The Open Hand of a Child

The Open Hand of a Child

by Unknown

Between the two walnut trees
Where deer pass silent through into the evening,
There is where the echo hovers green and mossy,
Bells half here, half there
The sounds of invisible presence mourning,
Observing the absence, the touch remembered –
If you could see it, the mark still there
Where this and that, I and Thou,
Lost track of distinctions.

No one without imagination can know love;
Clean, tart as cherries stolen
From the neighbor’s orchard when desire
Overcomes the limits of logic, the restrictions
Of dull matter unloved.
See the tangled mass of ivy
Imagining itself a tree by clinging to the tallest
Sycamore to reach impossible heights,
To touch the soaring heron wings

Ask the stars if their old light burned, blazed as
A mere combustion of gases seizing chemical opportunity
To birth breath, flesh, eyes,
The gaze aware?
No, but surely it was the imagined possibilities of
Yet uncreated plum blossoms,
The lure of a veined dragonfly wing,
The call of rhythmic rain on meandering rivers,
The open hand of a child that
Imagined the world into being.

Anon

Nonsensical Tales, Poems and Limericks

Let's begin with Dr. Seuss and then explore several other writers

of the limerick genre. - re slater

ps - "Can you find the non-limerick panel(s) which don't belong?"

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!

https://www.julieoleszek.com/blog/happy-birthday-dr-seuss-poetic-tribute

Today is the birthday of old Dr. Seuss,

A man of many words, all put to good use.

Books with dark-lit windows and too many doors,

With upstairs and downstairs and too many floors.

Using words like "Once-ler" and "Sneetches" is silly at times,

But words such as these make for silly ol’ rhymes.

Creatively described on the house and the lawn,

Duck feet and Fox in Socks ingeniously drawn.

Children don’t question Geisel’s word choices he makes,

"DiffenDoofer" and "Octember" reveal no mistakes.

He writes without misspelling, he writes with no wrongs,

He constructs silly sentences, stringing new words along.

With creative new words, you’ll find that you’ll laugh,

With The Cat in the Hat and on Yertle the Turtle’s behalf.

No challenge is too challenging in writing a plot,

Impactful and impressive is Ten Apples Up on Top.

Horton hatches the egg because he said that he would,

Be careful of words like "I could" and "I should".

"I can" and "I will" is the way to success,

A Wacky Wednesday is meant to lessen the stress.

Oh, the Places You’ll Go if you just take a look

At The 500 Hats and The Tooth and Eye Book.

Impressions LeSieg has made on so many,

With a cat and the Lorax and characters of plenty.

Oh the Thinks you can Think, and all that you’ve earned,

Comes from reading and loving all the things that you’ve learned.

You’re Only Old Once, so dive into McElligot’s Pool,

Be open to adventure on your way to Solla Sollew.

Meet Thidwick and Horton, and Thing One and Thing Two,

Meet Mr. Brown and Marco, Daisy-Head Mayzie and Sue.

I Can Read with My Eyes Shut because you said that I could,

I’ve tasted Green Eggs and Ham because you insisted I should.

I can count One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish,

And pretend There’s A Wocket in my Pocket, if I wish.

Dr. Seuss, I’d like to thank you for all the things I could do,

Like reading A, B, C’s and imagining If I Ran the Zoo.

And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street with you,

Theodor Geisel, today, I wish a happy birthday to you!

* * * * * * * *

A Sense for Nonsense:

From Edward Lear to Lewis Carroll to Dr. Seuss

article link

by Dale D. Dalenberg, M.D.

April 1, 2014

Every now and then the Dalenberg Library of Antique Popular Literature gets ambitious and tries to live up to its name by buying something that is truly antique. This month we are proud to announce the acquisition of a first edition of Lewis Carroll’s book-length nonsense poem masterpiece The Hunting of the Snark (MacMillan and Co., London, 1876.) To be precise, the real first edition was a limited run bound in red that is very pricey to come by these days, but our copy is from the main press run bound between tan brown boards with front and back cover illustrations, gilt on all edges, and including nine interior panels illustrated by Henry Holiday (1839-1927), who was associated with the pre-Raphaelite group of Victorian artists.

Snark is Lewis Carroll’s most famous and popular work outside of the two Alice in Wonderland books. The Holiday illustrations are priceless, quite unlike his other paintings, which were very much in the Edward Burne-Jones school of late Victorian sensual, romanticized realism. If you like the classic Tenniel illustrations for the Wonderland books, you will find the Holiday illustrations for the Snark poem to be in a similar vein, only more grotesque. An added treat in this edition is a little leaflet that has been attached to the front endpapers, dated Easter, 1876, and titled “An Easter Greeting to Every Child Who Loves ‘Alice’.” While I suspect that mostly adults with an interest in 19th Century literature read The Hunting of the Snark these days, Carroll obviously intended it to be for the same youthful audience who inspired the Wonderland tales. 

“The Beaver’s Lesson” from The Hunting of the Snark
by Lewis Carroll; illustrated by Henry Holiday

Henry Holiday’s interpretation of “The Beaver’s Lesson” from The Hunting of the Snark, bearing more resemblance to something by Hieronymus Bosch than to his fellow pre-Raphaelites. The lines that inspired this plate:

The Beaver brought paper, portfolio, pens,

And ink in unfailing supplies:

While strange creepy creatures came out of their dens,

And watched them with wondering eyes.

