Liz Kitchen has more songs, rhymes and listening games to join in with and also the story of ‘The Elves and the Shoemaker.’
Suggestions for classroom use
Introduction:
Listen all around: town street. Individual sounds: footsteps, brushing sound, hammering nails.
Song: Cobbler, cobbler, mend my shoe
Cobbler, cobbler, mend my shoe,
(Mime hammering in nails)
Get it done by half past two,
Stitch it up and stitch it down,
(Mime stitching)
Then I’ll walk around the town.
(Drum feet on the ground as if walking)
Cobbler, cobbler, mend my boot,
(Hammering nails)
Mend it well to fit my foot. Cobbler, cobbler, buckle my shoe…
(Fastening a buckle)
Cobbler, cobbler, lace my shoe…
(Tying a lace)
The song can be sung as an action song, while children are either sitting or walking round the room* (clap and count to ten) between each verse.
Rhyme time:
One two, buckle my shoe,
Three four, knock the door,
Five six, pick up sticks,
Seven eight, lay them straight,
Nine ten, a big fat hen.
For children who are counting to 20, the second verse of this action rhyme is:
11, 12 dig and delve,
13, 14 maids a-courting,
15, 16, maids in the kitchen,
17, 18 maids a-waiting,
19, 20 my plate’s empty.
I can tie my shoelace,
I can comb my hair,
I can wash my hands and face .And dry myself with care.
Story time: The Elves and the Shoemaker
Once upon a fairytale time… To hold children’s attention on first hearing, show appropriate pictures for the shoemaker, the fine pair of shoes and the little elves. After listening, you could make footprints by drawing round feet and then cutting them out. Make a row of pictures from the story along a wall, with the footprints leading from one picture to the next.
Get children to practise tapping, cutting and sewing movements – also working quietly so as not to be heard!
Small group discussion:
- the lessons of the story (one good turn deserves another; kindness is a virtue)
- what are elves?
- other make-believe fairy folk (e.g. fairies, leprechauns).
Song video: 'Cobbler, cobbler, mend my shoe'
Song video: 'One, two, buckle my shoe'
Song video: 'One finger, one thumb, keep moving'
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