Circle Time: Valentine's Day

Come along with me, walking walking in our circle.
Come along with me, it's circle time again.
Come along with me, we will sing and dance together.
Come along with me, it's circle time my friend!

(Dancing, skipping, hopping, etc)
Annette Frontz, Winter Seasons of Joy

Light the candle.

Will you be my Valentine, my Valentine, my Valentine?
Will you be my Valentine, my very special friend?
Yes, I'll be your Valentine, your Valentine, your Valentine!
Yes, I'll be your Valentine, your very special friend!
Source unknown-- I remember this one from my general music classes at Catholic school!

When you look in your mailbox,
What do you think you'll see?
It might be a Valentine
And it might be from me!
Finger Frolic

Next we play A-Tisket, A-Tasket. It's hard with only a few little people, but they still like it!
A tisket, a tasket,
A green and yellow basket.
I wrote a letter to my love
And on the way I dropped it.
I dropped it, I dropped it,
And on the way I dropped it.
A little birdie picked it up
And put it in his pocket.
Traditional

Love somebody, yes I do!
Love somebody, yes I do!
Love somebody, yes I do!
Love somebody but I won't say who.

Love somebody, yes I do!
Love somebody, yes I do!
Love somebody, yes I do!
Love somebody and its you, you, you!
Traditional

And we've always, always, ever since I was preschool teacher before I even had kids, ended out Valentine's circle with "Mail Myself to You".

An owl sat alone

An owl sat alone
Hold up one finger.
On the branch of a tree.
He was as quiet
Hold finger to lips.
As quiet could be.
It was night
And his eyes were round like this.
Make circles over eyes with thumbs and index fingers.
And when he looked around
Not a thing did he miss.
Look from side to side.

A little song for Groundhog's Day

Sung to the tune of I'm a Little Teapot

Here's a little groundhog, furry and brown.
He's popping up to look around.
If he sees his shadow, down he'll go.
It's six more weeks of winter-- oh no!

Circle Time: A Winter Movement Journey

In my pre-Waldorf, pre-Mama days, I was a preschool teacher and did graduate work in early childhood education. Back in the day, circle time was a pretty academic affair. We had a calendar, chose jobs, participated in show and tell, presented lessons, reviewed our ABCs and 123s, planned out how we would spend our mornings.

A Waldorf-inspired circle is quite a different proposition. Rather than dwelling in the head, its center in the child's body and heart. We move, we sing, we dance, we explore whole worlds in our imagination. It's not that learning doesn't happen-- when we sing songs that count down melting snowmen, for example, we are learning number concepts, and when we move to the beat of a song we are learning to control our bodies-- but it's not an "in your face" kind of experience. One of the things I love most about Waldorf is that it trusts the wisdom of a child to internalize concepts, even those not explicitly taught. Those ideas nestle deep in a child's imagination, seed-like, taking root and growing when the season in right.

For the last two weeks, we've been immersed in a Winter Woods circle. We got to know our animals friends, the bunnies and fishies and squirrels and bears, and how they prepared for the winter. We ice skated without ever leaving our living room, moving in straight lines and curves and spirals. We squirreled away beanbag nuts and found them again, and had a marvelous time.

This week, we left the woods and the animals and journeyed back to our warm homes. We put on pretend mittens and gloves and boots and went on a winter movement journey. We built snowmen and went sledding and had a snowball fight.

And, as always, we're learning too-- not only things like a song to help us put our mittens on and how to exercise inhibitory control over our bodies or how to count down from five as our jolly fat snowmen melt, but also things like how to take turns and how to exist and move without running into someone else's space. We're learning how to pause for a quiet moment of reverence and how to love one another by showing respect and gentleness and care.

Wishing you a peaceful week of winter joy...

Circle Time: Winter Woods

Our winter woods animals surrounding our Circle Time candle
and Angel of the Forest on the mantle

We had a wonderful time today doing the "Winter Woods" movement journey from Winter Seasons of Joy. While it's not practical for us to go out into the woods for real right now-- it's bitterly cold here!-- I really do feel like we've created a feeling of reverence for Mother Nature and her winter animals during this circle.

