FOLLOW

Singing and Dramatizing the Cycle of the Flower in the Montessori Music Room!

CHILDREN LOVE TO DRAMATIZE STORIES ABOUT NATURE AND THIS LITTLE SONG FOR THE CYCLE OF A FLOWER IS ONE OF THE FAVORITES IN THE MONTESSORI MUSIC ROOM!
Photo by the artists at Dollar Photo Club
If you happen to be following my blog, then you might have noticed the article on forcing bulbs that I posted last week. Here's the link if you missed it: Artfully Outdoorsy Montessori: Let the Children Plant Bulbs! 

The book, Festivals, Family and Foods, by Diana Carey & Judy Large has been a mainstay of our family. And, one of my favorites from this book is the idea of planting flower bulbs during Autumn, allowing them to "sleep" through the coldest days of Winter, only to emerge and cheer us all up on the first days of Spring! Here's that book at Amazon: Festivals, Family & Food book at Amazon.


Photo by the artists at Dollar Photo Club

Bulbs are some of the easiest plants to grow. The "seed" is nice and big for little children to handle planting easily. They are nearly fail-proof, even if you have a "brown thumb"! They can be planted in the ground, in planter boxes and even in bowls filled with pebbles and water (don't need soil!) When planted outdoors, they come up year after year and are prolific!



Photo by the artists at Dollar Photo Club

A very fun music & movement activity that is always a big hit with little children is dramatizing the cycle of the flower by singing the story going up the musical scale. This is a fabulous activity for using the Montessori bells if you have them in your classroom! The ones pictured here are from Nienhuis Montessori.
I have used an Orff-Schulwerk Glockenspiel in the video below for an example of the song the way I sing it with the children. However, you can use any pitched instrument (Xylophone, piano keyboard, recorder/ flute, autoharp, etc) that you have including just your voice unaccompanied!



It is helpful to show the children a visual of a flower growing from seed/bulb to roots, shoot, stem, leaves, bud and the open flower. I often create a simple felt board story with these parts set up to add as you show or sing the story. Then, the felt board story can be put on the shelf for the children to do individually at work time.


Photo by the artists at Dollar Photo Club

Here are some photos of children dramatizing this fun story/song:


Photo by Carolyn at Magical Movement Company


Photo by Carolyn at Magical Movement Company


Photo by the artists at Dollar Photo Club

There are some good non-fiction bulb books for young children that I like to have in  the book corner at this time of year. Here's one:From Bulb to Tulip children's book at Amazon.




Lois Elhert's Planting A Rainbow, has some great pictures of bulbs being planted in the Autumn to go along with the lovely story of putting in a flower garden. Here's that link at Amazon: Planting a Rainbow book at Amazon.

Here's the link for a great youtube children's video about this lovely book at this link:Youtube Planting a Rainbow movie trailer. 

My VERY FAVORITE book that features an Amaryllis flower growing is Kevin Henkes', So Happy. This is one of the sweetest and most beautifully illustrated stories around.(Illustrator is Anita Lobel) It's well worth adding to your children's book library! The little child in the story aids a small bunny to its home after a stormy rain creates a stream between the bunny and it's home. In the meantime, a quiet flower bulb begins to grow as the rain continues and the boy is so happy to see it all! Suitable for even the youngest of children.Here's that link: So Happy children's book at Amazon.


If you've got a little flower child (or children) in your life, I would highly recommend purchasing some flower bulbs to plant this time of year!
Photo by the artists at Dollar Photo Club

I'm SO HAPPY to have you visiting my blog and I hope you enjoyed this post. Please don't hesitate to leave a comment if you have a moment. I love hearing about your ideas! 

This article is part of the link-up, "Montessori Mondays" at the site, Living Montessori Now where you'll find lots of great articles from Montessori bloggers all over the world! Here's that link: Montessori Mondays at Living Montessori Now.



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