All legs and high above my head
The children laughed when I put the giraffe hat on my head. I think they thought I looked out of place to sport what I called my party hat. But I played along with them. Soon, they knew I 'owned' the hat and was happy wearing one. But honestly, when I'm with kids, there's no counting the minutes especially when we are enjoying ourselves.
The poster at TIMES, Pavilion, was up again - I'm on the loose -watch out!!
We had much fun at our craft session after I told the story about The Lonely Giraffe by Peter Blight and illustrated by Michael Terry. The bright, bold illustrations make for such a lovely telling. The giraffe's plight is also well told to draw empathy from the audience. The animals in the jungle have friends but giraffe is always left out . His long neck means that he's just too far away from the action . Things change when the river bursts its banks and the animals climb on to his neck and are safe. No more lonely, the giraffe is happy - the animals grow to know him and not be afraid of his big head nor his long legs.
When the craft session was over, one by one , the kids came to me to have it adjusted for their heads. And they went away sporting a giraffe hat. Heads in the air! Suddenly, they seemed taller than the giraffe!!
My favourite among other traditional stories from China is about the Chinese Zodiac calendar, titled ' How The Years Were Named'. This Chinese New Year, the Tiger roars in to take its turn among the 12 animals. Over the years, whenever this story is told, it always elicits interest as the race of the animals to Wizard Mountain unfolds. Of course, the children couldn't help but shout out ' The rat is first!' when I swept him in with the words ,'... the ox said,' Moo! I'm first!' But the rat who was hanging from the ox's tail, swung himself forward right in front of the ox. Hitching a good ride made him the winner !
Roaring in to wish you 'GONG XI FA CAI!'
So the year of the Ox has gone by to usher in the year of the Tiger who came in third in the race. We had a song about the tiger. The children enjoyed the catchy tune to it and sang along. We also played a game of the 12 animals. The children picked a card each . The fun started when an animal was picked. They were encouraged to make the sounds of each animal, move like them for their friends to guess.
The tiger stripes were torn from pieces of black paper. Tearing it into longish strips needed some attention from the kids. That session I had a very good turnout - 24 kids at the MBPJ library. The kids were playful with the tiger craft . Not any time you can be up close with the big cat and have a roaring time!
Now, which animal year were you born? Wait for this - ROAR - this is my year! I hasten to add, I'm also a LION ( Zodiac Leo). Gosh, I'm 2 big cats in one! A friendly one, I assure you. Please stay and listen to my stories :)
GONG XI FA CAI! Have a splendid year everyone!
Making the dragon dance
In good company. Let the tiger roar in !
Up close with the tiger - in his own comfort zone
We certainly love our big cat! Love him always, I say!!
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