Favorite activities include moving like some of our favorite animals, pretending to ice skate on a frozen pond with fishies swimming deep underneath, and playing "Gray Squirrel" by hiding a beanbag "seed" somewhere and finding it again.

And the song that ties the whole thing together:

Winter's coming, winter's coming,
How do the creatures get ready?
Winter's coming, winter's coming,
Time to get ready for snow!

Even my two-year-old caught on and was singing along by the end of circle.

And we have a final moment of reverence before we blow the circle time candle out:

My heart swells in joyfulness.
(Hands crossed over heart)
My spirit dwells in peace.
(Hands upraised over head)
My body rests in quietness.
(Hands down at side)
Our circle time has ended.
(Hold hands and be still for a moment)

Circle Time: St. Nicholas

I meant to have this up earlier this week, but we've been so busy with homeschooling and Advent and life, that time just got away from me.

This week, we're centering circle time around the following St. Nicholas story that I found at my favorite St. Nicholas site, the St. Nicholas Center.

Once upon a time there lived far away in the East a pious man, the Bishop Nicholas. One day he heard that far in the West was a big town. In this town all the people had to suffer hunger, the children also. Then Bishop Nicholas called his servants who loved him and said to them 'Bring me the fruits of your gardens and the fruits of your fields that we can still the hunger of the children in that town.' The servants brought baskets full of apples and nuts, and on top lay honey cakes which the women had baked. And the men brought sacks of wheat. Bishop Nicholas had all these things taken onto a ship. It was a beautiful ship, quite white and the sails of the ship were as blue as the sky and as blue as the mantle of the Bishop Nicholas. The wind blew into the sails and sped the ship along, And when the wind grew tired the servants took to the oars and rowed the ship westward. They had to sail for a longtime; for seven days and seven nights.

Postcard from Italy St Nicholas Center Collection

When they arrived in front of the big town it was evening. The roads were empty, but in the houses there burnt lights. Bishop Nicholas knocked at a window. The mother in the house thought a late wanderer had come and she asked her child to open the door. Nobody was outside. The child ran to the window. There was nobody outside the window either. But instead, there stood a basket filled with apples and nuts, red and yellow, and a honey cake lay on top. By the basket stood a sack which was bursting with golden wheat grains. All the people ate the gifts and once again became healthy and happy.

Today St. Nicholas is in the heavens. Every year on his birthday he starts on his journey down to the earth. He asks for his white horse and journeys from star to star. There he meets Mother Mary, who gathers silver and golden threads for the shift of the Christ Child. Mother Mary says to him: "Dear St. Nicholas please go again to the children and bring them your gifts. Tell them, 'Christmas is nigh and soon the Christ Child will come.'"

The earth is wide and great. There, where St. Nicholas cannot go himself, he asks a good and pious person to go to the children and take them apples and nuts and tell the children of the coming of the Christ Child.

http://www.stnicholascenter.org/Brix?pageID=300

We sing Jolly Old St. Nicholas, of course. Another song, Here Comes St. Nicholas, can be found here. You can find even more St. Nicholas songs here and here.

Of course, little ones best participate actively, so we throw in this echo story "St. Nicholas, the Generous Bishop" from the St. Nicholas story.

We're all rather squirrely this time of year, so our circle time is much looser than usual, but this is it in a nutshell-- a story, some songs, an echo fingerplay, and then we're off.

Circle Time: A Thankfulness Circle

This week we'll be doing a thankfulness/gratitude circle.

Generally, I like my circle times to last two to three weeks, perhaps adding something here or there or taking something away to keep it fresh. I'm hoping to show this to you next month with our four Advent circles.

November, however, was a bit of an odd month, with Martinmas the second week and Thanksgiving the last, so we ended up starting out with a Harvest Circle Time, then Martinmas, then the story of The Little Red Hen, which I felt went with the harvest mood of the month. And now we'll wrap things up, returning to the harvest and focusing on a spirit of gratitude. Unfortunately this isn't a terribly active circle, but it's also not terribly long.

