Have you heard the birds? Every morning, there are lots of them singing outside my window. I can’t always see them, but I can hear them! What do you think they are singing about? Here are some ideas that I had:
“Wake up, everybody, the sun is here!”
“I am busy building a nest for my family!”
“Who wants to be my friend?”
“This is my tree – stay away, stay away!”
For parents: A great way to help develop early literacy skills is to make a list together. Write down your child’s suggestions about what the birds are saying and hang it where you both will see it during the day. This establishes connections between thinking and writing and reading.
One of the rhymes featured in the Virtual Storytelling today is Two Little Blackbirds. It first appeared in print in London in Mother Goose’s Melody in 1765.
Two little blackbirds sitting on a hill.
One named Jack, the other named Jill.
Fly away, Jack! Fly away, Jill!
Come back, Jack. Come back, Jill.
There are variants that have the blackbirds sitting on a gate with one named Early and the other named Late; flying in the sky with one named Low and the other named High; and sitting on a pole with one named Fast and the other named Slow. Use these variants and make up some new ones to teach concepts and opposites. Invite your child to contribute rhyming words. Where would “Open” and “Shut” be sitting? Or “Up” and “Down?”
Extend the activity by making your own blackbird puppets:
Materials: jar or glass or round lid to trace; crayon; scissors; glue or tape; straw, craft stick, or cardboard strip.
Trace the jar or glass (let your child do this to develop fine motor skills).
Make two or three circles in this way and cut them out.
Glue them together and draw eyes and a triangle beak (cut from scrap paper and glue onto top circle).
Attach the circle bird with glue or tape onto a straw or craft stick or cardboard strip – and you have a blackbird puppet!
Use a black crayon to scribble some black color on the puppet – or use a different color and make the rhyme about “Two Little Redbirds” or “Two Little Purple Birds.”
Here is the link to the Virtual Storytelling Nursery Rhyme session with Two Little Blackbirds:
