The Wind by Christina G. Rossetti

THE  WIND

WHO  has  seen  the  wind?
Neither  I  nor  you;
But  when  the  leaves  hang  trembling
The  wind  is  passing  through.

Who  has  seen  the  wind?
Neither  you  nor  I;
But  when  the  trees  bow  down  their  heads,
The  wind  is  passing  by.

Where do all the daises go?

 WHERE  DO  ALL  THE  DAISIES  GO?
by Isabella F. Bellows

WHERE  do  all  the  daisies  go?
I  know,  I  know!
Underneath  the  snow  they  creep,
Nod  their  little  heads  and  sleep,
In  the  springtime  out  they  peep;
That  is  where  they  go!

Where  do  all  the  birdies  go?
I  know,  I  know!
Far  away  from  winter  snow
To  the  fair,  warm  South  they  go;   
There  they  stay  till  daisies  blow,
That  is  where  they  go!

Where  do  all  the  babies  go?
I  know,  I  know!
In  the  glancing  firelight  warm,
Safely  sheltered  from  all  harm,
Soft  they  lie  on  mother's  arm,
That  is  where  they  go!

The Little Land

The creatures of ''Little Land''

 THE  LITTLE  LAND by Robert  Louis  Stevenson

WHEN  at  home  alone  I  sit
And  am  very  tired  of  it,
I  have  just  to  shut  my  eyes
To  go  sailing  through  the  skies  -
To  go  sailing  far  away
To  the  pleasant  Land  of  Play;

To  the  Fairy  land  afar
Where  the  Little  People  are;
Where  the  clover-tops  are  trees,
And  the  rain-pools  are  the  seas,
And  the  leaves  like  little  ships
Sail  about  on  tiny  trips;
And  above  the  daisy  tree
Through  the  grasses,
High  overhead  the  Bumble  Bee
Hums  and  passes.

In  that  forest  to  and  fro
I  can  wander,  I  can  go;
See  the  spider  and  the  fly,
And  the  ants  go  marching  by
Carrying  parcels  with  their  feet
Down  the  green  and  grassy  street.
I  can  in  the  sorrel  sit
Where  the  ladybird  alit.
I  can  climb  the  jointed  grass;
And  on  high
See  the  greater  swallows  pass
In  the  sky,
And  the  round  sun  rolling  by
Heeding  no  such  thing  as  I.

Through  the  forest  I  can  pass
Till,  as  in  a  looking-glass,
Humming  fly  and  daisy  tree
And  my  tiny  self  I  see,
Painted  very  clear  and  neat
On  the  rain-pool  at  my  feet.
Should  a  leaflet  come  to  land
Drifting  near  to  where  I  stand,
Straight  I'll  board  that  tiny  boat
Round  the  rain-pool  sea  to  float.

Little  thoughtful  creatures  sit
On  the  grassy  coasts  of  it;
Little  things  with  lovely  eyes
See  me  sailing  with  surprise.
Some  are  clad  in  armor  green  -
(These  have  sure  to  battle  been !)
Some  are  pied  with  ev'ry  hue,
Black  and  crimson,  gold  and  blue;
Some  have  wings  and  swift  are  gone;
But  they  all  look  kindly  on.

When  my  eyes  I  once  again
Open  and  see  all  things  plain;
High  bare  walls,  great  bare  floor;
Great  big  knobs  on  drawer  and  door;
Great  big  people  perched  on  chairs,
Stitching  tucks  and  mending  tears,
Each  a  hill  that  I  could  climb,
And  talking  nonsense  all  the  time -
O  dear  me,
That  I  could  be
A  sailor  on  the  rain-pool  sea,
A  climber  in  the  clover  tree,
And  just  come  back,  a  sleepy-head,
Late  at  night  to  go  to  bed.