The Hunting of the Snark recounts a nonsensical voyage in search of a mysterious beast, and it builds to a rather unexpected climax. As the story of a whimsical voyage, it is much more complex than - but still very reminiscent of - Edward Lear’s poem “The Jumblies,” which was written a few years earlier. The Jumblies go to sea in a sieve, which of course allows the water to get into their boat, but they manage to sleep in a crockery pot, somehow stay dry and alive, get to their destination, go shopping, buy some strange things (including a monkey with lollipop paws), and they come back home in twenty years having grown somewhat taller. In contrast, the crew of the Snark has a stranger, darker, more mysterious voyage, and the outcome is much less certain.

Edward Lear (1812-1888) is chiefly remembered and endlessly anthologized as the author of two poems published originally as “nonsense songs” in 1871. These are “The Owl and the Pussycat” (who also venture out to sea in the beginning of their poem) and “The Jumblies.” During his lifetime, Lear was predominantly a painter of animals and landscapes. He happened into writing by chance. While employed painting the avian collection and menagerie of the Earl of Derby, he took to writing nonsense limericks illustrated with pen drawings to amuse the children in the Earl’s family. The limericks were not published for 10 years (appearing in 1846). A second book didn’t appear until 16 years later (1862). By then, Lear must have had a following, because he trickled out a steady stream of nonsense stuff after his second book until his death in 1888. 

Lear was a pioneer of this sort of whimsical writing. Lear is good, and in his time he had few if any competitors writing nonsense lyrics; but aside from a couple masterpieces, Lear is not great. His two famous poems are really his best, and there are not a great many other hidden gems. Mostly, his kind of writing has been improved upon by people who came along later and did his sort of poem better (such as Lewis Carroll, Eugene Field, Ogden Nash, and Dr. Seuss.) 

Easily half of Lear’s nonsense output was limericks. He wrote more than two hundred. He was an early popularizer of the limerick, but he did not contribute much to its creativity. Most of his limericks are crafted in the old mold (going back to Mother Goose and before) of repeating the first line in the last line, often with a little variation. Unfortunately, this structure rather has the effect of making the last line anticlimactic because you have heard it before, like a joke without a surprise in the punchline. Lear’s limericks are silly and nonsensical, and the line drawings that accompany them are cute, but they are mostly not particularly funny. 

Here are three of Lear’s limericks as originally written. Then I will follow with the Dale Dalenberg “improvements,” designed to demonstrate how replacing the repetitive final line with a new rhyming “punchline” can make the limerick both more interesting and more funny. 

Edward Lear:

There was an Old Man on whose nose,

Most birds of the air could repose;

But they all flew away

At the closing of day, 

Which relieved that Old Man and his nose. 

Dalenberg version:

There was an Old Man on whose nose,

Most birds of the air could repose;

But they all flew away

At the closing of day, 

Leaving night’s share of bird-stuff to hose. 

Edward Lear:

There was an Old Person of Burton, 

Whose answers were rather uncertain;

When they said, “How d’ye do?”

He replied, “Who are you?”

That distressing Old Person of Burton.

Dalenberg version:

There was an Old Person of Burton, 

Whose answers were rather uncertain; 

When they said, “How d’ye do?”

He replied, “Who are you?”

“Is he daft?” all would ask. “No—impertinent!”

Edward Lear:

There was an Old Person of Hurst, 

Who drank when he was not athirst;

When they said, “You’ll grow fatter!”

He answered, “What matter?”

That globular Person of Hurst. 

Dalenberg version:

There was an old Person of Hurst, 

Who drank when he was not athirst;

When they said, “You’ll grow fatter!”

He answered, “What matter?”

They replied: “Keep it up and you’ll burst!”

Limericks were around before Edward Lear. Supposedly they first appeared in England in the early 18th Century. It is said that as folklore poetry, limericks were always raunchy. Lear took them out of the gutter and popularized the form as nonsense poems.

Despite moving from the pub to the nursery, ribald limericks do still persist today. They are rather addictive to compose, and generally when you start, you keep coming up with more.

I wrote a handful of raunchy ones for this blog, but I can’t publish most of them here, because we try to run a family-friendly blog. Still, I’ll push the limits with three of the cleanest of my naughty limericks, just to demonstrate and play with the form. These are my R-rated ones, not my X-rated ones (feel free to send me an e-mail request for those.) Two of these use the punch-line approach, and the other uses the repeated last-line approach (with a twist): 

There was an unsatisfied suitor

Who returned to the girl’s house to shoot her, 

But his crime proved a botch

When SHE aimed at HIS crotch

And inquired, “Is it better to spay or to neuter?”

There was a young man of Hong Kong

Who was oppressed by his over-sized schlong,

‘Til he sliced off his testes, 

Took hormones, grew breast-ies, 

Now he is a young girl of Hong Kong. 

Two Sisters from down around Natchez

Turned tricks with their tongues and their snatches,

And sometimes for fun

They’d charge 2-for-1

And bang all the Brothers in batches. 

Hallmarks of the limerick include a general sense of irreverence, caricature, and a mockery of more serious academic devices. Many limericks play fast and loose with geography and place names, for instance. Rather than telling us anything about the place, however, the place name is usually just there for rhyming purposes. Thus we have the classic limerick parody line, “There was a young man of Nantucket. . .”, which tells us nothing about Nantucket, but the place name is in the poem mostly just to rhyme with a variety of really vulgar phrases that can be used to end the next line. The word-play of the limerick, and the fact that random things must be plucked out of the air and plunked down in the poem just to fit the rhyme scheme, lends the form to nonsense content. Once you get into the idiom, it’s just as easy to write silly limericks as dirty ones. With apologies to the Japanese, here is one of my silly (non-filthy) limericks:

Drunk wrestler of sumo on saké

Ate way too much teriyaki, 

Kept feeding and feeding, 

Just wouldn’t stop eating—

And that’s how he got so damn stocky.

