Storytelling for Grown-ups: Stories of Love and Enchantment

 The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam
by Edmond Dulac, 1909

I am delighted to be part of the new, beautiful exhibit  (see below) at the New Bedford Art Museum . Not only are they offering a gorgeous exhibit but they are dove-tailing it with the art of storytelling!

DETAILS

Shake off the winter blues and celebrate the month of February, devoted to the language of love on February 2, 2013. Don’t miss co-founder of massmouth.org , Andrea Lovett who will open the evening with some hilarious and slightly skewed personal stories of love gone awry!

Then listen to award-winning storyteller Karen Chace, who will delight you with irresistible stories of enchantment, humor and desire from the far off ports of Portugal, Iraq, Russia and beyond.

Before the stories, a lovely reception, complete with champagne and chocolate, offers you the opportunity to view the new exhibit, all including in the ticket price. Champagne, chocolate, art and stories! What's not to love? Come early, visit the beautiful historic district, and then opt for a late lunch or early dinner. Please come and support storytelling and the arts!  * This performance is for adults, 18 and up. Obviously, anyone under 21 will not be able to indulge in the champagne.

EXHIBIT

“The Original Art: Celebrating The Fine Art of Children’s Book Illustration” showcases illustrations from the year’s best children’s books published in the U.S.  The exhibit is a treasure trove of talent and a marvelous opportunity to examine – up close –  the work of the best in the field. It’s also a chance to appreciate the enormous range of creativity in children’s books and to see the printed pages alongside the original paintings, drawings, prints, and collages they represent.

This extraordinary show consists of colorful works of art accompanied by each children’s book.  All works were featured in the juried Original Art exhibition held at the Museum of American Illustration at Society of Illustrators in New York City.”

LOCATION, TIME AND COST

New Bedford Art Museum

608 Pleasant Street

New Bedford, MA 02740

508-961-3072

Stories of Love and Enchantment
Saturday, February 2, 2013
6:00 P.M. to 7:30 P.M.
$10 for Members/$15 for Non-Members

 

THINGS TO DO AND SEE IN NEW BEDFORD

 

Come early and take a stroll along the fishing docks or enjoy the ocean breeze at beautiful Fort Taber .

 

Prefer something easier? There is the interesting and historical Whaling Museum or the New Bedford Historical Whaling Park . 

 

How about a trip to one of the best small zoo's in the country? The Buttonwood Park Zoo  is an easy drive from downtown.


If it’s more art galleries and culture you seek, check out this link, Destination New Bedford.

 
RESTAURANTS

All of the restaurants listed below, EXCEPT for Not Your Average Joes, are within walking distance of the New Bedford Art Museum. Rose Alley and Corks are down near the waterfront so they require a bit more "leg work." The closest to the museum, one block, are Café Arpeggio and No Problemo.

• Enjoy a "flight of wine" and fresh hot or cold tapas at Corks award-winning chowder (chowda) at Freestones before the show or a night cap afterwards.
• Recently, a new restaurant, the Urban Grille opened; everyone is raving about!
• Cafe Arpeggio – Fresh and delicious soups and sandwiches.
• If you’re looking for something very casual, Rose Alley is right up your alley (no pun intended) serving a variety of appetizers, sandwiches, burgers and beer.
• No Problemo – Do you like Mexican food? Then this casual and affordable restaurant is for you.
• If it’s hot soup you seek, this is the five star place to go: Destination Soups!
• Not Your Average Joes – This is located in Dartmouth, MA but a very short drive, 10 minutes to the art gallery. Warning, it fills up fast after 5:00 p.m. so best to go early. They don’t take reservations but you can call ahead and be put on a wait list.

PARKING

Metered parking is free on Saturday’s. The Elm Street Parking Garage, located right next to the Standard Times building.  For long-term parking, use the Custom House Square (70 parking spaces) and FREE on weekend, or Zeiterion (298 parking spaces) at 688 Purchase Street. 

