo inspiration to get them started, but the leprechaun traps were basically one of those crafts that you do when you have too many scrap supplies sitting under  your desk. Or maybe that's just me. In any case, I hauled out that big box of tp tubes, paper plates, straws, scrap paper, etc. and let them have at it. They came up with some really cute stuff. 

I had some other Fin M'Coul stories ready to go if necessary, but the kids spend most of the time on their projects (as I thought they would). 

So did you try any fun St. Patrick's Day STEAM projects with your kids?

*Disclaimer* I link to Amazon for informational purposes, but I am not an affiliate so I do not receive any compensation for any sales which may result. 

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