Sewing

 Sewing

IF  Mother  Nature  patches
The  leaves  of  trees  and  vines,

I'm  sure  she  does  her  darning
With  the  needles  of  the  pines;

They  are  so  long  and  slender,
And  somewhere  in  full  view,

She  has  her  threads  of  cobweb.
And  a  thimbleful  of  dew. 

Echo

 Echo

I  SOMETIMES  wonder  where  he  lives.
This  Echo  that  I  never  see.
I  hear  his  voice  now  in  the  hedge,
Then  down  behind  the  willow  tree.

And  when  I  call,  "Oh,  please  come  out,'
"Come  out,"  he  always  quick  replies.
Hello,  hello,"  again  I  say;
"Hello,  hello,"  he  softly  cries.

He  must  be  jolly,  Echo  must;
For  when  I  laugh,  "Ho,  ho,  ho,  ho,"
Like  any  other  friendly  boy,
He  answers  me  with  "Ho,  ho,  ho."

I  think  perhaps  he'd  like  to  play;
I  know  some  splendid  things  to  do.
He  must  be  lonely  hiding  there;
I  wouldn't  like  it.    Now,  would  you?

Cloud Castles

Children dreaming of castles and ships in the air...

Cloud Castles by Minnie Leona Upton

LET  us  watch  the  castles,
Castles  in  the  air,
Oh,  so  tall  and  stately,
Far  away  and  fair!
Oh,  the  splendid  windows!
Oh,  the  towers  tall!
Oh,  the  winding  stairways!
We  may  have  them  all !

Let  us  climb  the  stairways,
Let  us  mount  the  towers,
Then  look  down  at  leisure
On  this  world  of  ours;
We  will  see  the  cities
Where  we  cannot  go;
Where  the  long  roads  lead  to
We  will  surely  know! 

All  the  ships  a-sailing,
Oh,  so  far  away,
To  the  wonder  countries
We  will  see  to-day!
All  their  white  sails  gleaming,
Colors  flying  bright,
And  the  foam  behind  them
Sparkling  in  the  light !

We've  no  wings  for  flying,
But  we  need  not  grieve  -
We  will  do  these  wonders
All  in  make-believe!
Under  whispering  maples
Oh,  what  fun  to  lie.
Wide-awake,  yet  dreaming
Of  castles  in  the  sky!

Little Carry's Birthday

       ''Carry was nine years old," daddy said. ''A few minutes before eleven Carry's little brother came to her, ringing a large bell. 'Come to the celebration for the queen of the day!' he shouted and all the family joined the procession.

      ''In the center of the room was a table. And such a marvelously covered table! But, first of all, they seated Carry in a big rocking-chair at the head of the table. They were all dressed up in funny costumes which they always wore for birthday celebrations. The table was full of presents, and in the center was a cake with nine lighted candles on it. ''Happy Birthday!'' they all cried together.

      ''She opened her presents one by one. She had lovely pink knitted bed-room slippers from her mother, a beautiful doll from her daddy, a workbag from her granny, a paint box from her auntie and a big box of candy from her brother, which he'd bought with his very own saved-up money, and which to Carry was the best present of all!''

More About Birthdays:

• 'Happy Birthday' alphabet coloring pages
• Color a scrumptious ice cream cone cake!
• Craft a Crayon Caddy Cake for A Birthday Surprise!

