Our Xmas concert this year was sensational!
The children made all their own props…
…and sang with gusto!
This year I discovered the most wonderful little book on a visit to the OXFAM shop (one of my favorites). It is a new rendition of a well known song. The book comes complete with a CD…
… and a percentage of sales flows back to global conservation. Great!
*(Some of our parents were also inspired to purchase the book for home)
We’ve got the whole world in our hands…
She’s got the sun and the moon in her hands…
He’s got the mountains and the valleys in his hands…
She’s got the plains and the deserts in her hands…
He’s got the lakes and rivers in his hands…
She’s got the trees and the flowers in her hands…
He’s got the birds of the air in his hands…
She’s got the fish of the sea in her hands…
He’s got the towns and the cities in his hands…
We’ve got the whole world in our hands…
Our children absolutely loved this book and were often over-heard at preschool and at home singing the song as they were engaged in play.
When we suggested to the children that we could perform this story for our Xmas concert, their excitment was contagious! They concentrated their efforts on deciding what props were needed to tell the story, found materials and resources (with some staff suggestions thrown in!) and created some beautiful birds of the air, fish of the sea… etc. Such an enjoyable experience for the children and staff.
We believe that our children will be great future care-takers of our world!
Hi KAren, I am sending out an SOS to a sister in law in Melbourne tonight! Thanks for another great resource!
I hope she can find it for you Louise! 🙂
I know this post was from a while ago, but last year we did a very special performance with the children. We’re not fond of making a big production generally, but this had been a fun long term project. It began with some children using a spontaneous tent to be a house for pigs, which sparked some fun 3 Little Pigs storytelling off the cuff. So we built a 3 little pigs house out of a big cardboard box, gathering grass and straw and doing a lot of enthusiastic collaborative painting. We made some piggy noses and ears, and ears and a tail for the wolf.
Poring through the Oxfam Unwrapped catalogue I stumbled across ‘3 little pigs’ for $111.
So I talked with our preschoolers about what Oxfam unwrapped does for people in impoverished countries, and that they could help.
So before our performance I told the parents that we would like to raise money to buy 3 little pigs for a poor family in Laos (with some emphatic interjections from our big bad wolf about these people being so poor they didn’t have enough food and couldn’t go to school).
The performance was fabulous fun, everyone enjoyed themselves, and I was completely blown away when we found we’d raised $140.
Performance inspired by children’s play, with children’s active input throughout + making a meaningful connection to caring for everyone and helping those in need? Absolutely priceless.
That is brilliant Sarah! Thank you for sharing. Last year one of our parents gave each staff member a card from Oxfam that represented a monetary donation to a third world country on our behalf. Every staff member agreed that it was the best present we had ever been given from a family. As much as we value the sentiment, we really don’t need to be showered with gifts at the end of the year, there is far greater need out there in the world.
I will keep your story in mind when it comes to thinking about our end of year celebrations for this year. 🙂