Oats, Peas, Beans, and Barley Grow (Because Daniel REALLY likes this one!)

Sing and Do (A Child's Seasonal Treasury)
Sing, sing of the Harvest Wreath binding,
Sing, sing of the Harvest Wreath minding.
Sing of the wheat and the oats and the rye.
Sing of the ribbon to hang it up high.
Sing, sing of the Harvest Wreath.

Sing, sing of the threshing of the corn,
Sing, sing of the threshing of the corn.
Sing of the barley, the wheat and the rye.
Sing of the flail and the husks flying high.
Sing, sing of the threshing of the corn.

Sing, sing of the candle a-glowing.
Sing, sing of the candle a-glowing.
Sing of the fire, the wax, and the tin.
Sing of the wick and the dipping in.
Sing, sing of the candle glow.


We have a gratitude bowl, and at the time each day, we'll think of something for which we are thankful, write it on a piece of paper, and add it to the bowl. Some people also do a tree. There's a lovely one over on Zach Aboard. Then, we'll sing:
Let's give thanks for what we've got,
Whether it's a little or whether it's a lot.
It may be something simple or maybe not,
But we're thankful for all we've got!

And a small bit from a favorite John McCutcheon song:
Thankful for the food,
Thankful for the company,
Thankful for the things that we do and say.
Thankful for the friends,
Thankful for the family,
Glad to be together on Thanksgiving Day.

May the way that we treat others
Be the measure of our worth.
May our memory be a blessing
On the future of the earth.

Thankful... etc.

Thanksgiving Time (A Child's Seasonal Treasury)
When all the leaves are off the boughs
And nuts and apples gathered in,
And cornstalks waiting for the cows
And pumpkins safe in barn and bin,
Then Mother says, "My children dear,
The fields are brown and Autumn flies,
Thanksgiving Day is very near
And we must make Thanksgiving pies."

Table Stretches (A fingerplay)
Every day when we eat our dinner,
Our table is very small.
Show size with hands
There's room for Daddy
Hold up tall finger
And Mother
Hold up pointer finger
And Baby, that is all.
Hold up pinky.
But when Thanksgiving Day comes
You can't believe your eyes.
For the table stretches and stretches and stretches
Stretch out arms
To an enormous size.

This Is the Way...
This is the way we set the table,
Set the table, set the table,
This is the way we set the table
On Thanksgiving Day.

This is the way we...
(pass the food, eat the food, clear the table, wash the dishes, etc)

Hearth and Fire
Hearth and fire be ours tonight (today)
And all the dark outside.
Fair the night (day) and kind on you,
Wherever you may bide.

And I'd be the sun upon your head,
The wind about your face.
My love upon the path you tread
And upon your wanderings, peace.

Hearth and fire be ours tonight (today)
And the wind in branches bare.
O that the wind we hear tonight (today)
Would find you well and fair.

And I'd be... etc.

Circle Time: The Little Red Hen, a table play

We haven't had a table play during circle for a while, so this week I decided to tell the tale of The Little Red Hen. In our story, we have a horse, a cow, a sheep and a pig. I made up some little songs to go along with the story as well, and will try to get them up tomorrow.

I'm a little worried about Nicholas though. He gets very, very sad when the Little Red Hen won't share her bread with the other animals. I fear he sympathizes a little too much with the animals who refused to help, yet still wanted a share of the spoils. He thinks the Little Red Hen is "mean" and "selfish," and I suppose I can understand his point of view.

A Martinmas Circle

This week, we'll start with a story poem found in "An Overview of the Waldorf Kindergarten". This is a great little book, and is on sale right now at Bob and Nancy's Bookshop.

George's Lantern
Lying in the meadow grass
And gazing at the autumn sky,
"Dear Father Sun," said George out loud,
"It will be winter by and by."

"The nights will be long, dark, and cold.
Jack Frost will freeze the ground.
How shall I find the light
With so much darkness all around?"

