See the beauty that is Earth.

Check out the short video below… Astronaut, Chris Hadfield wrings out a washcloth on the International Space Station. 

It’s so cool!  Show it to your kids and watch it.  It will make you feel like a kid again.

The song was written by Seosamh Mac Cathmhaoil and arranged by Herbert Hughes to old Irish melody.

Below you can listen to a video of the song, followed by the lyrics.

The Ninepenny Fidil

My father and mother were Irish,
And I am Irish too
I bought a wee fidil for ninepence,
And it is Irish too
I’m up in the morning early
To meet the dawn of day
And to the lint-white’s* piping,
The many’s the tune I play!

One pleasant eve in June time
I met a lochrie man,
His face and hands were weazen**,
His height was not a span.
He boor’d me for my fidil,
"You know" says he, "Like you,
My father and mother were Irish,
And I am Irish too!"

He took my wee red fidil,
And such a tune he turned,
The Glaise in it whisper’d,
The lionan in it m’urned’
Says he "My lad, you’re lucky,
I wish t’ I was like you,
You’re lucky in your birth star,
And in your fidil, too!"

He gave me back my fidil,
My fidil-stick also
And stepping like a may-boy,
He jump’d the Leargaidh Knowe
I never saw him after,
Nor met his gentle kind:
But, whiles, I think I hear him,
A-wheening in the wind!

My father and mother were Irish,
And I am Irish too,
I bought a wee fidil for ninepence
And it is Irish too.
I’m up in the morning early
To greet the dawn of day
And to the lintwhite’s piping,
The many’s the tune I play.

*A lint-white is a linnet (a small finch)
**Wizened

This song was sung by Maureen Hegarty in the video.

"Happy Chinese New Year for the 10th of February, this song is very popular in China.  It has a very catchy chorus that I sing at my music classes for preschool children.

The chorus is:

Gong-Xi Gong-Xi Gong-Xi Ni Ya,
Gong-Xi Gong-Xi Gong-Xi Ni."

English translation:

Congratulations, congratulations to you, yeah!
Congratulations, congratulations to you!

The song title, 恭喜恭喜 (Gōngxǐ gōngxǐ) literally means, "congratulations, congratulations".  It’s a sentiment of best wishes for the New Year.  Below you’ll find the video, the Chinese lyrics, Pinyin pronunciation and a translation of the song…

Chinese Lyrics:

每条大街小巷，
每个人的嘴里
见面第一句话，
就是恭喜恭喜。

恭喜恭喜恭喜你呀
恭喜恭喜恭喜你

冬天已到尽头，
真是好的消息；
温暖的春风，
吹醒了大地。

恭喜恭喜恭喜你呀
恭喜恭喜恭喜你

English Translation:

On every street and pathway,
On everyone’s lips,
The first thing we say is,
"Good wishes, good wishes."

Good wishes, good wishes to you, yeah!
Good wishes, good wishes to you!

Winter has come to an end,
That is really good news,
A warm spring breeze is
Blowing to wake up the earth.

Good wishes, good wishes to you, yeah!
Good wishes, good wishes to you!

Translation by Mama Lisa.

Pinyin Pronunciation:

Měi tiáo dà jiē xiǎo xiàng,
měi ge rén de zuǐ lǐ,
jiàn miàn dì yī jù huà,
jiù shì gōng xǐ gōng xǐ

Gōng xǐ gōng xǐ gōng xǐ nǐ ya,
Gōng xǐ gōng xǐ gōng xǐ nǐ

Dōng tiān yǐ dào jìn tóu
zhēn shì hǎo de xiāo xī
wēn nuǎn de chūn fēng
jiù yào chuī xǐng dà dì

Gōng xǐ gōng xǐ gōng xǐ nǐ ya
Gōng xǐ gōng xǐ gōng xǐ nǐ

Thanks to Shirley for pointing out this song!

You can find the full lyrics to Gong Xi Gong Xi here.

Happy Chinese New Year!

Mama Lisa

All kids should watch this video below for inspiration… it’s a good answer the question, "Why should I do well in school?"

Laba is a Chinese festival that has traditionally started off the Chinese New Year preparations. It’s on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month.