---

Lewis Carroll (the pen name of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, 1832-1898) improved on the nonsense poetry model that Lear established in poems like “The Jumblies.” Carroll’s work incorporates mathematical puzzles, political allegory, and mysterious in-jokes into a more fully realized fantasy landscape. Lewis Carroll’s “portmanteau words” are a lot like some of Lear’s nonsense words (e.g. “runcible spoon”), only with a more complex etymology. 

poem by limerick poet Edward Lear

Not quite sure what it is about nonsense poetry and beavers, but the opening lines go like this:

On the top of the Crumpetty Tree

The Quangle Wangle sat,

But his face you could not see,

On account of his Beaver Hat.

Edward Lear’s influence can be felt far beyond Carroll, however. With his simple line drawings, he is a precursor to more modern author-illustrators of childrens’ books, such as Dr. Seuss. In fact, Seuss’s Thidwick, the Big-Hearted Moose is a fleshed-out retelling of Edward Lear’s poem “The Quangle Wangle’s Hat,” with a twist.

In the Lear poem, a creature called the Quangle Wangle wears a beaver hat that is a hundred and two feet wide, and numerous animals come to live on the brim of the hat. In the Lear version they all have a grand old time, and the Quangle Wangle is perfectly happy to have guests.

But Dr. Seuss takes the material in a different direction as the animals take advantage of Thidwick’s good nature and become freeloader guests over-staying their welcome. Lear’s emphasis is on nonsense. That is also Dr. Seuss’s emphasis, even though Seuss usually tells a story with a moral—he just doesn’t lay it on too thick.

The moral is there in Thidwick—something like “don’t allow yourself to be a pushover and get taken advantage of by freeloader ‘friends’”—but the emphasis is still on the silly story, the whimsical illustrations, and the word-play.

* * * * * * * *

10 of the Best Nonsense Poems in English Literature

article link

Are these the best examples of nonsense verse in English?

Selected by Dr Oliver Tearle

Nonsense literature is one of the great subsets of English literature, and for many of us a piece of nonsense verse is our first entry into the world of poetry. In this post, we’ve selected ten of the greatest works of nonsense poetry. We’ve omitted several names from this list, including Dr Seuss (because his best nonsense verse, whilst brilliant, is longer than the short-poem form, often comprising book-length narratives), Hilaire Belloc (whose best work is best-understood as part of the ‘cautionary verse’ tradition, which isn’t as nonsensical as bona fide nonsense verse), and Ogden Nash, whose work seems to be less in the nonsense verse tradition than more straightforward comic verse.

Some of these suggestions come courtesy of Quentin Blake’s The Puffin Book of Nonsense Verse (Puffin Poetry), which we’d recommend to any fans of nonsense verse looking for an anthology of beautiful nonsense.

1. Anonymous, ‘Hey Diddle Diddle’.

Hey, diddle, diddle,

The cat and the fiddle,

The cow jumped over the moon;

The little dog laughed

To see such sport,

And the dish ran away with the spoon.

We tend to associate nonsense verse with those great nineteenth-century practitioners, Edward Lear and Lewis Carroll, forgetting that many of the best nursery rhymes are also classic examples of nonsense literature. ‘Hey Diddle Diddle’, with its bovine athletics and eloping cutlery and crockery, certainly qualifies as nonsense.

‘Hey Diddle Diddle’ may have been the rhyme referred to in Thomas Preston’s 1569 play, "A lamentable tragedy mixed ful of pleasant mirth, conteyning the life of Cambises King of Percia: ‘They be at hand Sir with stick and fiddle; / They can play a new dance called hey-didle-didle.’" If so, this poem is much older than Victorian nonsense verse!

What does this intriguing nursery rhyme mean, if anything? What are its origins? We explore the history of this classic piece of nonsense verse for children in the link to the nursery rhyme provided above.

2. Anonymous, ‘I Saw a Peacock’.

I Saw a Peacock, with a fiery tail,

I saw a Blazing Comet, drop down hail,

I saw a Cloud, with Ivy circled round,

I saw a sturdy Oak, creep on the ground,

I saw a Pismire, swallow up a Whale,

I saw a raging Sea, brim full of Ale …

Included in Quentin Blake’s anthology, this poem dates from the seventeenth century: ‘I Saw a Peacock, with a fiery tail, / I saw a Blazing Comet, drop down hail, / I saw a Cloud, with Ivy circled round, / I saw a sturdy Oak, creep on the ground …’

This is sometimes known as a ‘trick’ poem: look at how the second clause of each line describes the following object as well as the previous one, so that, for instance, ‘with a fiery tail’ could refer back to the peacock but also forwards to the ‘Blazing Comet’. We delve into the poem and its history in more detail in the link above.

3. Samuel Foote, ‘The Great Panjandrum Himself’.

So she went into the garden

to cut a cabbage-leaf

to make an apple-pie;

and at the same time

a great she-bear, coming down the street,

pops its head into the shop.

What! no soap?

So he died …

So begins this piece of ‘nonsense verse’. Although Lewis Carroll and Edward Lear are the names that immediately spring to mind, several eighteenth-century writers should get a mention in the history of nonsense writing. One is Henry Carey, who among other things coined the phrase ‘namby-pamby’ in his lambasting of the infantile verses of his contemporary, Ambrose Philips; another is the playwright Samuel Foote, known as the ‘English Aristophanes’, who lost one of his legs in an accident but took it good-humouredly, and often made jokes about it.