 

Celebrate the Year of the Snake: 2013/2025

The Queen of Snakes
from The Olive Fairy Tale Book
by Andrew Lang, 1907
Illustration by Henry Justice Ford

The Chinese New Year begins on February 10 and ends on February 24 and 2013 is the Year of the Snake.

“Ancient Chinese wisdom says a Snake in the house is a good omen because it means your family will not starve. This could be taken metaphorically to mean that a Snake could never have a problem with his family starving because he is such a great mediator, making him good at business. Or it could mean that a Snake would be willing to sacrifice his possessions, something the Snake has a lot of, in order to pay for his family’s food.

Any way it is interpreted is representative of the Snake’s character and is a measure of the value he puts on his material wealth. The Snake is keen and cunning, quite intelligent and wise.”

For more information on this sign visit https://71rhs.weebly.com/snakes-in-the-house.html

Here are some stories to get your storytelling juices flowing, or in this case, slithering!

SSSSSSSSTORIES

The Ape, the Snake and the Lion - Africa
https://www.worldoftales.com/African_folktales/African_Folktale_44.html#gsc.tab=0

The Baby Mouse and the Snake – Africa
https://anikefoundation.org/african-folktales/the-baby-mouse-and-the-baby-snake

The Fairy Tale of the Green Snake and the Beautiful Lily by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
https://rsarchive.org/Books/GA022/English/APC1925/GA022_c04.html    

The Girl and the Snake – Sweden
http://tinyurl.com/dxcw5n8

The King of the Snakes and Other Folk-lore Stories from Uganda
http://tinyurl.com/c7nkznm

The Legend of the White Snake - China
https://pages.ucsd.edu/~dkjordan/chin/chtales/story010.html 

The Physician’s Son and the King of the Snakes -Tanzania
https://www.worldoftales.com/African_folktales/African_Folktale_48.html#gsc.tab=0

Rabbit Plays Tug-O-War – Native American
http://tinyurl.com/btxxdzm

The Rainbow Serpent - Australia

http://tinyurl.com/arv2cb6

The Snake and the King’s Daughter – Albania |http://www.albanianliterature.net/folktales/tale_13.html

Snake and Serpent Husbands in Folktales – D.L. Ashliman

http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/snake.html

The Snake, the Farmer, and the Heron – Nigeria
https://wordandsorcery.com/the-snake-the-farmer-and-the-heron-fable/

The Snake with the Big Feet – Native American

https://indigenouspeople.net/bigfeet.htm 

The Snake with Five Heads – Native American 
https://www.heritage-history.com/index.php?c=read&author=mcpherson&book=native&story=five

The Snake-Prince Sleepy-Head – Persia 
https://chestofbooks.com/fairy-tale/Persian/VI-The-Story-Of-The-Snake-Prince-Sleepy-Head.html

The Snakes Bride – Bhutan
http://tinyurl.com/dxzc3xf

The Three Snake Leaves - Grimm
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~spok/grimmtmp/013.txt

The White Man and the Snake – South Africa
http://tinyurl.com/dyqy9fs

The White Snake – Germany/Grimm
http://www.authorama.com/grimms-fairy-tales-36.html

Why Frog and Snake Never Play Together - Africa
http://tinyurl.com/d9hzpnk

Why Mongoose Kills Snakes - Africa
http://tinyurl.com/bolyrnz

BOOKS

Kidzone.com

http://www.kidzone.ws/lw/snakes/activities-books.htm

Picture books about snakes - Tales From the Children's Library
https://talesfromthechildrenslibrary.wordpress.com/2021/11/28/picture-books-about-snakes/

 

CRAFTS

These two sites offer fun snake crafts, coloring pages, activities and more.