Agnes wrote about it from China:

"We eat Laba Rice Porridge and Laba Garlic for the Laba Festival. Laba Porridge is made of mixed grains and corns, like peanuts, chestnuts, dates and lotus seeds.

We put garlic into a bottle of vinegar. When the garlic becomes green, the Laba Garlic is done."

The Laba Garlic is taken out on New Year’s Eve.  The vinegar is used to dip the traditional dumplings in.

Here’s an old song in Chinese and with an English translation about the Laba Spring Festival.  It’s also about preparations for the Chinese New Year and the New Year itself.  Interesting explanations by Agnes can be found below the song.

腊月歌

小孩儿小孩儿你别馋，
过了腊八就是年。
腊八粥，喝几天，
哩哩啦啦二十三。
二十三，糖瓜儿粘；
二十四，扫房子；
二十五，冻豆腐；
二十六，炖白肉；
二十七，宰公鸡；
二十八，把面发；
二十九，蒸馒头；
三十儿晚上闹一宿；
除夕饺子年年有。
大年初一扭一扭；
初二、初三满街走。

The 12th Lunar Month

Kids, kids, don’t be impatient,
Laba is coming, the Spring Festival isn’t far away.
We eat Laba porridge for several days,
The 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month is coming la la la! 
On the 23rd day, kids have sticky Tanggua candy (1)
On the 24th day, we sweep the house. (2) 
On the 25th day, we make frozen tofu.
On the 26th day, we stew the pork.
On the 27th day, we make the chicken.
On the 28th day, we ferment the dough, (3)
On the 29th day, we cook steamed buns.
On the 30th day, kids go downtown at night to shoot off noisy firecrackers, (4)
On New Year’s Eve we eat dumplings every year. (5)
On the first day of the New Year, we dance the Yangge (秧歌) to celebrate, (6)
And on the 2nd and 3rd days of the New Year, we go to a temple fair or to relatives’ and friends’ houses to pay a New Year’s visit.

Song Notes:

(1) On the 23rd day, people worship the Kitchen God (灶王爷) with Tanggua (a kind of candy).  It is said that the Kitchen God of China is a god who likes to gossip very much. On the 23rd day of the last month of every year, he must go back to heaven to report on the conduct of families. So people give him some sweet and sticky candies called "Tanggua" to gag him.

(2)  From 24th to 29th days, this is a kind of description about how people prepare for the Spring Festival.

(3) The dough for making steamed buns is fermented a day in advance.

(4) On the 30th day of the twelfth lunar month, all family members get together to have dinner, to shoot off firecrackers, to pass on good wishes to each other. We must stay up late together to pray for long life, we call it "Shousui" (守岁).

(5) Chuxi is another name of the 30th day of the twelfth lunar month. On the evening of Chuxi, usually at twelve midnight, Chinese people have dumplings to celebrate the New Year.

(6)  On the first day of the New Year, we dance the Yangge (秧歌) to celebrate. We say "Niu Yangge" (扭秧歌) in Chinese. Yangge is a kind of traditional dance that celebrates a good harvest and festival in the most northern areas of China. Below you can see a video of the Yangge Dance…

Agnes wrote, "We have lost most of the old customs for the Chinese New Year in the big cities. Now, we just have dinner and dumplings together on the night of Chuxi. I loved the way of worshiping the Kitchen God of my grandpa and grandma. But I never saw the ritual myself. The atmosphere of the Spring Festival has become less and less interesting."

Many thanks to Agnes for sharing this song and for explaining old Chinese New Year traditions to us.

Song translation by Agnes and Lisa.  (We welcome help to improve the translation.)

Photo Sources:

Laba Porridge Photo
Laba Garlic Photo

The other day I was adding the Spanish hand clapping rhyme "Chocolate" to our collection, and my daughter heard me play this video of it below…

My daughter pointed out that it has the same "tune" as the American handclapping rhyme "Double Double This This". You can hear that one in the video below…

In both versions of the game, you say the chant faster each round and the hand gestures are almost identical.

Enjoy!

Mama Lisa

Do you know this tune?  I don’t recognize it.  I found you on the internet.  Thanks for your help.