It was Samuel Foote who gave us ‘The Great Panjandrum’, a piece of writing whose influence arguably stretches to Carroll and Lear in the nineteenth century, and Spike Milligan in the twentieth. In the eighteenth century, Foote penned this piece of nonsense – later turned into verse simply by introducing line-breaks – as a challenge to the actor Charles Macklin, who boasted that he could memorise and recite any speech, after hearing it just once.

Click on the link above to read both the prose and verse version, and learn more about the origins of this piece of nonsense.

4. Lewis Carroll, ‘The Walrus and the Carpenter’.

The Walrus and the Carpenter

Were walking close at hand;

They wept like anything to see

Such quantities of sand:

‘If this were only cleared away,’

They said, ‘it would be grand!’

‘If seven maids with seven mops

Swept it for half a year,

Do you suppose,’ the Walrus said,

‘That they could get it clear?’

‘I doubt it,’ said the Carpenter,

And shed a bitter tear …

Perhaps, of all Lewis Carroll’s poems, ‘The Walrus and the Carpenter’ has attracted the most commentary and speculation concerning its ultimate ‘meaning’. Some commentators have interpreted the predatory walrus and carpenter as representing, respectively, Buddha (because the walrus is large) and Jesus (the carpenter being the trade Jesus was raised in). It’s unlikely that this was Carroll’s intention, not least because the carpenter could easily have been a butterfly or a baronet instead: he actually gave his illustrator, John Tenniel, the choice, so it was Tenniel who selected ‘carpenter’.

In the poem, the two title characters, while walking along a beach, find a bed of oysters and proceed to eat the lot. But we’re clearly in a nonsense-world here, a world of fantasy: the sun and the moon are both out on this night. The oysters can walk and even wear shoes, even though they don’t have any feet. No, they don’t have feet, but they do have ‘heads’, and are described as being in their beds – with ‘bed’ here going beyond the meaning of ‘sea bed’ and instead conjuring up the absurdly comical idea of the oysters tucked up in bed asleep.

5. Lewis Carroll, ‘Jabberwocky’.

’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves

Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:

All mimsy were the borogoves,

And the mome raths outgrabe.

‘Beware the Jabberwock, my son!

The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!

Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun

The frumious Bandersnatch!’ …

Another classic poem by Lewis Carroll, ‘Jabberwocky’ is perhaps the most famous piece of nonsense verse in the English language. And the English language here is made to do some remarkable things, thanks to Carroll’s memorable coinages: it was this poem that gave the world the useful words ‘chortle’ and ‘galumph’, both examples of ‘blending’ or ‘portmanteau words’.

As we explain in the summary of the poem provided in the above link, ‘Jabberwocky’ may be nonsense verse but it also tells one of the oldest and most established stories in literature: the ‘overcoming the monster’ narrative and the ‘voyage and return’ plot. We also include a handy glossary of the nonsense words Carroll used in – and invented for – the poem.

6. Edward Lear, ‘The Owl and the Pussycat’.

The Owl and the Pussy-cat went to sea

In a beautiful pea-green boat,

They took some honey, and plenty of money,

Wrapped up in a five-pound note …

This is probably Edward Lear’s most famous poem, and a fine example of Victorian nonsense verse. It was published in Lear’s 1871 collection Nonsense Songs, Stories, Botany, and Alphabets, and tells of the love between the owl and the pussycat and their subsequent marriage, with the turkey presiding over the wedding.

Edward Lear wrote ‘The Owl and the Pussycat’ for a friend’s daughter, Janet Symonds (daughter of the poet John Addington Symonds), who was born in 1865 and was three years old when Lear wrote the poem.

7. Edward Lear, ‘The Dong with the Luminous Nose’.

Long years ago

The Dong was happy and gay,

Till he fell in love with a Jumbly Girl

Who came to those shores one day.

For the Jumblies came in a sieve, they did, —

Landing at eve near the Zemmery Fidd

Where the Oblong Oysters grow,

And the rocks are smooth and gray …

One of the things which differentiates some of Lear’s nonsense verse from Lewis Carroll’s is the poignant strain of melancholy found in some of his finest poems. This nonsense poem is also a story of lost love, involving the titular Dong, a creature with a long glow-in-the-dark nose (fashioned from tree-bark and a lamp), who falls in love with the Jumbly girl, only to be abandoned by her.

 

8. A. E. Housman, ‘The Crocodile’.

Though some at my aversion smile,

I cannot love the crocodile.

Its conduct does not seem to me

Consistent with sincerity …

A. E. Housman, the poet best-known for A Shropshire Lad (1896), wrote poems about death and hopeless love. What [most don't know is] that A. E. Housman wrote nonsense verse [too]. In fact, Housman was an accomplished writer of light verse for children, and ‘The Crocodile’, subtitled ‘Public Decency’, is probably his finest piece of nonsense verse, with a cruel and macabre turn.

 

Mervyn Peake and Trees

9. Meryn Peake, ‘The Trouble with Geraniums’.

Although he’s more famous for writing fiction – notably the Gothic fantasy trilogy Gormenghast – Mervyn Peake was also a writer of nonsense verse. The link above will take you to several of Peake’s nonsense poems, but here we’ve chosen ‘The Trouble with Geraniums’ – which isn’t entirely about geraniums, but rather ‘the trouble with’ all sorts of things, from toast to diamonds to the poet’s looking-glass…

10. Spike Milligan, ‘On the Ning Nang Nong’.

When he wasn’t entertaining millions as part of the comedy troupe the Goons, Spike Milligan was a talented author of nonsense verse, with this poem, first published in his 1959 collection Silly Verse for Kids, being perhaps his most celebrated example of the form. Indeed, in 2007 In December 2007 OFSTED reported that it was one of the ten most commonly taught poems in primary schools in the UK!