DLTK.com
http://dltk-holidays.com/china/index-snake.htm

Enchantedlearning.com
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/chinesenewyear/

CURRICULUM

A Snake Study Unit for Elementary Age Children  
https://wearethehawleys.com/a-snake-unit-study-for-elementary-aged-children/

Mama’s Happy Hive – Montessori Inspired Snake Unit
https://www.mamashappyhive.com/montessori-inspired-snake-unit/

Science Trek – Lots of resources for educators.
https://sciencetrek.org/topics/snakes/resources

 

GAME

Snow Snakes – An Ojibwe game for grades 2-8.
http://intersectingart.umn.edu/?lesson/22

Please note, websites change at a rapid pace and weblinks may change or break without notice. I cannot be responsible for redirected or broken links. At the time of this posting all links were in working order. Thank you for understanding.

 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.

Ring in the New Year with Songs and Stories!

The beginning of 2013 is just around the corner so tomorrow we will ring in the New Year at the Whales, Tales and Sails program at the New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park. Here are some of the fun songs and fingerplays the children will enjoy. These are found all around the web so feel free to use them in your work as well.

I wish you all a happy, healthy and amazing New Year, filled with countless joys and blessings!


FINGERPLAYS/ACTION RHYMES

January

January's a very cold month,
Shiver, shiver, shiver, (Hug yourself and pretend to shiver.)
Button up and cover your ears, (Pretend to button coat: cover ears with your hands.)
Or quiver, quiver, quiver. (Shake all over)

Five Little Snowmen (Tune: Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed)

Five little snowmen riding on a sled,
One fell off and bumped his head,
Frosty called the doctor and the doctor said,
No more snowmen riding on that sled!

Count down from four to one…

No more snowmen riding on the sled
Mother but them all to bed!

SONG

Cheer the Year (Tune: "Row, row, row your boat")

Cheer, cheer, cheer the year,a
new one's just begun.
Celebrate with all your friends,
let's go have some fun!
Clap, clap, clap your hands,
a brand new year is here.
Learning, laughing, singing, clapping,
through another year.

STORY STRETCHERS

The People on the Bus (Tune: “The Wheels On The Bus”)

Oh, the people on the bus wear party hats,
Party hats, party hats. (Children place hands together in a point over their heads)
Oh, the people on the bus wear party hats,
All through the town.

Oh, the people on the bus are blowing horns,
Blowing horns, blowing horns. (Children place fist over their mouth)
Oh the people on the bus are blowing horns,

All through the town.

Oh, the people on the bus say, “Happy New Year”,
“Happy New Year”, “Happy New Year”.
Oh, the people on the bus say, “Happy New Year”,
All through the town.

STORY STRETCHERS

A New Year Has Begun (Tune: "If You're Happy and You Know It")

A new year has begun -- clap your hands!

A new year has begun -- clap your hands!
A new year has begun; a new year has begun;
A new year has begun -- clap your hands!

A new year has begun -- stomp your feet!
A new year has begun -- stomp your feet!

A new year has begun; a new year has begun;
A new year has begun -- stomp your feet!

A new year has begun -- give a shout! HURRAH!
A new year has begun -- give a shout! HURRAH!
A new year has begun; a new year has begun;
A new year has begun -- give a shout! HURRAH!

I have added a few versus:

A new year has begun take a bow…
A new year has begun turn around…

A new year has begun sit back down!


BOOK

We will be reading P. Bears New Years Party.
https://rubysfolsom.com/item/mPyaiZ0qJVs8xQ59Cn4_pA/lists/L2gomBJ5Q1dc/


STORY

I will also be telling the Japanese  folktale, The Grateful Statues. You may find the story at this link:
http://karenchace.blogspot.com/2011/01/beginning-new-year-with-gratitude.html

CRAFTS

20 New Year’s Eve Activities for Kids

https://www.iheartartsncrafts.com/new-years-crafts-activities/

CURRICULUM

Preschool Plan It.com – A number of activities including art, dramatic play and literacy.

http://www.preschool-plan-it.com/new-year.html

ESL Holiday Lessons.com

http://eslholidaylessons.com/01/new_years_day.html

Teacher’s Planet - Lesson plans, worksheets and more.

http://www.teacherplanet.com/resource/newyears.php

 

Please note, websites change at a rapid pace and weblinks may change or break without notice. I cannot be responsible for redirected or broken links.  At the time of this posting all links were in working order. Thank you for understanding.

