This is what I do to start Morning Circle Time with our
children:
Stock a large basket with everything needed for the day’s
circle-time activities. To signal little ones to join you in the circle-time
area, grab your basket and sing the following song.
Gathering Verse:
(sung to the tune of “A
Tisket, a Tasket”)
A tisket, a tasket,
Mummy has her basket.
It’s time for all my
little ones
To join me on the carpet.
Prayer:
God be in my head, and in
my understanding.
God be in my eyes, and in
my looking.
God be in my mouth, and in
my speaking.
God be in my heart, and in
my thinking.
God be at my end, and at
my departing.
Candle Lighting Verse:
In the dark, cold days,
There shines a light
To make my heart
So pure and bright!
Opening Verse:
Kind hearts are the
gardens
Kind thoughts are the
roots
Kind words are the flowers
Kind deeds are the fruits
Take care of your garden
And keep out the weeds
Fill it with sunshine
Kind Words and kind deeds.
OR
My Heart I am strong,
I am brave, I am valiant
and bold.
For the sun fills my heart
with his life giving gold.
I am helpful and truthful
and loving and free.
For my heart's inner
sunshine glows brightly in me.
I will open my arms to the
sunbeams so bright;
I will warm all the world
with my heart's inner light.
Seasonal Verses:
O Winter King-
O Winter King! Thy crown
silver and bright Snowdrifts spiral from your cape
O Winter King! Thy robes
blue, purple, white Long beard curls at the chin
Give us light! Wisdom and
sight! O Winter King
The Ice Fairies-
On frosty eves, when
crickets cheep,
Their watch the winter
fairies keep,
And by the light Of moonbeams white Weave silver laces while I
sleep.
Yes, when the daylight
comes again,
I find they’ve worked with
might and main;
For frills and stars And
crinkly bars Make curtains on my window pane.
Winter-
A little child went
walking
One lovely winter day.
He saw a little rabbit
That quickly ran away.
He saw a shining river
Go winding in and out,
And cold, cold fishies in
it
Were swimming all about.
Then in the cold snowy
forest
He stopped to take a rest,
And there among the tall
trees
He saw a squirrel’s nest.
He heard the sleepy bears
snoring,
Tucked snugly in the cave.
He saw the icy patterns
That Jack Frost came and
made.
He saw the winter birdies
Across the treetops fly.
He saw the fluffy snow
clouds
Sailing ‘cross the sky.
He heard the cold wind
blowing
And tightened up his hood.
How wonderful, the child
thought,
To walk in winter woods!
Seasonal Songs:
Oh- Where do you come from
you little flakes of snow,
Oh- falling softly falling
on the earth below.
On the trees and on the
bushes
On the mountains so far
Oh- snowflakes do you come
from where the angels are?
A-sleddng-
A-sledding we will go,
A-sledding we will go,
Just hold on tight And sit
just right,
And down the hill we’ll
go- Wheeeeeee!
Polly, put the kettle on-
Polly, put the kettle on,
Polly, put the kettle on,
Polly, put the kettle on,
We’ll all have tea!
Sukey, take it off again,
Sukey, take it off again,
Sukey, take it off again,
They’ve all gone away!
This Little Light of Mine-
This little light of mine,
I’m gonna let it shine!
This little light of mine,
I’m gonna let it shine!
This little light of mine,
I’m gonna let it shine!
Let it shine, let it
shine,
let it shine!
Sally go round the sun-
Sally go round the sun
Sally go roound the moon
Sally go round the chimney
pot on a snowy afternoon
Whoooosh!
( go around in a circle
then all move in to center on whoosh!)
Old Jack Frost-
Oh, Jack Frost is a merry,
merry elf;
And a merry, merry elf is
he.
He calls for his coat,
And he calls for his
brush,
And he calls for his paint
pots
one, two, three,
And he calls for his paint
pots three.
Three Little Kittens-
Three little kittens, They
lost their mittens, And they began to cry, Oh, mother dear, We sadly fear Our
mittens we have lost.
What! Lost your mittens,
You naughty kittens! Then you shall have no pie.