For a good anthology of nonsense poetry, we recommend The Everyman Book of Nonsense Verse.

The author of this article, Dr Oliver Tearle, is a literary critic and lecturer in English at Loughborough University. He is the author of, among others, The Secret Library: A Book-Lovers’ Journey Through Curiosities of History and The Great War, The Waste Land and the Modernist Long Poem.

Pre-K Winter Songs & Poems

Pre-Kindergarten Winter Songs & Poems

Source - http://www.preschooleducation.com/swinter.shtml

Sung to: "Frere Jacques"

Winter's Coming
- Author Unknown

Winter's coming, Winters Coming.
It is Dark, It is cold.
I am bundled snug and warm.
Animals sleep safe from harm.
Sleds and snow.
Cold winds blow.

Sung to: "Frere Jacques"

Dance Like Snowflakes

- Author Unknown

Dance like snowflakes

Dance like snowflakes

In the air

In the air

Whirling, twirling, snowflakes

Whirling, twirling, snowflakes

Here and there

Here and there.

Sung to: "I'm a little teapot"

I'm a Friendly Snowman

- Author Unknown

I'm a friendly snowman big and fat.

(stretch arms out to sides)

Here is my tummy and here is my hat.

(point to tummy, then top of head)

I'm a happy fellow, here's my nose.

(smile, then point to nose)

I'm all snow from my head to my toes.

(point to head, then to toes)

I have two bright eyes so I can see.

(point to eyes)

All the snow falling down on me.

(flutter fingers downward)

When the weather's cold I'm strong and tall.

(stand up all)

But when it's warm I get very small.

(crouch down low)

Sung to: "The farmer in the Dell"

Frost
- Author Unknown

The frost is on the roof
(point hands over head)
The frost is on the ground
(point to the floor)
The frost is on the window
(make a window with your hands)
The frost is all around
(make large circles with hands)

Sung to: "Sailing, Sailing"

Snowflakes

- Author Unknown

Snowflakes, Snowflakes

Falling to the ground.

Each one rest so gently

They never make a sound.

Snowflakes, Snowflakes

Are so pure and white.

The special thing about them is

No two are alike.

Sung to: "Sing a song of Sixpence"

Sing a Song of Winter

- Author Unknown

Sing a song of winter, frost is in the air;

Sing a song of winter, snowflakes everywhere.

Sing a song of winter, hear the sleigh bells chime,

Can you think of anything as nice as wintertime?

Sung to: "Row, Row, Row your boat"

Sliding
- Author Unknown

Crunch, Crunch, Crunch, Crunch, Crunch
Up the hill we go
Sliding, sliding, sliding, sliding
Down the hill we go.

Sung to: "Row, Row, Row your Boat"

The Snowman Ran and Ran

- Author Unknown

The Snow, Snow, Snowman

Came out to play.

But the Children cried, "Get back inside

The sun is out today"

The snow, snow, Snowman

Started to run away.

But when he ran, he ran and ran.

Until a puddle lay.

Sung to: "The Farmer in the Dell"

Puttin' on Mittens

- Author Unknown

The Thumb in the Thumb place

Fingers all together

This is the song we sing

When it is mitten weather.

Sung to: "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star"

Snowflakes, Snowflakes
- Author Unknown

Snowflakes, snowflakes, dance around,
Snowflakes, snowflakes, touch the ground
Snowflakes, snowflakes, in the air
Snowflakes, snowflakes, everywhere
Snowflakes, snowflakes, dance around
Snowflakes, snowflakes, touch the ground

Sung to: "Row, Row, Row your Boat"

Snowflakes Falling Down

- Author Unknown

Snowflakes falling down (wiggle fingers downward)

Falling on the ground

Great, big white flakes (make circles with thumbs and forefingers touching)

That do not make a sound (fingers to lips and shake head no)

Sung to: "Are you sleeping?"

Hibernation Song

- Author Unknown

Bear is sleeping, Bear is sleeping.

In a cave, In a cave.

I wonder when he'll come out,

I wonder when he'll come out.

In the spring, In the spring.

Five Little Snowmen
- Author Unknown

5 little Snowman standing in a row,
Each had a hat and a big red bow.
Out came the sun and it shone all day,
1 Little snowman melted away.
4 Little Snowman standing in a row,
Each had a hat and a big red bow.
Out Came the the sun and it shone all day,
1 Little snowman melted away.
Etc....

Sung to: " Three Blind mice"

I Love Snow

- Author Unknown

I love snow, I love snow.

Soft, white snow; Soft, white snow.

It falls on the ground so soft and white.

Sometimes it falls all through the night.

Did you ever see such a beautiful sight

As soft white snow?

Sung to: "I'm a little Teapot"

I'm a Little Snow Person

- Author Unknown

I'm a little snow person,

Short and fat

Here are my buttons,

here is my Hat.

When the snow comes out,

I cannot stay.

Slowly I just melt away.

Sung to: "Happy Birthday"

The Wintery Wind
- Author Unknown

The winter wind blows.
The winter wind blows.
It gives me the shivers
From my head to my toes!

Sung to: "Jingle Bells"

Icy Toes

- Author Unknown

Icy toes, Chilly nose,

Wintertime is here.

My teeth Chatter,

What's the matter?

Wintertime is here, Oh!

Icy toes, Chilly nose,

Wintertime is here.

My teeth chatter,

What's the matter?

Wintertime is here.

Sung to: "Do your ears hang low?"

Who Is Made of Snow?

