Oats, Peas, Beans and Barley Grow

 "Can you or I or anyone know, how oats, peas, beans and barley grow?"

This month's story is actually an old folk song but like most songs it tells a story.


Oats, Peas, Beans and Barley Grow is a traditional British and American folk song.
It is a "play song" and the children perform the actions in the songs verses, basically acting out the planting and harvesting of a crop. The song can be found on many children's cd's, performed by artist such as Raffi and John Langstaff.





Oats, peas, beans, and barley grow,
Oats, peas, beans, and barley grow,
Can you or I or anyone know
How oats, peas, beans, and barley grow?


First the farmer sows his seed,
Stands erect and takes his ease,
He stamps his foot and claps his hands,
And turns around to view his lands.


Oats, peas, beans, and barley grow,
Oats, peas, beans, and barley grow,
Can you or I or anyone know
How oats, peas, beans, and barley grow?


Next the farmer waters the seed,
Stands erect and takes his ease,
He stamps his foot and claps his hands,
And turns around to view his lands.


Oats, peas, beans, and barley grow,
Oats, peas, beans, and barley grow,
Can you or I or anyone know
How oats, peas, beans, and barley grow?


Next the farmer hoes the weeds,
Stands erect and takes his ease,
He stamps his foot and claps his hands,
And turns around to view his lands.


Oats, peas, beans, and barley grow,
Oats, peas, beans, and barley grow,
Can you or I or anyone know
How oats, peas, beans, and barley grow?


Last the farmer harvests his seed,
Stands erect and takes his ease,
He stamps his foot and claps his hands,
And turns around to view his lands.


Oats, peas, beans, and barley grow,
Oats, peas, beans, and barley grow,
Can you or I or anyone know
How oats, peas, beans, and barley grow?

This video shows kids performing some of the movements in the song.




An excellent activity to accompany this song the ever popular growing a bean in a cup (or a clear bag or a test tube if you can find one).


Watch a Bean Grow
activity found at Kids Science Experiments

Materials you will need:

• Water
• Potting Soil/Compost
• A clear, plastic cup
• 3 Test Tubes
• 3 Beans (almost any kind of dry bean will do)

Steps:

1. Fill the cup with 2 inches of water
2. Drop the two beans in the cup of water
3. Leave the beans to soak overnight
4. The following day, drain/empty the water from cup and take the beans out of the cup
5. Fill the test tubes just over half way with the potting soil and place each bean inside the test tubes and fill the test tube with more soil
6. Place the test tubes in a well light and warm spot and be sure to water them every day.

Keep a close watch each day as you will be able to see how quickly the plants will grow (minute by minute).

If you do not have test tubes use clear plastic cups or a clear plastic container and plant the beans by the sides of the container so that you can watch the beans grow by looking through the clear container.

Did you know that plants need water to live? As well as absorbing water from the atmosphere (air) through their leaves, they suck water up through their stems.

***********************************

Another excellent set of directions can be found at 


http://www.ehow.com/how_2108951_science-experiment-child-bean-plants.html

I Had An Old Coat....a recyling song and more fabulous recycling projects!

Yes! It's another recycling blog!

Instead of a story for this blog, I have a song.
This song, I HAD AN OLD COAT, is based on a a Yiddish folksong I used in my May blog.

And that Yiddish song was the inspiration for the The Thrifty Tailor story from my April blog.

And it was also the inspiration for the book Joseph had A Little Overcoat by Simms Taback (you can read the book at pbskids.org). The picture at the top of the blog came from this book.


I HAD AN OLD COAT
written by Paul Kaplan

I had an old coat and the coat got torn, what'll I do
I had an old coat and the coat got torn, what'll I do
I had an old coat and the coat got torn
So I cut it down and a jacket was born
And I sing every day of my life.

In a couple of years those threads got thin, what'll I do.
In a couple of years those threads got thin, what'll I do.
In a couple of years those threads got thin
So I called it a shirt and I tucked it in
And I sing every day of my life.

Then the arms wore out in the East and West, what'll I do.
Those arms wore out in the East and West, what'll I do.
The arms wore out in the East and West
So I pulled them off and I had a vest
And I sing every day of my life.