Mee-ow, mee-ow, mee-ow,
mee-ow. You shall have no pie.
The three little kittens,
They found their mittens, And they began to cry,
Oh, mother dear, See here,
see here, Our mittens we have found.
What! Found your mittens,
You darling kittens! Then you shall have some pie.
Mee-ow, mee-ow, mee-ow, mee-ow. You shall have
some pie.
The three little kittens,
Put on their mittens, And soon ate up the pie;
Oh, mother dear, We
greatly fear Our mittens we have soiled.
What! Soiled your mittens,
You naughty kittens! Then they began to sigh,
Mee-ow, mee-ow, mee-ow,
mee-ow. They began to sigh.
The three little kittens,
They washed their mittens, And hung them out to dry;
Oh mother dear, Look here,
look here, Our mittens we have washed.
What! Washed your mittens,
You're such good kittens. I smell a rat close by!
Hush! Hush! Hush! Hush! Hush! Hush! Hush! I
smell a rat close by.
Action Verses/Songs:
Ten Fingers -Eliza Follen
I have ten little fingers
And they belong to me.
I can make them do things,
Would you like to see?
I can shut them up tight,
Or I can make them wide,
I can put them together,
Or make them all hide,
I can make them jump high,
I can make them jump low,
I can fold them quietly,
And hold them just so.
My Hands-
Upon my head my hands I place,
On my shoulders, on my
face,
On my waist, at my side,
Now behind me they will
hide,
Now I’ll stretch them way
up high.
Make my fingers swiftly
fly,
I’ll hold them up in front
of me,
And quickly clap them,
one, two, three!
Five Little Snowmen-
Five little snowmen
On a winter's day
The first one said,
"Wake up, let's have
a play.
The second one said,
"Let's stomp upon the
ground."
The third one said,
"Let's roll all
around."
The fourth one said,
"Let's run, run,
run."
The fifth one said,
"Oh dear, here is the
sun"
"Oh dear!" cried
the snowmen,
As they looked toward the
sky.
And the five melting
snowmen
Waved a fond good-bye
Goodbye dear snowmen!
Icicle-
I'm a frozen icicle
hanging in the sun. (pretend to hang over while standing)
First I start to melt,
then I start to run. (drop body lower like melting)
Drip, drip, drip, drip.
(go lower and lower)
Melting can be fun!! (sink
or fall to the floor)
Snowflakes-
Snowflakes, snowflakes,
dance around (dance!)
Snowflakes, snowflakes,
touch the ground (touch the floor)
Snowflakes, snowflakes, on
my nose (touch your nose)
Snowflakes, snowflakes, on
my toes (touch your toes)
Snowflakes, snowflakes,
twirl around (spin around)
Snowflakes, snowflakes,
touch the ground (whispering, fall to the ground)
Finger Plays For Winter
Fairies -
What do I see under the
moonlight
Why it is winter fairies
in the winter night..
How many are there? Let me
count!
One (finger up) for the
Frost Fairy freezing the dew
Two (fingers up) for the
Wee Blue Fairy, oh so cute
Three (fingers up) for the
Mossy Elf, wrapped in wool
Four (fingers up) for
Snowflake who never gets cold
Five (fingers up) for
Brother Wind who blows and blows (put five fingers up to face and blow thru….)
One fairy runs away, two
fairies fly (one finger runs, other hand shows 2 fairies flying)
And all the others….say
good bye! (wave hands then open and shut goodbye)
Winking Stars-
Four little stars winking at me
One shot off and then there were three.
Three little stars with nothing to do,
One shot off and then there were two.
Two little stars afraid of the sun,
One shot off and then there was one.
One little star not having any fun,
It shot off and then there were none!
Hymns:
Use our home Hymn Book for
selections this season
Poetry:
Silver the snowdrift-
Silver the snowdrift
Green-tipped the pines
Purple the skies
Mist on the hillside
Clouds grey and white
Winter good morning
Autumn goodnight
Old Tale-
The sky is dull and grey,
Piercing and chill the
blast,
Each step resounds on the
frosty ground,
Winter is come at
last.