- Author Unknown

Who is made of snow

When the temperature is low?

Who stands outside

When The ground is cold and white?

Who starts to melt

When the warm sunshine is felt?

Who is made of snow?

Sung to: "Up On the Housetop"

Snow is Falling
- Author Unknown

Look at the sno...ow falling down,
Covering everything in town.
Over the grass and cars and street,
Snow is winter's special treat.
Snow, snow, snow, beautiful snow,
Snow, snow, snow, watch it grow-oh!
Snow on the housetop, yes, sir-ee,
Snow is falling just for me!

Five Little Snowmen Fat

- Author Unknown

Five little snowmen fat,

Each with a funny hat.

Out came the sun and melted one,

What do you think of that?

Down, down, down, down.

What do you think of that?

**Continue on with 4, 3, 2, 1. We like to really wear funny hats as we do

this one. Also a sun hot glued to an empty paper towel tube is great when

you sing "out came the sun...". The children love to "melt" down to the

ground!

A Chubby Little Snowman

- Author Unknown

A chubby little snowman,

Had a carrot nose.

Along came a bunny,

And what do you suppose?

That hungry little bunny,

Looking for his lunch.

Ate that snowman's carrot nose,

Nibble, nibble, crunch!!

Sung to: "Mulberry Bush"

Dance Around The Snowman
- Author Unknown

This is the way we dance around,
Dance around,
Dance around.
This is the way we dance around,
Our snowman in the morning.

*skip around
*twirl around
*crawl around
*hop around
*spin around
*gallop around
*sneak around
*tip toe around

Sung to: "I'm a little teapot"

Snowman

- Author Unknown

Here's a little snowman

Short and fat

Here is my broom

and here is my hat

When the sun comes out

I tremble with fear

'cause soon I'll melt and disappear!

Sung to: "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star"

Snowflakes, Snowflakes

- Author Unknown

Snowflakes falling

One by one,

Time to play and have some fun.

Build a snowman

Snowballs, too,

Come and see what you can do.

Snowflakes falling

One by one,

Time to play and have some fun.

Sung to: "Up on the housetop"

Snowflakes Falling
- Author Unknown

Snowflakes are falling on the ground
On our houses and in our town
On my nose and in my hair
Snowflakes are falling everywhere.
Oh, oh, oh, out we go
Oh, oh, oh, in the snow
Making snowmen
Sliding, too,
There are lots of things to do.

Sung to: "This old Man"

Snow

- Author Unknown

Snow is falling on the ground

We can make things all around

Like snowmen, snowballs

Snow forts, too.

There are lots of things to do.

Snow is falling come and see

You can have some fun with me

Sliding, skating, skiing, too,

There are lots of things to do.

Sung to: "Little Teapot"

Snowman

- Author Unknown

I'm a little snowman

Round and fat

I have a broomstick

I have a hat.

With my friends

I play in the snow.

But when the sun shines

It's time to go.

10 Snowmen
- Author Unknown

10 happy snowmen riding on a sled
1 fell off and bumped his head
Frosty called the doctor and the doctor said
No more snowmen riding on that sled
(Continue in this fashion until you get to zero)

Sung to: "Mary Had A Little Lamb"

10 Snowmen

- Author Unknown

10 little snowmen dancing all around

Dancing all around, dancing all around

10 little snowmen dancing all around

The sun came out and one melted to the ground

(continue until you get to zero)

Let's Build A Snowman

- Author Unknown

Let's build a snow man (squat, stretch arms to gather snow)

Oooo, cold and white (shiver)

Oh it will be a lovely sight (place hands by face and smile)

Eyes and nose and happy grin (point to each)

We'll even put a dimple in his chin (point o dimple spot)

Let's build a snowman

Ooo, cold and white

Yes it will be a lovely sight

I Built A Snowman
- Author Unknown

I built a snowman (pretend to build)
Pat, pat, pat, (pat air three times)
He turned out great! (form circle with thumb and forefinger)
Now clap, clap, clap! (clap three times)
I patted snow (pat air on sides of snowman)
On his cheeks, cheeks, cheeks (pat air three times)
I put on a hat (pretend to place hat on head)
On his head, head, head, (touch head three times)
I made his mouth (touch mouth)
Gave him bread, bread, bread (touch mouth three times)
His button eyes are (point to eyes)
Pink, pink, pink (touch eyes three times)
I thought I saw him (tilt head to one side)
He looks so real! ( nod head)
Like an owl, owl, owl (make spectacles with fingers)
I tweaked his nose (tweak nose)
Saw him scowl, scowl, scowl (frown)

Sung to: "Happy Birthday"

The Snowman Song

- Author Unknown

Here's a funny hat for you

here's a funny hat for you.

It's a bobble hat, Mr. Snowman

What a funny hat for you !

Here are pretty eyes for you,

here are pretty eyes for you.

They are black stones, Mr. Snowman

What pretty eyes for you !

Here's a long stick for you,

here's a long stick for you.

It's a broomstick, Mr. Snowman

What a long stick for you !

Here's a big nose for you,

here's a big nose for you

It's a carrot, Mr. Snowman.

What a big nose for you !

Here's a little friend for you,

here's a little friend for you (rabbit)

He eats up the carrot,

what a pity for you !

Sung to: "Mary Had A Little Lamb"

Snowflakes Falling

- Author Unknown

Snowflakes falling from the sky,

From the sky, from the sky,

To the earth below.

Watch them as they dance and whirl, dance and whirl, dance and whirl

Watch them as they dance and whirl,

Soft white winter snow.

