March Goes Out Like a Lamb...Folktales and More to Celebrate Lambs and Spring

Young Girl with Lamb
by
Emile Munier, 1840-1895



At the beginning of March I shared a blog post with stories about lions, courtesy of the old adage, “March comes in like a lion, and goes out like a lamb.” While spring has finally arrived in the United States, you would never know it by the calendar.

Here in Massachusetts we are expecting a traditional Nor’easter this week, but instead of rain, they are predicting more snow. It looks like the area where I live may hit the jackpot, with over a foot of snow.

As they say in New England, “If you don’t like the weather, just wait a minute.” So with that in mind, I will continue to think positive and offer you stories of lovely lambs who greet the world in springtime.

The Black Lamb – Ireland
http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/yeats/fip/fip39.htm 

The Clever Rabbit – China
http://chinesefolktales.blogspot.com/2008/01/clever-rabbit-mongol.html

The Lamb with the Golden Fleece- Magyars
http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_folk-tales_of_the_Magyars/The_Lamb_with_the_Golden_Fleece

The Lamb and the Jackal – Cambodia
http://www.gocambodia.com/Cambodian_folktales/lamb_jackal.asp

The Little Lamb – Italy
This is a lovely version of Cinderella, Italian style! I could only find it in _The Collected Sicilian Folk and Fairy Tales_ of Giuseppe Pitre by Jack Zipes courtesy Google Books.

http://tinyurl.com/mg6ztv2

The Little Lamb and the Little Fish
http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/grimm141.html

The Sheep and the Pig Who Set Up House – Norway
http://oaks.nvg.org/ntales47.html#shepigous

The Sheep, the Lamb, the Wolf and the Hare – Tibet
http://members.home.nl/marcmarti/yugur/folktale/tale10b.htm

Why the Lamb is Meek – South Africa
http://www.worldoftales.com/South_American_folktales/South_American_Folktale_9.html

ACTIVITY

March Play: The Lion and the Lamb – An adorable, preschool activity based on the poem, _The Lion and the Lamb_.
http://www.brighthubeducation.com/preschool-crafts-activities/65462-lion-and-the-lamb-march-fingerplay/

ART

How to Draw a Lamb

http://www.wikihow.com/Draw-Lambs

BOOKS

Barnes and Noble: Children’s books about lambs and sheep.

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/?category_id=904465

Best Books About Sheep for Pre-K Use

http://voices.yahoo.com/best-books-sheep-pre-k-classroom-use-11987912.html

CRAFTS

DLTK-Kids.com – So many adorable lamb crafts: origami, puppets, masks and more.
http://www.dltk-kids.com/animals/lambs.htm

Allkidsnetwork.com – Easy, cotton ball lamb craft; too cute.

http://www.allkidsnetwork.com/crafts/animals/farm/sheep-craft.asp

CURRICULUM

You’re History – This story behind _Mary Had a Little Lamb_.

http://yourehistory.wordpress.com/2012/11/14/sheep-in-folktales-mary-had-a-little-lamb/

Lamb Themed Lesson Plans Ideas for Pre-K Educators

http://voices.yahoo.com/lamb-themed-lesson-plan-ideas-pre-k-educators-11987649.html?cat=7

First-School – Preschool activities and crafts.

http://www.first-school.ws/theme/animals/farm/lamb.htm

Preschool Express.com – Lesson plan for the little ones: art, number recognition, language, movement and more.

http://www.preschoolexpress.com/theme-station08/lambs-apr08.shtml

Sheep 101 – Information about different kinds of sheep, the history of sheep, what they eat and more.

http://www.sheep101.info/lambing.html

FINGERPLAY

Here Is The Barn 

Here is the barn (Form a roof shape with your hands)
Where I like to go (Walk in place)
It's as tall as a tree (Point up overhead)
And cozy, you know (Hug body with arms)

Here is the barn, (Make a roof shape with your hands)
I'll go there with you (Walk in place)
To pet a sweet lamb (Pretend to pet a lamb)
And cuddle it, too! (Pretend to hug a lamb)

GAME

Spoonful.com – Wolf and Sheep Tag

http://spoonful.com/family-fun/wolf-and-sheep-tag

SONGS



Baa Baa Black Sheep
by
Dorothy Wheeler, 1916

Mary Had a Little Lamb

Mary had a little lamb, little lamb, Mary had a little lamb,

Its fleece was white as snow,
Everywhere that Mary went, Mary went,
Everywhere that Mary went the lamb was sure to go.
It followed her to school one day, school one day,
It followed her to school one day, but that was against the rules.
It made the children laugh and play, laugh and play,
It made the children laugh and play, to see a lamb at school.

For the longer version visit http://kids.niehs.nih.gov/games/songs/childrens/maryhadmp3.htm

Baa Baa Black Sheep

Baa Baa Black sheep have you any wool.

Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full.
One for my master,
one for the dame,
and one for the little boy who lives down the lane.

Little Bo Peep

Little Bo Peep has lost her sheep and can’t tell where to find them,

Leave them alone and they will come home.
Wagging their tails behind them.

STORY STRETCH

I’m a Baby Lamb (To tune of: I’m a Little Teapot)
* I found this rhyme on http://fingerplays-b3ok.blogspot.com/2012/10/newborn-lamb.html and added the actions the action to turn it into a story stretch.

I'm a baby lamb (point to self)

just born today  (rock arms back and forth as if rocking a baby)
I want to run around and play  (turn around while stamping feet)
I am very hungry, I must eat (rub belly)
So I'll grow up big like my daddy sheep. (bend down as you begin this line then stand up and point to sky)

March Comes in Like a Lion…Folktales That Roar!
This link will lead you to the blog post I wrote at the beginning of March.

http://karenchace.blogspot.com/2014/03/march-comes-in-like-lionfolktales-that.html

Two previous blog posts to welcome spring:

Birds, Bees and Butterflies

http://karenchace.blogspot.com/2012/04/birds-bees-and-butterflies.html

Spring is Here! Make Way for Ducking’s

http://karenchace.blogspot.com/2012/04/spring-is-here-make-way-for-ducklings.html

Karen Chace 2014 ©

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.