 

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.

Stories Work!

A Tale from Decameron

by John William Waterhouse, 1916

Stories Work!
by Amy Eller  © 2012

Sitting in the presence of a Storyteller, we are given permission to travel deep within ourselves, to a place a the center of our cellular being, that remembers the old ways. Our ancestors, all the way back to the beginning of human time were storytellers. Sitting by fires. Working in fields. Smoking a pipe or sharing teas made from the plants of the Earth. Our ancestors were always telling their stories to each other. They communicated through story. They learned lessons through story. They coped with problems by telling stories. They healed their hearts when they heard stories. They built communities based on stories.

Without story, where would our human race be today? Would we know who we are? Would we have a concept of right and wrong? What would our daily lives be based upon, if it weren’t for the stories of those who came before us?

These were the questions Lenora Ucko asked when she began fine tuning her InteractiveStorytelling technique many years ago. She had a vision of keeping the stories of our past alive. She had a database of folk stories from all over the world with wisdom that ran deep and crossed all cultural lines, and she was on a mission to bring them to the people. It was her vision that these stories could bring people together and create safe spaces for healing in people’s lives. And thus, StoriesWork was finally born in 2000.

Today, with a tiny staff of one, in addition to herself, Lenora continues to bring these stories to the people, in a safe, non-threatening way. She asks easy, open ended questions that get people talking comfortably about issues that they may never have spoken comfortably about before. She opens doors, hearts, and minds in ways that offer gifts to the participants, whether they recognize it in that moment or not. She refrains from judgment and teaches other storytellers this hard to master skill. She does this wonderful work selflessly, with her heart wide open.

We want to keep this vision of Lenora’s alive and keep StoriesWork’s doors open, and thus we continue to tell the stories to the people. Please consider visiting us on the web (www.storieswork.org) and contact us if we can work with you in any way to bring this work to more people.

Please enjoy this sample story and check out the questions at the end. These are questions Lenora would ask you herself if she told you this story today. Please answer them in the comments. We’d love to see the discussion begin here.

A Blind Man Catches a Bird 

African Folk Story, Author Unknown

Two friends went hunting together.  One was blind and one could see.  The one who could see promised to help the blind man hunt.  They each put down their own trap in the forest.  The man who could see was surprised at how much the blind man could tell just by listening to the leaves rustle or the animals scurrying about or the waterfall in the distance.  He asked his friend how he knew so much.  The blind man replied, “When you cannot see, you must rely on other senses to know what is going on.”

The next day the two men went back to the forest and found two birds,  one in each of their traps.  The bird in the blind man’s trap was large and colorful. The bird in the other trap was small and plain.  The man who could see quickly switched the birds so that he now had the big, colorful bird in his own trap and the blind man had the small plain one. 

Then they sat down and rested. “Since you know so much,” said the man who could see, “tell me, why do men fight one another? I’ve often wondered about that.”

The blind man replied, “Because they do what you have just done to me.” 

The other man was ashamed and quickly took the small plain bird out of his friend’s trap and replaced it with the colorful bird he had stolen for himself. 

Then wanting to make amends, he asked the blind man, “How do men make up after fighting?” 

The blind man answered, “They do what you have just done!”

Questions:

 

 

1. Will the blind man go hunting with this man again? Why or why not?
2. Why didn’t the man who could see ask the blind man for the colorful bird instead of just taking it?
3. If he had, what would the blind man have replied?

 

 

  

Amy Eller is a Marketing Consultant in Durham, NC with a focus on sustainable agriculture, local food movements, natural and alternative healing, local culture and art.

 

She has been an active Board Member for Storieswork since 2011 and an active volunteer at the Orange County Rape Crisis Center in Chapel Hill, NC where she co-facilitates support groups that use Horticulture Therapy as a method of healing from trauma. She can be reached at amymeller@gmail.com .