Said Father Sun, "I'll give you from my
Last autumn rays, a spark,
If you will make a little house
To hold it in the dark."

With paper, paint, some windows
And a candle it was done!
George came out and held his lantern
Up to Father Sun.

Suddenly the windows lit,
The spark was dancing bright.
Carefully,
George carried home
His lantern in the twilight.
Then we see some lantern songs.
The sunlight fast is dwindling.
My little lamp needs kindling.
It's beam shines far in darkest night,
Dear lantern guard me with your light.

Next, we'll sing My Lantern from A Child's Seasonal Treasury.
My lantern, my lantern,
Sun and moon and starlight.
In the darkened heaven high
Shine no stars within the sky.
Darkened is the path this night
With no moon or star as light.

My lantern, my lantern,
Sun and moon and starlight,
Friendly little lantern bright,
Be my sun and shield this night.
Be my moon and sun so high.
No light is in the sky.

And a song from Autumn Wystones.
We carry our light in the darkening night,
That we may behold that wondrous sight!


And, finally,
I'm coming with my lantern
And my lantern comes with me.
There over the light are stars,
Here under the light are we.
My light is out,
We're going home,
Rabimmel, rabammel, rum!

We end with a song about St. Martin.
St. Martin, St. Martin, St. Martin
Rode through wind and snow,
His horse carried him so quick-ly on
In comfort and warmth through the cold he did go
His thick cloak around him tight-ly drawn.

In the cold snow, in the cold snow, in the cold snow
There sat a poor old man
He wore only rags and called with choked breath,
"Oh help me please - please if you can
Or the bitter frost will mean my death."

St. Martin, St. Martin, St. Martin
Reined his horse to his side
It stood quietly by as if it knew
How with his sword, St. Martin would divide
His warm, thick cloak right in-to two.

St. Martin, St. Martin,
Gave one half to the man to put on
The grateful man turned, but before he spoke
Noble St. Martin had already gone
Wearing his half of the div-id-ed cloak.

Circle Time

This week we're doing the Harvest Circle from Autumn Seasons of Joy. Unfortunately, I committed the unpardonable sin of running out of matches to light the candles. Daniel was beside himself! He spent the first five minutes yelling "Circy time! Candles!" until I distracted him with a rousing rendition of "Oats, Peas, Beans, and Barley Grow," but then when it was over he started fussing at me again. He looked very forlorn, looking up at the mantle and pretending to blow out candles that were never lit.

Never underestimate the power of a good daily routine-- kids depend on it!

Hey, Ho, for Halloween! A circle time

This is being posted a little later than I would have hoped. I'm slowly getting my groove back, and some days are better than others.

This year, our Halloween circle is framed by a lovely little story by Nancy Foster called "The Naughty Little Hobgoblin." It can be found in Let Us Form a Ring. This is a great book and I highly recommend it, even if just to learn how a Waldorf circle "works." I also found a copy of the story here.

At the end, there's a lovely little traditional song:
Jack o' lantern, jack o' lantern,
You are such a funny sight
As you sit there in the window,
Looking out in the night.

You were once a yellow pumpkin
Growing on a sturdy vine.
Now you are a jack o' lantern.
See the candle light shine!

To this, we add a few songs from my childhood.
Pumpkin, pumpkin,
Big and fat
Turned to a jack o' lantern
Just like that!

and

Let's take a jack, jack, jack o' lantern.
I'll show you how, how, how it's done.
You simply start with a little orange pumpkin
Then carve a pumpkin face for fun!

Naturally, this one follows:
Five little pumpkins sitting on the gate.
The first one said, "Oh my! It's getting late!"
The second one said, "There are witches in the air."
The third one said, "But we don't care."
The fourth one said, "Let's run and run and run."
The fifth one said, "I'm ready for some fun!"
Whoooooo went the wind and out went the lights
And the five little pumpkins rolled out of sight.

The next few are from the Autumn Wynstones book:

I am a pumpkin, big and round.
Once upon a time I grew on the ground.
Now I have a mouth, two eyes, and a nose.
What are they for, do you suppose?
When I have a candle inside burning bright
I'll be a jack o' lantern on Halloween night.