Jody B

If anyone can help with the tune, please comment below.

Thanks!

Mama Lisa

Wandrers Nachtlied

Here you can read the original poem and listen to an mp3 recording.  After that, you’ll find a modern English translation, followed by a well-known translation from the 1800’s by American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.  Then you can watch a video performance of the poem being sung in an arrangement by Schubert.

MP3 of Wandrers Nachtlied

Wandrers Nachtlied
(German)

Über allen Gipfeln
Ist Ruh,
In allen Wipfeln
Spürest du
Kaum einen Hauch;
Die Vögelein schweigen im Walde.
Warte nur, balde
Ruhest du auch.

Poem recited by Raphael.

Here’s a modern English Translation (by Lisa):

Wanderer’s Nightsong

Over all mountaintops
Is peace,
In all treetops
You sense
Barely a breath;
The little birds are silent in the woods.
Just wait, soon
You will rest too.

Here’s a translation by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1845):

Wanderer’s Nightsong

O’er all the hilltops
Is quiet now,
In all the treetops
Hearest thou
Hardly a breath;
The birds are asleep in the trees:
Wait, soon like these
Thou too shalt rest.

Wandrers Nachtlied was set to music by Schubert.  Here is a performance of it from YouTube.  (The lyrics are performed in a slightly different order in this performance.  Below you can read the order of the lyrics as sung in the video.)

Here is the order of the lyrics in the vocal rendition:

Über allen Gipfeln
Ist Ruh,
In allen Wipfeln
Spürest du
Kaum einen Hauch;
Die Vögelein schweigen,
Schweigen im Walde.
Warte nur, warte nur, balde
Ruhest du auch.
Warte nur, warte nur, balde
Ruhest du auch.

May we find a sense of comfort in music and art.

Mama Lisa

This is cool…

Radial symmetry is where an organism has almost identical looking parts if cut into a pie.  Only the top and bottom look different.  

The sea anemones in this print display radial symmetry.

The video below shows how to create radial symmetry artwork.  It helps teach kids this scientific concept.

Check out how cool it is!

Image at top is a plate from from Ernst Haeckel’s Kunstformen der Natur (published between 1899 and 1904).

The carol starts with a child leaving his shoe on the windowsill outside. In Portugal, children do this for the Epiphany (the day that celebrates the Three Kings’ visit to Jesus). Children leave straw and carrots in their shoes in anticipation of a visit from the Three Kings. The kings are the ones who leave gifts for kids in Portugal (like Santa does elsewhere). The carrots and straw in the shoes are for the kings’ horses.

Here’s the video and song lyrics with an English translation…

Deixei Meu Sapatinho
(Portuguese)

Deixei meu sapatinho,
Na janela do quintal.
Papai Noel deixou,
Meu presente de Natal.
Como é que Papai Noel,
Não se esquece de ninguém.
Seja rico ou seja pobre,
O velhinho sempre vem.
Seja rico ou seja pobre,
O velhinho sempre vem.

I Left My Little Shoe
(English Translation)

I left my little shoe
On the windowsill in the yard,
Santa Claus left*
My Christmas gift.
How is it that Santa
Doesn’t forget anybody?
Whether one is rich or poor,
The old man always comes.
Whether one is rich or poor,
The old man always comes.

*In the version of this song from Azores, this line is as follows: "P’ro pai Natal deixar" (For Father Christmas to leave…).

It’s interesting that Santa and Father Christmas are mentioned in this song instead of the Three Kings.  I asked Judy, who sent us the song, about what the tradition is in the Azores and she wrote:

"I know that within my family it’s Baby Jesus who gives the gifts. Generally, most say that Papi Noel (Santa Claus) brings the gifts. I think it mostly comes down to family values and each island region."

Many thanks to Judy Mongiello for sharing this song with us!

Mama Lisa

The Guests are Coming!

- Mummy, mummy!
- What? What? What?
- Guests are coming!
- And so what?
- Good morning, good morning!
- Mwah, mwah, mwah! (Kissing sound.)

Many thanks to Agnieszka Magnucka for sharing this rhyme and video with us!  Agnieszka translated it from a Polish rhyme her mum taught her when she was young.

