The stories La tells....

You're saying to yourself..."I thought this was a storytelling blog. She said she was a storyteller..storysinger...whatever! So what's up with the crafts?"

(Psst!...not to worry there is a story at the end that relates to recycling but I want you to read the other stuff 'cause.....well just 'cause I want you to, so read!)

Questions, questions, questions! Well, yes, I do mostly talk about storytelling but I have always loved to make things and I find that storytelling and crafts go together rather well.

When working with after school groups or with parties, I sometimes get the chance to do different crafts. I usually choose very simple crafts that can be done quickly but when I have the time, or when I am going to see the same kids over a period of time, I like to pick large projects or projects that take some time and effort.

Anyhoo, while spending time on Youtube (I am soooo addicted) I found a vid on using recyled plastic bags to make bags and that started me looking for more vids on different types of crafts.

I could "tell" you how to make something but the vids are sooo much better.

Someday I am going to figure out how to make a vid or how to post a vid or both and then I can stop looking for other folks vids. (Hmmmm....maybe I should check youtube for an instructional vid on making vids :P You know it's there!)

Back to my orginal subject....Recyled Crafts or maybe just crafts for kids and for all of you big kids, like me.

By the way, Make Magazine and another mag called Crafts....Oh My Flippin' Gosh!!...They are FABULOUS!!!
Do I need to know how to make all of this stuff.....umm...No?
And do I try to make even half of the stuff....uh...No?
But who cares?? It's just so much fun!! Y'all Enjoy!!
GO MAKE SOMETHING!!!

Okey Dokey! THis first vid is by Make Magazine and shows how to recycle plastic bags to make a more permanent bag. It will make sense when you watch the vid, really!


Now this vid is from a college group and they give all sorts of reasons to recycle and they show some of the same steps in the previous vid but with, I think, a better explanation.


This vid uses plasic bags but a little differently.
I especially liked it because it is really simple to do, with or without kids,
and you don't need much.


This vid shows more items that can be crocheted out of plastic bags.
I love of her projects!




And here is the promised Recycling/Reusing Story.
(I appreciate how patiently you've been waiting.)

Once there was a tailor.
He was not only a very good tailor, he was also a great believer in recycling.
This means he liked to "reuse" items. He changed or adapted things for a new use. The tailor wasted nothing!
He was always seen taking an old item of clothing and making it into something wonderful and useful.

One day a wealthy client came to him with a roll of the finest cloth. "Make me a suit from this marvelous material, my good tailor", he said,"and I will pay you well!".
The tailor sat up all night and he cut and he sewed and he snipped and he stitched. And in the morning he had made the suit.
Oh! and what a marvelous suit it was!
He took it to his client, who was very pleased with the suit.

When the tailor returned to his workshop, he looked at the material that was left and thought to himself,"Hmmmm...yeeeees! I believe that there is just enough material to make something else!"
Soooo.....he sat up all night and he cut and he sewed and he snipped and he stitched. And in the morning he had made a very fashionable top coat for himself.
He put it on and thought that he looked quite distinguished.

He loved that coat soooo much that he wore it and he wore it and he wore it until one day he noticed that it was all worn out!
And he was just about to throw it away, when he thought to himself, "Hmmmm....yeees! I believe that there is just enough material to make something else!"
Soooo....he sat up all night and he cut and he sewed and he snipped and he stitched. And in the morning he had made a very stylish jacket.
He put on his new jacket and he thought that he liked this jacket just as much as his top coat.
And so, he wore it and he wore it and he wore it until it was all worn out!

And he was just about to throw it away, when he thought to himself, "Hmmmm....yeees! I believe that there is just enough material to make something else!"
Soooo.....he sat up all night and he cut and he sewed and he snipped and he stitched. And in the morning he had made a very smart looking waistcoat.
He put it on and thought to himself that he quite liked it more than his jacket!
And he wore it and he wore it and he wore it until it was all worn out!

And he was just about to throw it away, when he thought to himself, "Hmmmm....yeees! I believe that there is just enough material to make something else!"
Sooooo....he sat up all night and he cut and he sewed and he snipped and he stitched. And in the morning he had made a very snappy cap.
He put it on and he thought to himself that a hat was just what he needed.
And so, he wore it and he wore it and he wore it until it was all worn out!

And he was just about to throw it away, when he thought to himself, "Hmmmm....yeees! I believe that there is just enough material to make something else!"
Soooo....he sat up all night and he cut and he sewed and he snipped and he stitched. And in the morning he had made a very fancy tie.
He put it on and thought to himself "A man can never have too many ties."
And he wore it and he wore it and he wore it until it was all worn out!

And he was just about to throw it away, when he thought to himself, "Hmmmm....yeees! I believe that there is just enough material to make something else!"
Sooooo...he sat up all night and he cut and he sewed and he snipped and he stitched. And in the morning he had made a very special button.
He sewed it to his favorite shirt thinking that a button is always handy to have.
And he wore it and he wore it and he wore it until it was all worn out!

And he was just about to throw it away, when he thought to himself, "Hmmmm....yeees! I believe that there is just enough material to make something else!"
And what do you think that "something else" was???
That's right!
There was enough material to make a story!

And he told the story to me and I've just told it to you!
And now "you" can tell the story to someone else!

retold© by LaurenLanita,Storysinger

As I am sure I have mentioned before, or at least I should have, I love poems and poetry. And I have quite a few favorite poems and poets. One of my favorite writer's of children's poetry is Shel Silverstein.