Then the vest got stained with cherry pie, what'll I do.
That vest got stained with cherry pie, what'll I do.
The vest got stained with cherry pie
So I cut and sewed 'til I had a tie
And I sing every day of my life.

Soon that tie was looking lean, what'll I do
Soon that tie was looking lean, what'll I do
Soon that tie was looking lean
But I made a fat patch for my old blue jeans
And I sing every day of my life.

When that patch was next to nuttin', what'll I do
When that patch was next to nuttin', what'll I do
When that patch was next to nuttin'
I rolled it up into a button
And I sing every day of my life.

When that button was almost gone, what'll I do
When that button was almost gone, what'll I do
When that button was almost gone
With what was left I made this song
Which I sing every day of my life.

copyright: Paul Kaplan Music, 1985

So far I have 3, oops! make that 4, craft vids for you.
The first vid is for younger children although admittedly the adult has to do a lot of the work but it's still fun for the kids.
The other vids are for older kids that can either hand sew or use a sewing machine.

This is a really cute and simple craft but adults and caution are required.


This one is almost no sew. Great for the younger kids. They will only need a little help and supervision with the scissors.





Love the music used in this vid!
Great directions for turning a sweater into a great purse.


Recycled Sweater Pants for Toddlers Directions at That's Kinda Cool

I LOVE this Song!!.....The Sun is a Mass Of Incandescent Gas...

This extremely educational and catchy tune was written by Lou Singer and Hy Zaret in 1959.
Hy Zaret(who cowrote Unchained Melody)became interested in educational children's music in the late 1950s.
He collaborated with Lou Singer on a six-album series called "Ballads for the Age of Science".
The albums covered the subjects of space, energy and motion, experiments, weather, and nature.
The records were quite successful, and the song "Why Does the Sun Shine?" aka "The Sun Is a Mass of Incandescent Gas"(I love that title)was even covered by They Might Be Giants in 1994 on a cd of the same name.

I first heard this song at a summer camp and not only did the kids love the song but it was a favorite among the counselors as well!
It is fun to sing and can even be put on as a sort of mini musical
(costumes and all).
The spoken parts are wonderful when said by one child or a counselor in an "announcer" type voice.

The sun is a mass of incandescent gas
A gigantic nuclear furnace
Where Hydrogen is built into Helium
At a temperature of millions of degrees

The sun is hot, the sun is not
A place where we could live
But here on Earth there'd be no life
Without the light it gives

We need its light, we need its heat
The sun light that we seek
The sun light comes from our own sun's
Atomic energy

The sun is a mass of incandescent gas
A gigantic nuclear furnace
Where Hydrogen is built into Helium
At a temperature of millions of degrees

The sun is hot...

(spoken)
The sun is so hot that everything on it is a gas
Aluminum, Copper, Iron, and many others

The sun is large...

(spoken)
If the sun were hollow, a million Earth's would fit inside
And yet, it is only a middle size star

The sun is far away...

(spoken)
About 93,000,000 miles away
And that's why it looks so small

But even when it's out of sight
The sun shines night and day

We need its heat, we need its light
The sun light that we seek
The sun light comes from our own sun's
Atomic energy

(spoken)
Scientists have found that the sun is a huge atom smashing machine
The heat and light of the sun are caused by nuclear reactions between
Hydrogen, Nitrogen, Carbon, and Helium

The sun is a mass of incandescent gas
A gigantic nuclear furnace
Where Hydrogen is built into Helium
At a temperature of millions of degrees


The tune on midi can be found at
Why does the sun shine?


Here's a fun (short) Sun song if the first one is too much for you!

Oh, Mr. Sun, Sun, Mr. Golden Sun,
Please shine down on me.
Oh Mr. Sun, Sun, Mr. Golden Sun,
Hiding behind a tree
These little children are asking you
To please come out so we can play with you.
Oh Mr. Sun, Sun, Mr. Golden Sun,
Please shine down on,
please shine down on,
Please shine down on me.



Well, that was fun! Now on to the sun activities.

I've made a very short list of some of the activities you can do and included links.
I will only give a little detail on one craft and that is Sun Painting/Printing.

