Up North in Norway

This week our storytime travels took us to Norway, land of the midnight sun, trolls, and polar bears. Saying Hello in Norwegian is easy---all you have to say is "Hei!" (pronounced Hey.) Or if you want to be more formal, you can say "God dag" (Good day). So we sang our welcome song as "Hei, God dag, and How are you . . . "

We read The Three Billy Goats Gruff (of course) and The Man Who Kept House, a funny story about a farmer who thinks his wife's job is easier, so they swap jobs for a day, and he ends up in a mess.

Every week I try to have a nursery rhyme or song from the county we are visiting. Some of these I get from Mama Lisa's World, a website that collects children's rhymes and songs from around the world. Check it out! It's a great resource. As often as possible, Mama Lisa includes music or video for the song.

The two we did today were The Bear is Sleeping and Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes. I changed the wording slightly for both, to make them more "singable" than the literal translation given at Mama Lisa's World.

Bear is Sleeping
(Sing this softly until you come to the end, then give a big roar, as the bear wakes up.)

Bear is sleeping, bear is sleeping
In his cozy den.
It will not be scary
If we’re very careful
But nobody
But nobody
Ever knows for sure. Roarrrrrrr

Head, Shoulders is just a little bit different in Norwegian. It's pretty easy to sing in Norwegian, since the words are so similar to their English cognates. Try it! You can practice with this video.

Hode, skulder, kne og tå (Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes)

Hode, skulder, kne og tå, kne og tå
Hode, skulder, kne og tå, kne og tå
Øyne, øre, kinn å klappe på
Hode, skulder, kne og tå, kne og tå

Head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes
Head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes
Eyes and ears and clap your chin just so
Head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes.

When you come to the chin part, slap your hands on both sides of your chin.

Both these songs were a big hit with the kids.

For a craft, we made travel folders, as suggested by my friend Sheryl. (I was thinking about making cork trolls, but couldn't find a good source of lots of cheap corks. I didn't try a wine-making shop though.)

Travel Folders

Folder open

Folder closed

You will need:
Large sheets of construction paper (11 x 17)
Travel magazines or catalogs (ask your friendly neighborhood travel agent, or AAA)
Stickers
Scissors, glue, crayons

Fold the paper in half and cut out a suitcase shape. Tear pages out of the travel catalogs that have good pictures on them. Let the children cut out the pictures they like and paste them in the inside. On the outside, they can put stickers. I was lucky and had some travel stickers from Highlights magazine on hand.