Sung to: "I'm A Little Teapot"

Build a Little Snowman
- Author Unknown

Build a little snowman,
Starting with his feet.
Put on more snow,
And pack it nice and neat.
Next to make a round ball
And place it on the top…
Then hope the sun doesn't get too hot!

Sung to: "Frere Jaques"

Build a Snowman

- Author Unknown

Build a snowman, build a snowman

Big and round, big and round

Sun is shining on him

Sun is shining on him

He's al gone, he's all gone

Sung to: "Frere Jaques"

It is Snowing

- Author Unknown

It is snowing, it is snowing

All around, all around

Soft and quiet snowflakes,

Soft and quiet snowflakes,

Not a sound, not a sound

Sung to: "I'm A Little Teapot"

I'm A Friendly Snowpal
- Author Unknown

I'm a friendly snowpal, big and fat
Here is my tummy and here is my hat
I have two funny eyes and a carrot nose.
I'm all snow from my head o my toes

I have two bright eyes so I can see
All the snow falling down on me
When the weather's cold, I'm strong and tall
But when it's warm, I get very small

Sung to: "The Farmer In the Dell"

Frost

- Author Unknown

The frost is on the trees (point up)

The frost is on the ground (point down)

The frost is on the window (make window with hands)

The frost is all around!

The frost is very icy, (shiver)

The frost is very bright (cover eyes with hands)

The frost is very slippery (slide one hand over the other)

The frost is very white!

Sung to: " teddy bear teddy bear"

Sing this Snowflake Song

- Author Unknown

Snowflake, snowflake falling down,

(flutter hands down)

Twirling, twirling to the ground.

(twirl to the ground)

Softly, lightly on my nose,

(touching nose)

Snowflake, snowflake icy cold!

(fold arms and shiver)

Sung to: "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star"

Sprinkle, Sprinkle, Little Snow
- Author Unknown

Sprinkle, sprinkle, little snow;
falling down on us below;
Small and white and powdery,
such a joy for all to see.
Sprinkle, sprinkle little snow;
Falling down on us below.

Disappearing Snowman Cookies

- Author Unknown

Five cookie snowmen sitting on a tray.

Five cookie snowman smiling all day.

Along came a little child, rubbing his tummy.

One cookie disappeared,

Yum, Yum, Yummy!!

Repeat to all the cookies are gone.

Five Little Snowflakes

- Author Unknown

Five little snowflakes

Dancing here and there.

Then one little snowflake blew away in the air!

Four little snowflakes

Dancing here and there.

Then one little snowflake blew away in the air!

Continue to zero.

Zero little snowflakes

Not one to be found.

Cause five little snowflakes have fallen to the ground!

Snowflakes
- Author Unknown

One little snowflake with nothing to do.
Along came another and
Then there were two.

Two little snowflakes playing in a tree.
Along came another, and
Then there were three.

Three little snowflakes looking for some more.
Along came another, and
Then there were four.

Four little snowflakes that finally did arrive.
Along came another, and
Then there were five.

Five little snowflakes having so much fun.
Out came the sun, and
Then there were none!

Sung to: "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star"

Snowflake, Snowflake

- Author Unknown

Snowflake, snowflake, fancy free.

Snowflake, snowflake, dance with me.

Touch my head, then my toes.

Land on my nose where the cold wind blows.

Snowflake, snowflake, turn around.

Snowflake, snowflake, touch the ground.

Snowflake, snowflake, fancy free.

Snowflake, snowflake, dance with me.

Touch my elbow, then my shoulder,

Land on my chin where it's a little bit colder.

Snowflake, snowflake, turn around.

Snowflake, snowflake, touch the ground.

Snowflake, snowflake, fancy free.

Snowflake, snowflake, dance with me.

Touch my ear, then my knees.

Snowflake, I'm about to freeze!

Snowflake, snowflake, fancy free.

Snowflake, snowflake, dance with me.

5 Snowman Fingerplay

- Author Unknown

Five little snowmen

On a winter's day--

The first one said

Wake up so we can play

The second one said

Let's stomp on the ground

The third one said

Let's roll all around

The fourth one said

Let's run and run and run

The fifth one said

I'm afraid I feel the sun

Oh Dear, cried the snowmen

As they looked toward the sky

And the five melting snowmen

Waved a fond good-bye.

Sung to: "5 little monkeys"

Five Little Snowmen
- Author Unknown

Five little snowmen riding on the sled (pretend five fingers are sledding)
One fell off and bumped his head (pretend one finger falls off...rub head)
I called Frosty and Frosty said (dial imaginary telephone)
"No more snowmen, riding on that sled!" (say in a deep voice)
Four little snowmen... etc

Sung to: "Up on the house top"

Little Red Nose

- Author Unknown

Where did you get that little red nose? (point to nose)

Jack frost kissed it I suppose (kissing noise)

He kissed it once ( hold up one finger)

And he kissed it twice ( hold up 2 fingers)

Poor little nose is cold as ice! (pretend to shiver)

Sung to: "I'm a little teapot"

I'm a Little Snowman

- Author Unknown

I'm a little snowman short and fat.

Here's my scarf and here's my hat.

When the snow is falling come and play.

Build a snowman every day.

Sung to: "Hokey Pokey"


The Snowkey Pokey
- Author Unknown

You put your right mitten in,
you take your right mitten out,
you put your right mitten in
and you shake it all about.

You do the snowkey pokey
and you turn yourself around.
That's what it's all about.

Additional verses:
You put your left mitten in . . .
You put your right boot in . . .
You put your left boot in . . .
You put your hat in . . .
You put your snowself in . . .