A Loaf of Bread

        ''One day in a baker's shop,'' said daddy, ''appeared a very small-sized loaf of bread.
       ''A little girl named Lucy was shopping with her grandmother.
       '' 'Oh, look,' said Lucy, 'look at the tiny loaf of bread.'
       ''Now the loaf of bread would have smiled, only loaves of bread can't smile and if they should laugh they would crumble, so the loaf of bread kept a perfectly straight face.
       '' 'I thought I'd be noticed by a child,' said the small loaf of bread. 
       '' 'You won't last as long as we will,' said a larger loaf of bread
       '' 'Oh, who cares about the size,' said the small loaf.
       '' 'Of course you don't,' said another larger loaf.
       '' 'Now, now,' said the small loaf, 'don't be mean and unkind to your little friend and relative, the small loaf of bread. I'm the only small one here, though I heard the baker say if folks liked me the size I am and if mothers bought me for their children he'd make a lot like me.'
       '''We didn't mean to be unkind or mean,' said the larger loaves, 'only we are a little envious. We've been the same size always. We have to follow our relatives who are baked ahead of us and are sold ahead of us. We always have to follow their example.
       '' 'But you have been made differently. You have been made a small size. You're cunning and different. You are just like us in taste and shape and kind, but smaller in size and that makes you very interesting.'
       '''Hush,'' said the small loaf of bread, ''I am being bought. Hush!'' And off went the little tiny loaf, in a paper bag, carried by Lucy. Just as soon as it got home, having been carried all the way, for Lucy knew it couldn't walk or run home, a nice fat crust was cut off and Lucy ate it with joy. 
       '' 'My nice little baby loaf of bread,' she said, 'you are so cunning and so good to eat!'' And the loaf of bread was glad it had been made so tiny and cunning and yet so good.'' 

 

More About Bread:

• The Story of Bread
• Going to Mill
• Bread loaves sewn from socks
  

Christmas With The Squirrels

       ''When Christmas day comes all the little squirrels,'' said daddy, ''meet near the largest tree, which they pick out for the occasion. Then there is a wild scramble up the tree for the branches, where the squirrels perch themselves, and finally the feast begins.''

       "After they have finished their scrumptious Christmas dinner they play 'tag,' or 'hide-and-seek' and many other games, which make the branches wave around as they jump from one tree to the other. Prizes are offered by the older squirrels for the sports and games which are played. The prizes are usually extraordinarily big nuts or very red apples. Sometimes, too, kind children just before Christmas put nuts in the trees where the squirrels can find them. That makes the squirrels very happy, and they call these nuts their Christmas gifts.''

• The letter "S" is for Squirrel
• Two Squirrels for Coloring
• Did You Know?
• Christmas in Squirrel Village

The Pride of Toys

       "Oh, I'm so proud," whispered little brown Teddy Bear.

       "You're no more proud than I am," said a little white lamb. "Please pinch me - so - and then I will say: 'Baa-Baa-Baa.' ''Ah, that will make someone happy.''

       The toys were in Santa Claus' toy-shop and they were getting very much excited. There were still some to be finished - in fact, there were many to be finished, but none of them were worried, for they knew perfectly well that Santa Claus never left any toys unfinished.

       That was the wonderful part of Santa Claus. He could be rushed and hurried and he could be so busy that you wondered how it was possible for him to do so much and you might think, if you didn't know, that some of those many, many things wouldn't be done. But the toys knew, for the tools which Santa used to make them with whispered to them many secrets.

       ''He may be busy,'' the tools always told the new toys, ''but he'll finish you and you'll go to the children on Christmas day.''

       "How proud I will be,'' whispered the Teddy Bear once more, ''if I am put on a tree. They say that Santa hangs toys on Christmas trees. But then I would be just as proud if I were put in a stocking. How I would love to peep my head out from the top of a stocking and see the children as they come downstairs early Christmas morning! In fact, I would be proud no matter where Santa put me, or how he gave me. It's a great big and wonderful pride to be a toy made by Santa Claus which is given to a child on Christmas day.''

       ''That is what we all feel,'' said the other toys.

• Visit The Teddy Bear Index
• Teddy Bear Play-Doh Mats for Early Learners

A Peppermint Christmas Tree Tutorial

A decorative, peppermint Christmas tree made from a cone for a mantle, shelf or table display.

       This peppermint candy tree is not made of real candy, but of clay that looks like candy. It is something that students who are in fifth or sixth grade or even older, may like to craft. It will take several days to complete it and lots of patience. 
       The supplies that you will need to accomplish this Christmas project include: a Styrofoam cone, a recycled yogurt cup, Sculpey oven bake clay, red spray paint, white acrylic paints, fancy gift wrap paper, a miniature wooden ornament for the tree topper, a toothpick, Mod Podge, and tacky white glue.

