Spring Forward! Stories of Sleep and Light

Sleeping Beauty by
Edmund Dulac

“Spring forward, fall back.” That is the mantra we learned as young children to remember when we turn our clocks ahead, and then back as the darkness of winter sets upon us.

Although we lost an hour of sleep today, turning our clocks ahead is our delightful teaser that spring is just around the corner. As the days move forward we will continue to enjoy more hours of light in the coming months. What will you do with your extra time in the sun?

Here are some stories of light from around the world.

STORIES

The Abode of the Gods: Time and the King of the Elements - Slavic
http://tinyurl.com/6nrxju9
The Blue Light – Germany
http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/type0562.html#grimm
The Buried Moon - England
http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/eng/meft/meft24.htm

Light Makes Prosperity - India
http://tinyurl.com/7c4crnt
Crow Brings Daylight – Native American – Inuit
http://tinyurl.com/7zyzudr
The Origin of Light – Native American
http://tinyurl.com/85x6uhg
Raven Steals the Light – Native American
http://tinyurl.com/5lnq26

And of course, some stories to help you regain that lost hour of sleep!

The Dragon After His Winter Sleep - China

http://tinyurl.com/7qhhf6q
The Dreaming Tree - Brazil
http://spiritoftrees.org/the-dreaming-tree
Sleeping Beauty - France
http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/type0410.html#perrault
Sleepy John – Czechoslovakian
http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/kog/kog08.htm

BOOK

Go To Sleep Gecko by Margaret Read MacDonald
http://www.amazon.com/Go-Sleep-Gecko-Balinese-Folktale/dp/0874837804

CRAFTS

Alphamom.com – Cute crafts for the young ones.
http://alphamom.com/family-fun/crafts/daylight-savings-crafts/

Enchanted Learning – Time and calendar activities.
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/themes/calendar.shtml

CURRICULUM

 Animated Tales of the World – Lesson plan for Raven Steals Daylight
 http://www.libraryvideo.com/guides/V6941.pdf

National Geographic – Get the Facts on daylight savings time!
http://tinyurl.com/849wwuv

Karen Chace 2012 ©

This blog post was researched and compiled by Karen Chace. Permission for private use is granted. Distribution, either electronically or on paper is prohibited without my expressed written permission. For permission please contact me at storybug@aol.com. Of course, if you wish to link to my blog via your website, blog, newsletter, Facebook page or Twitter please feel free to do so; I greatly appreciate your support and personal integrity.