Mamma sits by the fire
Her little ones round her
knees.
"How cosy we are,
Mamma," they say,
"Tell us something,
if you please."
"Tell us about King
Winter,
And about Jack Frost, his
man;
We'll not be noisy or naughty at all,
But as good as ever we
can."
"Well then;"
says mamma, "you, Jenny,
May knit and listen, my
dear;
And Johnny may split up
wood, to make
The fire burn bright and
clear."
King Winter dwells in the North;
Far away in the Frozen
Zone,
In a palace of snow he
holds his court,
And sits on an icy throne.
The King has a trusty
servant,
Jack Frost is his name;
his nose
Is raspberry red, his
beard is white,
And stiff as a crutch it
grows.
Old Jack is a sturdy good
fellow,
And serves their Majesties
well;
He's here and he's there,
and he's everywhere,
And does more than I can
tell.
Each year, as the day
comes round,
The king and his royal
train
Set off on a tour through
the wide wide world,
And sweep over mountain and plain.
Jack Frost has a busy time
then,
But he's helped and
advised by the Queen,
That all may be right when
the King goes forth,
And everything fit to be
seen.
That the King may have
pleasant travel,
And no stone hurt his royal toe,
His Majesty spreads all
over the earth,
A carpet of downy snow.
Fine mirrors the King
delights in:
None are finer than Jack
can make:
And in matchless sheets of
crystal clear
He lays them on river and
lake.
The trees, all naked and
drear,
He robes in the purest
white,
And with icicles shining
with rainbow hues,
He makes their branches
bright.
These wonders wrought in a
single night
May well excite surprise;
Amazed is the sun when he returns at dawn,
And he stares with all his
eyes.
Then out come all the boys
and girls,
Jack's handiwork to view,
And their noses and cheeks
turn red with cold,
Some of them even turn
blue.
They pelt each other with
snow,
Roll it up in a mighty ball,
And shout and laugh and
scamper about,
And heels over head they
fall.
King Winter laughs at the
fun,
Cries "Bravo!"
and claps his hands,
And calling for his man,
Jack Frost,
He smiles upon the
land.
Again Mamma smiles on her
darlings,
They run to her, kiss her,
and say:
"Thank you Mama for
that wonderful tale,
We hope King Winter will
stay!"
Scripture Verse:
The Weekly 24 Family Ways
Verse (repeated from Breakfast)
Celebrate the Gospels –
Use these books to prepare for next Sunday’s Mass
Catechism:
My Big Book of Catholic Bible
Stories – one chapter
For Heavens Sake
Treasure and Tradition-The Ultimate Guide to the Latin Mass (Lisa Bergman) A fantastic book we use for Latin Mass but it has so much explanation for why things are done this way
Stepping Stones to bigger
faith for little Children
Stories/Books:
Enchanters End Game
The Festival of Stones-
Autumn and Winter stories
Any seasonal or liturgical
stories that may fit in with the day
Closing Verse:
Birds in the air (link
thumbs together, mime birds flying in the sky)
Stones on the land (make
fists and place on the ground)
Fish in the water (hands
together, miming fish swimming)
I am in God’s hands (hands
together like a cup, (then cup the childrens hands in mine and give them a
kiss)
and snuff out the candle.
Or
My heart swells in
joyfulness. (Hands crossed over heart)
My spirit dwells in peace.
(Hands upraised above head)
My body rests in
quietness. (Hands at side)
Our circle time has ended.
(Hold hands and be still for a moment)
And snuff out candle
Game:
'Ticka Tacky
Nicky Nacky Nu
Dear little sultana where
are you?'
Quiet Time (or bedtime)Verse:
Now the sun has gone to
bed,
The stars are shining
overhead.
In their nests the birds
all sleep,
Into their homes the
snails will creep.
Children now no more will
roam,
It’s rest time now and we’re safe in our home.
Come to bed my little
lamb,
The time for play is gone,
The Sleep Night Queen
beckons us to bed
So put your jammies on I
can hear her gentle voice,
Come on now sleepy-head,
I've some happy dreams for
you,
When you're safe in bed
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