Mama Lisa

Artist Candy Chang made a wall with this question on it, on an abandoned house in her neighborhood in New Orleans.  You can hear about the results in the video below…

Feel free to answer this question in the comments below:

"Before I die I want to…"

Here’s a video of the song Dem Bones for Halloween.  It’s a longer version to actually teach kids about dem bones…

Dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones,
Dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones,
Dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones…

Enjoy dem bones!

Mama Lisa

The song is gibberish on purpose so that kids all over the world who speak different languages can sing along and not feel like the song is foreign.

Here are the lyrics along with a video of the song…

Ging Gang Goolie

Ging gang goolie goolie goolie goolie watcha,
Ging gang goo, ging gang goo.
Ging gang goolie goolie goolie goolie watcha,
Ging gang goo, ging gang goo.

Hayla, oh hayla shayla, hayla shayla, shayla, oooooooh,
Hayla, oh hayla shayla, hayla shayla, shayla, oooh.
Shally wally, shally wally, shally wally, shally wally,
Oompah, oompah, oompah, oompah.

It’s interesting to note that this song was sung by boy scouts in an episode of the TV show Boardwalk Empire.  The show takes place in the 1920’s during the prohibition.  The scouts singing the song would have been been singing it soon after it was written.

I love the idea of a song written in gibberish so that kids all over the world can sing it and not feel like it’s foreign.

Together around the world in song!

Mama Lisa

J’ai deux mains

J’ai deux mains,
Elles sont toutes propres,
Elles se regardent,
Se tournent le dos.
Elles se croisent,
Elles se tapent,
Elles nagent,
Elles s’envolent tout là-haut
Et elles se cachent
derrière mon dos.

English Translation:

I have two hands,
They’re all clean,
They look at each other,
They turn back to back.
They cross and clasp,
They clap,
They swim,
They fly up there
And they hide
Behind my back.

Enjoy!

Mama Lisa

Bread and Butter can be used as a Hello or Goodbye Song.  You clap along as you chant. 

You can find the lyrics below with 2 videos showing how to chant and clap to the song.  In the first video it’s used as a Hello Song and in the second video it’s used as a Goodbye Song.

Clapping Instructions: You can either clap only your legs with your hands and keep repeating the beat, or you can alternate clapping your legs and clapping your hands.

Note: Don’t clap on the word "Hello" or "Goodbye" at the end of each verse.

1. Bread and Butter Hello Song

Bread and butter,
Marmalade and jam,
Let’s say hello
As quietly as we can.
Hello! (Say quietly)

Bread and butter,
Marmalade and jam,
Let’s say hello
As loud as we can.
Hello! (Say loudly)

Bread and butter,
Marmalade and jam,
Let’s say hello
As quickly as we can.
Hello! (Say very quickly)

Bread and butter,
Marmalade and jam,
Let’s say hello
As slowly as we can.
Hello! (Say very slowly)

Bread and butter,
Marmalade and jam,
Let’s say hello
As high as we can.
Hello! (Say in a high-pitched voice)

Bread and butter,
Marmalade and jam,
Let’s say hello
As low as we can.
Hello! (Say in a deep-pitched voice)

2. Bread and Butter Goodbye Song

Bread and butter,
Marmalade and jam,
Let’s say goodbye
As quietly as we can.
Goodbye! (Say quietly)

Bread and butter,
Marmalade and jam,
Let’s say goodbye
As loudly as we can.
Goodbye! (Say loudly)

Bread and butter,
Marmalade and jam,
Let’s say goodbye
As slowly as we can.
Goodbye! (Say slowly)

Bread and butter,
Marmalade and jam,
Let’s say goodbye
As fast as we can.
Goodbye! (Say quickly)

Bread and butter,
Marmalade and jam,
Let’s say goodbye
As high as we can.
Goodbye! (Say in a high-pitched voice)

Bread and butter,
Marmalade and jam,
Let’s say goodbye
As low as we can.
Goodbye! (Say in a low-pitched voice)

Goodbye!

Mama Lisa

Enjoy!

Mama Lisa