PREVIOUS GUEST BLOGGER ARTICLES

If you missed any of the other terrific Guest Blogger articles this link will take you to a separate blog post where all of the links are listed.

http://www.karenchace.blogspot.com/2012/09/a-rising-tideguest-bloggers-share-their.html

 

Amy Eller s a guest blogger for Karen Chace and Catch the Storybug blog. All rights to this article belong to Amy. Distribution, either electronically or on paper is prohibited without her expressed, written permission. Of course, if you wish to link to the article via Facebook or Twitter, please feel free to do so. I you would like to be a Guest Blogger contact Karen at Storybug@aol.com for the details.

 

 

Listening to the Siren's Call

Ulysses and the Sirens'
by John William Waterhouse, 1891

The Sheer Folly of Callow Youth Age
By Judith Black © 2012

Red faced, I cried out threateningly “Put that thing away or I will flush it down the toilet!”  Kismet (yes, that is what her mother named her) rolled her eyes at me and simply palmed the electronic communication device.  For the 100th time I explained:

“You can’t be here and there at the same time. Please, I will give you a break to check your phones. You need to be present, here, now, with us!”

If she had been the only one that had this almost physiological dependence on frequent, ritualized interactions with their cell phone, the situation would have been easier to cope with.   She was merely the queen offender.

This was not how we began.  The CDC Healthy People 2020 Grant promised that I would work, in cooperation with two other community organizations, with teens from under served communities, to create Story Theater around the issues of bullying/violence, nutrition, and substance abuse and then tour this program to their peers in Salem, Massachusetts (USA) in hopes of affecting their health choices. Unable to rally older teens, it looked like we could only tempt 7^th and 8^th graders to participate. In my humble opinion, seventh and eighth graders belong roaming nature like feral beasts, collecting knowledge through direct interaction. Alas, seventh and eighth graders were what I was going to have.  Knowing that all of the 14 participants came from homes with a single or no parent, all were economically strapped, and most from cultures where education was not a priority, I had to make some quick planning decisions. There would be a few immutable rules and lots of affirmation of their work and persons.

1. They had to attend every rehearsal.

2. No cell phones during the rehearsal period.
3. In this space we would listen to and be kind to one another.                    

Rule #1 bit the dust on the first day. Meeting time arrived, and six of the fourteen were not there. The program would have to develop flexibility.   

It was rule #2 that would be my undoing.  To my senior citizen brain the fact that warm, living, potentially loving people spent many hours a day contacting and responding to cyber friends in a small electronic box was oxymoronic to actual friendship.  They were living in a half real, but very consuming world that kept their attention off of the vital present. All of the kids who could and couldn’t afford it had a phone, and those phones were more attractive to them than the Sirens were to Odysseus’ men.  I would turn to talk to a single youth and you could feel the rush of air from them pulling them out and checking their text messages.  Without a doubt Kismet was the greatest offender. She carried about 35 extra pounds, dirty blond hair, and an attitude the size of Texas. “I can check my phone and listen at the same time.”  She’d sneer.  “I’m not stupid.”  

In keeping with rule #3, I assured her that her intelligence was not in question, but that I yearned for what she might do if it was all focused on our project.  She’d ritually roll her eyes or turn her back. She spent a good portion of our time with her back to me. Who knew what she taking in?

The good news was that these kids, all of them, loved stories and the theater games we were playing in order to bring them to life.  They were, after all, their stories.  The stories of friends and relatives who became caught up in drugs or alcohol, the ones about bullies, their fears of them and what their most courageous selves might do if given an opportunity to stop them, and the story of what they put into the mouths each morning and how it might help or hurt them. We worked for days and weeks and months developing these stories, but there was never an entire 10-minute period during which I did not hear myself beg, “Please put the cell phone away.  You can’t be there in the future and here now at the same time.  Kismet, that includes you.”After four months or development and rehearsal we were ready to tour our program.  Kismet, with a starring role in the longest piece did not show up for the final rehearsal.     I tracked her down to an aunt’s house from which she promised to be there by show time the next day.  She wasn’t and I had to replace her, but welcomed her to stay with the company.  She was spitting mad, but surprisingly, attitude unabated, continued with the smaller roles she had in the other pieces. Then, going into our 6^th show, one of kids was held up by a teacher.