Make a Sundial
Make Sun Tea
Make Sun Catcher
Make a Sun Pinata




Sun Paint Picture/Info from Dharma Trading



Sun Printing/Painting

The very simplest way to sunprint is to use Dark colored construction paper, Natural objects such as leaves, twigs and pinecones; and also household objects such as scissors, keys and old cutlery.
The Process:
Place the construction paper outside somewhere in the direct sunlight.
Give the child/ren the freedom to arrange the objects in any way on the paper.
Allow the objects sit for at least two hours in the sun (time depends on strength of sunlight)
Remove the objects to discover what the sun has painted.




You can also purchase Sun Printing Kit which come with photo-sensitive paper.

Another method that can be done with older children or adults:

The easiest method of sun printing is actually sun painting, not dyeing. You saturate fabric with any transparent fabric paint, arrange objects on the damp fabric, then expose the assemblage to the sun or any hot lamp. It is actually the infrared light (radiant heat) which does the trick. It is not the ultraviolet in the light which does the work, as is sometimes claimed, but instead infrared, so a halogen lamp is more suitable than a fluorescent sun lamp. Exposed areas dry first, in the hot light; the exposed fabric, as it dries, sucks additional wet dye out from under whatever you have placed on top of the fabric. The result is lighter-colored 'shadows' wherever you placed the masking objects. The color is deeper where the light from the sun, or the hot lamp, was able to reach. This procedure has been widely popularized for use with Seta Color brand fabric paint. Other brands of thin, transparent fabric paint will work, as well; for example, PRO Chemical & Dye provides instructions for "Sun Printing using PROfab Textile Paints", and Jacquard includes instructions on their online "How To" page for Dye-Na-Flow fabric paint. Sun painting is a highly suitable project for children and beginners.

Quote from All about Hand Dyeing pburch

I Had A Little Overcoat...a Yiddish folksong and some recycled papermaking

This Yiddish folksong is the original source for the Thrifty Tailor story in the previous blog.

I HAD A LITTLE OVERCOAT
(traditional Yiddish, English by Teddi Schwartz & Arthur Kevess)
(The midi for this song can be found at Mudcat MIDIs )


1.I had a little overcoat, as old as can be
Tralala lalalala lalala
What I'd ever do with it, I just couldn't see
Tralala lalalala lalala
So I thought a little while
And made myself a jacket in the very latest style
Tralalala lalala (2x)
Made a jacket in the very latest style

2. I had a little jacket, it was old as can be
Tralala lalalala lalala
What I'd ever do with it, I just couldn't see
Tralala lalalala lalala
So I thought a little while
And made myself a vest in the very latest style
Tralalala lalala (2x)
Made a vest in the very latest style

3. I had a little vest, as old as it could be
Tralala lalalala lalala
What I'd ever do with it, I just couldn't see
Tralala lalalala lalala
So I thought a little while
And I made myself a tie in the very lastest style
Tralalala lalala (2x)
Made a tie in the very latest style

4. tie / button

5. button / nothing

6. I had a little nothing, as old as it could be
Tralala lalalala lalala
What I'd ever do with it, I just couldn't see
Tralala lalalala lalala
So I thought a little while
And I made myself a song in the very lastest style
Tralalala lalala (2x)
Made a song in the very latest style

1. Hob ikh mir a mantl fun fartsaytikn shtof / Tralala...
Hot dos nit in zikh kayn gantsenem shtokh / Tralala...
Darum, hob ikh zikh batrakht
Un fun dem mantl a rekl gemakht
Tralala... / Fun dem mantl a rekl gemakht

2. Hob ikh mir a rekl... fun dem rekl a vestl gemakht
3. vestl / shnipsl
4. shnipsl / knepl
5. knepl / gornitl
6. gornit / dos lidele

(trad Yiddish, Eng words Teddi Schwartz & Arthur Kevess)

Mudcat MIDIs

Let's talk about Paper!
I love making paper with kids. They have a great time and you never know what you'll get. Making paper is great for using up the scraps of construction paper, wrapping paper or any kind of paper that is used in the class or at home.
I have included three different vids on papermaking....
.
The first is a teacher doing a papermaking demo in class.

The second vid is a very good low tech papermaking vid with kids.

The third vid is a very nicely done slide show about papermaking.

After the vids, I have included a link to papermaking directions.







A great site for directions is Learn2 Make Paper ... this site has good pics also.