Sung to: "10 Little Indians"

10 Little Icicles

- Author Unknown

One little, two little, three little icicles,

Four little, five little, six little icicles,

Seven little, eight little, nine little icicles,

Ten little icicles hanging from the roof.

Chanted to: "Way up high in the apple tree"

Winter Song

- Author Unknown

Way up high in the snowy tree

Lots of little snowflakes smiled at me.

I shook that tree as hard as I could.

Down came the snowflakes

Were they cold!

Sung to: "Row, row, row your boat"

Catching Snow
Exclusive by © Christa of Preschool Education .Com

Snow, snow, falling down,
Falling all around.
Stick out your tongue,
And catch a ton,
Before they touch the ground.

Sung to: "Twinkle, twinkle little star"

Snowflakes

- Author Unknown

Snowflakes, snowflakes twirling round,

Snowflakes falling to the ground.

What a pretty sight to see,

Winter fun for you and me.

Snowflakes, snowflakes twirling round,

Snowflakes falling to the ground.

Snowflakes, snowflakes tickle my tongue.

Let’s throw snowballs one by one.

Build a snowman, sled and skate.

Come outside, don’t be late.

Snowflakes, snowflakes tickle my tongue.

Let’s throw snowballs one by one.

Five Little Eskimos

- Author Unknown

Five little Eskimos by the igloo door .

One went out to feed the dogs, then there were four.

Four little Eskimos rowing out to sea,

One jumped on an iceberg, then there were three.

Three little Eskimos making fish stew,

One burned his finger, then there were two.

Two little Eskimos hunting for fun,

One chased a baby seal, then there was one.

One little Eskimo all his work done,

Went home to supper, then there were none.

My Igloo
- Author Unknown

My igloo is round with a tiny door. (Make circle w/hands then hold hand low to ground.)
It's made of cold ice & snow. (Pretend to shiver.)
The inside is covered with blankets & fur. (Spread hands over wide area.)
So it's warm when the winter winds blow. (Hug self to keep warm.)

Sung to: "I'm a Little Teapot"

I'm a Little Snow Pal

- Author Unknown

I'm a little snow pal running by you,

I'm made of snow, this is true.

But when the children ask me to play

I just cannot sit all day.

Snowy Surprise

- Author Unknown

Sometimes the snow falls when I'm sleeping, (Rest cheek on folded hands.)

I'm so surprised when I awake. (Stretch and yawn.)

I look out at the world around me, (Look around.)

It looks like a frosted birthday cake! (Rub tummy and lick lips.)

Sung to: "I'm a Little Teapot"

I'm a Friendly Snowman
- Author Unknown

I'm a friendly snowman big and fat, (Stretch arms out at sides.)
Here is my tummy and here is my hat. (Point to tummy, then top of head.)
I'm a happy fellow, here's my nose, (Smile, then point to nose.)
I'm all snow from my head to my toes. (Point to head, then to toes.)

I have two bright eyes so I can see (Point to eyes.)
All the snow falling down on me. (Flutter fingers downward.)
When the weather's cold I'm strong and tall, (Stand up tall.)
But when it's warm I get very small. (Crouch down low.)

Two Little Snowflakes

- Author Unknown

Way up high in the winter sky,

2 little snowflakes caught my eye.

Down to the ground they fell without a sound.

And before very long,

It was snowing all around.

Merry Snowflakes

- Author Unknown

Merry little snowflakes falling to the ground, (fingers flutter life falling snow)

They're landing on the treetops, covering our town. (fingers flutter)

They softly fall on noses (touch nose)

And make our hair look white. (touch hair)

They seem to call, 'Come out and play!' ('come here' motion)

As they fall throughout the night. (repeat first action)

Sung to: "On Top of Spaghetti"

Mt. Frosty
- Author Unknown

On Top of Mt. Frosty
All covered with snow
My toes, they were freezing
Oh don't you know

I wore a furry coat
To keep me warm
I never planned on
This coming storm

My fingers are freezing
There as cold as can be
My mittens aren't as warm
As they ought to be

My ears are ice cycles
My nose is too
If it gets any colder
I won't know what to do

Sung to: "Row row row your boat"

Blowing Nose Song

- Author Unknown

Blow blow blow your nose

That's the way it goes

Sniff, sniff? No, No!

You should always blow

Ten Warm Mittens

- Author Unknown

Ten warm mittens, hanging on the line,

One blows away and then there are nine.

Nine warm mittens, one without a mate,

A squirrel carries one away and that leaves eight.

Eight warm mittens, just eight not eleven,

One gets buried in the snow and that leaves seven.

Seven warm mittens, which one do you pick?

I'll pick the red one and that leaves six.

Six warm mittens, put one on to try.

Then you take it from the line and that leaves five.

Five warm mittens, we had ten before!

A fluffy bunny needs one and that leaves four!

Four warm mittens, two for you and two for me,

I lost one on the ski slope and that leaves three.

Three warm mittens, looking very new,

One falls into the mud and that leaves two.

Two warm mittens, drying in the sun,

A bird comes down and snatches it and that leaves one.

One warm mitten, what good is one?

A little mouse can have a bed, and that leaves none!

Snowball
- Author Unknown

I made myself a snowball
Just as perfect as could be.
I thought I'd keep it as a pet
And let it sleep with me
I gave it some pajamas
And a pillow for it's head.
Then, last might it ran away,
But first-it wet the bed! Gotcha!

Winter Hokey Pokey

- Author Unknown

You put your mitten in, you take your mitten out

You put your boots in, you take your boots out

You put your coat in, you put your coat out

You put your hat in, you put your hat out

You put your scarf in, you put your scarf out