 

“What shall we do?”  I asked the cast.

 “I know her part,” said Kismet.  “I know all of them.”

And she did!  She replaced the missing actor that day and did it perfectly.  Four days later, at the last minute, she was called to replace another teen in a very different part.  She performed it seamlessly. When I congratulated her, she rolled her eyes and said, “I would of done the other one good too.”

What did I learn? Three lessons:

1. Don’t make immutable rules
2. They can be looking at their cell phones and be in the present!
3. In this space, in all spaces we should listen to and be kind to one another.

If you would like to view their work follow the link: http://www.youtube.com/user/salemtheatreco

Judith Black, one of America’s foremost storytellers, Retells history from new perspectives, tickles familial dysfunction, and offers ironic explorations of aging.

Featured on stages from the Montreal Comedy Festival to The Smithsonian Institution, to eight features at the National Storytelling Festival, she is the winner of the Oracle Award, storytelling’s most coveted laurel. She teaches two classes annually:

www.tellingstoriestochildren.com
http://www.storiesalive.com/MakingStories.html

Locally she sings with Calla Lilly, is social action chair of the Marblehead Harbor Rotary Club, directs Bridging Lives, a community peer mentoring program.

 

PREVIOUS GUEST BLOGGER ARTICLES

If you missed any of the other terrific Guest Blogger articles this link will take you to a separate blog post where all of the links are listed.
http://www.karenchace.blogspot.com/2012/09/a-rising-tideguest-bloggers-share-their.html

Judith Black is a guest blogger for Karen Chace and Catch the Storybug blog. All rights to this article belong to her. Distribution, either electronically or on paper is prohibited without her expressed, written permission. Of course, if you wish to link to the article via Facebook or Twitter, please feel free to do so. I you would like to be a Guest Blogger contact Karen at Storybug@aol.com for the details.

 

 

Owls: Flying High with Fingerplays, Songs and More

Owls and Faeries
by Richard Doyle 1824-1883

Last week we celebrated “Owls” during our lapsit program. We had lots of fun with the fingerplays, songs, games and flying around the room hooting “Woo Woo Woo…” Below are some of the items I shared with the children, along with an easy, inexpensive game I created, Feed the Owl, that was a huge hit!

I found the songs and fingerplays all around the web so feel free to use them in during your storytime. I have added some folktales and legends from around the world at the end of the post for the storytellers among us.

FINGERPLAYS

Five little Owls

Five little owls on a moonlit night five little owls are quite a sight.

Five little owls Are you keeping score?
One flew away! And then there were four.
Four little owls Happy as can be,
One flew away! Then there were three.
Three little owls Calling "Whoo! Whoo!"
One flew away! And that left two.
Two little owls having lots of fun.
One flew away! And that left one.
One little owl we’re  almost done.
He flew away! And that leaves none.

For the above fingerplay I had five little flannel board owls and we counted down each time one flew away.

The Owl

There's a wide-eyed owl (thumbs and forefingers around eyes)
With a pointed nose, (thumbs and forefingers to make a point)
He has pointed ears(clenched hands, forefingers up for ears)
And claws for toes:(make hands into claws)
He sits in a tree and looks at you; (fingers circles around eyes)
Then flaps his wings and says, (hands to chest and flap elbows)
"tu-whit, tu-whoo " (hands cup mouth to hoot)

SONGS

Owl Song (Tune: "I'm a little Teapot")

I'm a great big owl, as you can see.
I live high up in a tree. |
All the other birds wake me up when they play,
Because I like to sleep in the day!