Three little pumpkins, lying very still
In a pumpkin patch on a hill.
This one said, "I'm very green,
But I'll be orange by Halloween."
This one said, "I'm on my way
To be a jack o' lantern some day."
This one said, "Oh my, oh my,
Today I'll be a pumpkin pie."

You may notice that this is a very gentle Halloween circle time. With Daniel being just two, I didn't want anything too spooky. I have a slightly scary circle time from last year here.

Happy Halloween!

An Autumn Circle

Call to Circle
Are we ready? Are we ready?
Holding hands together? Holding hands together?
Time to light the candle, time to light the candle.
Circle time! Circle time!
Adapted from The Singing Day, sung to the tune of "Frere Jacques"

Candle Lighting
The sun it shines so warm and bright.
It shines on all I do.
Now let me take this bit of light
So I shine brightly too.
Autumn Seasons of Joy
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Autumn has come to the country and town,
Wearing its garment of golden and brown.
Apples she brings us so round and so red,
Brings us our corn that we bake into bread.

Lo, there's a bridge of wonderful light,
Built of colors so warm and so bright.
Brown, gold, and purple and yellow and red,
Softly we tread, softly we tread.
Wynstones Autumn
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Let's go walking through the woods
On this windy Autumn day,
Through the leaves, all red and gold,
Let us dance and sing and play.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Come, little leaves," said the wind one day,
"Come over the meadow with me and play!
Put on your dresses of red and gold.
Pentatonic Songs
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The summer is gone and the days grow cold."
Who comes creeping in the night
When the moon is clear and bright?
Who paints the leaves red and gold
When the autumn day turns cold?
Up the hill and down he goes,
In and out the brown corn rows
Making music crackling sweet
With his frosty little feet.
Jack Frost!
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Three little oak leaves, red, yellow, old
Were happy when the weather turned cold.
One said, "I'll make a coat for an elf
So he will be able to warm himself."
One said, "I'll make a home for a bug
So that she will be all safe and snug."
One said, "I'll cover a see in the ground
'Til spring, it will be very safe and sound."
Three little oak leaves, red, yellow, gold
Were happy when the weather tuned cold.
Rhymes for Learning Time
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
I shake the trees
And blow my tune,
Hi, ho, -- the leaves
Will be dancing soon!
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
This month is October
With leaves falling down.
Flutter hands down.
They make a soft carpet
To cover the ground.
Smooth hands like a carpet.
Soon we will rake them
Into a heap.
Pretend to rake.
Then into the big pile
I will leap!
Jump!
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Five Little Flowers

Five little flowers growing by my door.
I picked one, and then there were four.

Four little flowers I did see.
I picked one, and then there were three.

Three little flowers, pretty and new.
I picked one, and then there were two.

Two little flowers out in the sun.
I picked one and then there was one.

One little flower growing in the sun.
I picked it too, and then there were none.

Circle Time: This little cow

This rhyme from Seasons of Joy Spring is Daniel's absolute favorite!

This little cow eats grass.
Tickle the pinky toe and make chomping noises.
This little cow eats hay.
Tickle the next toe and make more chomping noises.
This little cow drinks water,
Tickle the middle toe and slurp.
And this little cow runs away.
Tickle the next toe and then run your finger up one side of your child and down
the other.
But this big cow does nothing
But just lie around all day.
Grab the biggest toe; end by making snoring noises.
So we’ll chase her and we’ll chase her and we’ll chase her away!
Tickle, tickle, tickle!

Skipping along, two by two

We found this in the Waldorf Clearinghouse Newsletter, and the Nicholas, Daniel, and Katie Grace really enjoyed it!

TWO BY TWO
Children skip hand-in-hand

Two by two we all go 'round
Each of us another has found.

Stepping along, along-long-long,
This is the way we sing our song.

On we go by the way so wide,
Daniel and Nicholas are side by side.

Stepping along... etc.