Born Sheldon Alan Silverstein, September 25, 1930 in Chicago, Illinois, "Shel" Silverstein was an American poet, songwriter, musician, composer, cartoonist, screenwriter and author of children's books. He wrote 3 books of poetry for children Where the Sidewalk Ends (1974), A Light in the Attic (1981)and Falling Up (1996).

Just an interesting aside, Shel Silverstein also wrote the music and the lyrics for the following songs: "A Boy Named Sue" that was performed by Johnny Cash, "The Unicorn" which is popular in Irish pubs all over the world, "The Cover of the Rolling Stone" a song performed by Dr. Hook.

The following poem can be found in his book "Where the Sidewalk Ends". "Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me, Too" is a wonderful poem. It's fun to say, the children love the rhyme and the images that it creates. It is also a marvelous poem to act out. There are so many places for the children use their imagination.

If you have the time and the facilities, why not go a step further and have the kids make Mulligan Stew!(It's mentioned in the poem :)


Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me too,
Went for a ride in a flying shoe,
"Hooray!"
"What fun!"
"It's time we flew!"
Said Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me too.

Ickle was captain, Pickle was crew,
And Tickle served coffee and mulligan stew
As higher
And higher
And higher they flew,
Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me too.


Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me too,
Over the sun and beyond the blue.
"Hold on!"
"Stay in!"
"I hope we do!"
Cried Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me too.


Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me too
Never returned to the world they knew,
And nobody
knows what's
happened to
Dear Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me too.

Written by Shel Silverstein (1930-1999)


I know from experience that your average child will ask you what mulligan stew is as soon as you finish the poem, if not sooner. So here is your answer (just in case you did not know, I didn't.)

Mulligan stew is a kind of dish said to have been prepared by hobos in camps in the early 1900s. Usually, it includes meat, potatoes, vegetables, and whatever else can be found. The hobo who put it together was known as the "mulligan mixer". A stew is generally difined as being made, literally, of "whatever is on hand" including meat, potatoes and vegetables in any combination.

I have included 2 different stew recipes. Enjoy!

Campfire Mulligan Stew
Ingredients :
Method :
In small amount of hot fat in heavy frying pan, brown: 1 pound stew meat, cut in small pieces Add: 1 tsp. salt Stir in: 1 can condensed tomato soup 1 can water Cover tightly and let cook slowly until tender (about 1-1/2 hours). If fire gets too hot, take from heat occasionally to keep at a simmer. When the meat is tender, add: 3 carrots, cut in thick slices
3 potatoes, quartered
3 onions, halved Continue cooking slowly about 30 minutes. If there is not enough juice, add water during cooking. If too thin take off lid and cook sauce until thickened. 4 to 6 servings
Recipe from the Betty Crocker's Cook Book for Boys and Girls


Easy Crock Pot Beef Stew Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 each potatoes, chopped into bite size pieces
- 1 each onion, chopped
- 1 pound carrots, sliced
- pound stew meat
- 1 can tomato soup
- 2/3 cup water
- 1 package stew seasoning

Directions
Cut the vegetables and meat into bite sized pieces. Mix the stew seasoning with the water. Place the meat on the bottom of the crock, cover with vegetables. Pour the soup and stew seasoning mixture over all. Cook in the crock pot on high for 6 hours or low 10 hours.
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 6 or more hours
Servings: 6
http://www.recipetips.com/recipe-cards/u--3732/easy-crock-pot-beef-stew.asp

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?

I love this song!! It is a camp song and you can find it on CD sung by Sharon, Lois and Bram. It is great fun to sing with kids (and adults). You start singing slowly and each time you sing the verses you speed up just a little until you can barely understand the words or everyone is laughing!


I am slowly going crazy (left hand cupping right elbow, right hand on chin)
One, two, three, four five six, switch
(switch: R hand on left elbow, L hand on chin)

Crazy going slowly am I

Six, five, four, three, two, one, switch (switch back)

As you can see it is a very short song but a lot of fun!

A Storytelling song or a Songtale
I learned this song at Camp Togowoods in Wasilla, Alaska which is not very far from Anchorage.
This is an echo song.
First you, the leader sings, then the children repeat, echo, your words and movements.
Hmm... I will have to add the movements later**smile**.

The Moose

There was a great big moose. (echo)
He liked to drink a lot of juice. (echo)
There was a great big moose. (echo)
He liked to drink a lot of juice. (echo)

Chorus (each line is also echoed):
Say waaaaay-Oh
Way-oh, way-oh, way-oh, way-oh
Way-oh, way-oh
Way-oh, way-oh, way-oh, way-oh

The moose's name was Fred. (echo)
He liked to drink his juice in bed. (echo)
The moose's name was Fred. (echo)
He liked to drink his juice in bed. (echo)

Chorus

He drank his juice with care. (echo)
But he spilled some on his hair. (echo)
He drank his juice with care. (echo)
But he spilled some on his hair. (echo)

Chorus

Now he’s a sticky moose (echo)
Full of juice (echo)
On the looooooooooooooose (echo)

Chorus


This song can be found with different verses all over the net. It is song by scouts and at other children's camps.

This is an "okay" version of the song although there are missing verses and the tune and movements are a little different. But you'll get the idea.