Owl in the Tree  (Tune: Skip to my Lou)

Owl in the tree says, "Who, who, who."
Owl in the tree says, "Who, who, who."
Owl in the tree says, "Who, who, who.
Who, who, are you?"
We sang this song a few times and after the last line I encouraged the children to yell out their name. Normally, I would have gone from child to child but there were so many in the session I decided to do them all at once. The loved it!

STORY STRETCH

If You Want To Be An Owl (Tune: If You’re Happy And You Know It)

If you want to be an owl, shout – Who! Who!
If you want to be an owl, shout – Who! Who!
Then you get to sleep all day
And at night you get to play.
If you want to be an owl, shout – Who! Who!

I added the additional stanzas below. Perhaps you can add more! The children had a lot of fun singing and doing all of the gestures with me.

If you want to be an owl flap your wings…

If you want to be an owl look around…
If you want to be an owl shake your feathers…

BOOKS

I read the book The Littlest Owl by Caroline Pitcher and the children were delighted by the illustrations.

Here are a few more suggestions:

I'm Not Cute! - Jonathan Allen
Hoot Hoot! - Richard Powell
Little Owl - Piers Harper
Mrs. Owl and Mr. Pig - Jan Wahl
Owl Babies - Martin Waddell
The Sleepy Owl - Marcus Pfister
Whoo-oo Is It - Megan McDonald

CRAFTS

Look What Mom Found – This is the craft the children made during the program. Kara printed out the masks on cardstock. The children colored them and attached the popsicle stick  with the help of their moms and dads. Voila! Easy and oh so cute.
http://lookwhatmomfound.com/2012/09/owl-mask-craft.html

Dltk-Kids.com – Owl animal crafts and activities to add to the fun!

http://www.dltk-kids.com/animals/birds-owls.html

Ato Z Kid Stuff – O is for Owls coloring Page

http://www.atozkidsstuff.com/owlcolor.html

GAME

Feed the Owl

I wanted an easy game for the children that would be interactive and also help them with counting and colors. I purchased some white, plastic buckets on clearance, the type the children use for Halloween candy when they are trick or treating.

Initially, I tried to find bean bags but instead purchased two packages of plastic, round scrub brushes at the dollar stores, five to a package: green, red, yellow, orange, blue.  (see picture here: https://tinyurl.com/4apw7szc . They were perfect, soft, light and would do no harm if a child accidentally threw one at another child.

I printed out two clip art pictures of an owl, 8 x 11, in color, and placed one in each bucket. The children took turns “feeding the owl” as we counted the number of throws and called out the colors.  We played before the program and afterwards; so much fun for a total of $4.00.

LESSON PLAN

Owl Themed Lesson Plan for Preschoolers – Lots of great information, including craft ideas.

https://mrswillskindergarten.com/owl-lesson-plans-peek-at-my-week/

STORIES

Battle of the Owls - Hawaii

http://www.sacred-texts.com/pac/hft/hft22.htm
Concerning the Hawk and the Owl - Nigeria
http://www.worldoftales.com/African_folktales/Nigerian_folktale_37.html

The Owl – Germany/Brothers Grimm
https://www.worldoftales.com/fairy_tales/Brothers_Grimm/Margaret_Hunt/The_Owl.html#gsc.tab=0
The Owl Husband – Native American/Passamaquoddy
http://www.firstpeople.us/FP-Html-Legends/TheOwlHusband-Passamaquoddy.html
Why the Owl Flies at Night - Portugal
http://www.worldoftales.com/European_folktales/Portuguese_folktale_25.html

Why There is Day and Night – Native American

http://solar-center.stanford.edu/folklore/day-night.html

Karen Chace 2012 ©

Please note, websites change at a rapid pace and weblinks may change or break without notice. I cannot be responsible for redirected or broken links. At the time of this posting all links were in working order. Thank you for understanding.

 

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 appreciate your support and personal integrity.