Circle Time: Spring Flower Fairies

Oh, I love the Flower Fairy circle time from Spring Seasons of Joy. I think Nicholas and Daniel really do as well. We had fun sitting on silks and pretending they were flower buds that turned into little fairy boats.

The itsy bitsy fairy sat in a flower bud
Down came the rain and the rain became a flood!
The tiny little flower became a fairy boat
And the itsy bitsy fairy, in a puddle she did float.

Circle Time: Dig a Little earth

We've expanded out beautiful flowers on the mantle to include some pansies we won at the church potluck on Sunday. The walnut, Nicholas found in the yard.

Here's Nick, "giving a little sunshine".

Dig a little hole,
Plant a little seed.
Pour a little water,
Pull a little weed.
Chase a little bug,
Heigh-ho, there he goes!
Give a little sunshine,
Grow a little rose.

You can find the complete "Dig a Little Earth" circle, along with four others, in Spring Seasons of Joy. For only $15, this curriculum guide includes 10 weeks worth of circles, stories, painting, modeling, coloring, nature table crafts, playtime activities, and much, much more!

Winter, Goodbye!

This was a favorite circle time. I love that Daniel is starting to get involved in circle, and I love that I'm using some of the same songs and rhymes with Daniel and Nicholas that I also was able to use with Michael and Katie Grace. And what is especially sweet is the fact that some of these songs, I sang as a child.
Nicholas especially enjoys being King Winter, although he plays him a little meaner than I would.

Next we have two of the sweetest seed babies ever planted, waiting to be woken up by Mother Earth.

And finally, ringing the bells as the seeds grow up, up, up!

Deep in the cold, cold winter ground,
Seeds are sleeping, safe and sound,
Waiting for the sun to glow,
Then up, up, up, up, up they’ll grow!

This circle time, as well as a host of others, can be found in my Spring Seasons of Joy activity guide.

Circle Time: Winter, Goodbye!

This week, we broke out the Spring Seasons of Joy!

Spring Candle Lighting Verse
Like the sun that warms the seeds
Sends light to us below,
So we light this candle,
That we may enjoy its glow.

Nicholas's favorite part is banishing King Winter:
Goodbye, King Winter!
Your rule is no more.
Your ice and snow melted
All over earth’s floor.
Hello, Mother Earth!
Wake your root children all.
The seeds must all grow now
To flowers so tall.

A St. Patrick's Day Circle

St. Patrick's Day is coming soon! We focus on the religious aspects during our devotions and Christian education, so during circle our emphasis is on the fanciful. We start out with an action poem and then sing more about leprechauns. After we recite rainbow rhymes, we like to play chasing and tagging games to catch the leprechaun and get his gold!

Would you see the Little Men
Coming down a moonlit glen?
Gnome and elf and woodland sprite,
Clad in brown and green and white.
Skipping, hopping, never stopping.
Stumbling, grumbling, tumbling, mumbling,
Dancing, prancing, singing, swinging--
Coats of red and coats of brown,
Put on straight or upside down,
Outside in or inside out,
Some with sleeves and some without.
Rustling, bustling, stomping, romping,
Strumming, humming, hear them coming.
You will see the Little Men
If it be a fairy glen!
Flora Fearne

To the tune of I'm a Little Teapot
I'm a little leprechaun, dressed in green.
The tiniest man you've ever seen.
If you ever catch me, it's been told,
I'll give you my pot of gold!

Count off fingers in this rhyme and end with a chase.
This little leprechaun slid down the rainbow.
This little leprechaun stayed home.
This little leprechaun picked a shamrock.
This little leprechaun found some gold.
And this little leprechaun cried "Catch me if you can!" all the way home.


There's a great big cloud over here.
Use one hand to form clouds.
And a great big cloud over there.
Use other hand to make more clouds.
The rain falls down and makes a path
Use fingers to make pretend rain.
A rainbow bridge up in the air!
Make a large arc with hands.

We always like to end our St. Patrick's Day circle with a cuddle while I sing "Too Ra Loo Ra Loo Ra" which you can hear here.