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Roll out the oven bake clay into many small balls. If you make many of these the project will take longer to craft. If you make fewer of them, a younger student will be able to complete a simpler version of the tree.
2. Place all of the clay balls on a cookie sheet and then gently press each one flat with you finger tips. Bake at 275 degree oven for 8 or 9 minutes. Check the instructions printed on the box of the Sculpy to make sure if these are the same as mine. Choose those instructions over mine if you should have a different type of clay.
3. After these two steps, even older children may need adult supervision with the baking and spray painting.
   
4. Wear oven mitts. Remove the flattened clay with a cake knife or thin spatula before all of the rounds cool completely. 
5. Place the miniature, faux peppermints into a cardboard box and spray paint them red. Do this step of the craft outdoors because spray paint is toxic. Wait for the paint to dry completely and then repeat the same step for the unpainted sides of the clay pieces.
6. Now apply small drops of tacky white glue to the pretend candies and stick these to the surface of the tall cone on it's sides only. You will need to do a side at a time allowing the glue to dry before turning the cone to glue more pieces on. Keep the cone on it's side for this process. Once you have all of the clay candies on the cone and the glue is dry, you may then turn the cone upright. 
7. Using a very tiny brush, paint the white swirls onto each red faux candy. Let all of the paint dry.
8. Meanwhile, clean the surface of a used yogurt container.
9. Spread Mod Podge on it's outside surface and apply the decorative paper. Let dry.
10. Glue the yogurt cup 'stand' to the bottom of the decorated cone.
11. Glue a wooden ornament to a toothpick. Let dry.
12. Poke the toothpick down into the top of the Styrofoam cone with some glue and let dry. Paint the wooden ornament in the colors of the tree, red and white.
13. Seal the entire surface with Mod Podge
    

Left, the balls of clay, Center, the balls flattened. Right the clay is spray painted red.

Left, the topper is a wooden reindeer. Center the tree stand is decoupaged. Right, the cone should be glued to the top of the recycled yogurt cut to add height and finish to the decorative tree.

More Peppermint Candy Crafts:

• Christmas Penny Peppermint Ornaments
• Paint Santa's Peppermint Express!
• How to make mini cotton batting candy canes...
• Craft wool peppermint lollipops for the tree

The Christmas Dog

        ''A little girl named Peggy,'' said daddy, ''wrote a letter to Santa Claus, and this is what she said:      

''Dear Santa Claus: 

       I would like a rag doll and a doll which says Mamma and Papa, and can shut her eyes. I also want a book and a set of paints, and please, dear Santa, bring my mother and daddy a doggie to guard the house. I want a doggie too, but mother and daddy also want one, so we could all share one doggie.

"'Your affectionate little friend, Peggy.''

P. S. Please give my love to your Reindeer and a great deal of love for you, dear Santa Claus.

       ''She put her letter down by the fireplace and the next morning it was gone, for she had addressed it quite correctly to 'Mr. Santa Claus, By the Fireplace.' As he was on the lookout for letters such as these around Christmas time, of course, he got it safely.

       Now Santa Claus loves to get letters. His mail around Christmas time is tremendous. But the more he gets, the more he chuckles and laughs to himself. 'Oh this is splendid,' he says, as he opens letter after letter. Days went by and Peggy kept wondering what Santa Claus would bring her for Christmas. She thought of writing him again about the doggie, for her mother and daddy would say so often.

      ''It would be a great protection if we only had a dog. This house is rather far away from the rest, and then we would be safe. Besides, a dog is such a companionable animal and the children would love him.''

       ''Somehow, she didn't like to write again to Santa Claus, but just before bedtime each night, she would whisper up the chimney - 'Please, dear Santa Claus, don't forget the doggie - and the doll, and the paint box - and - and,' but by this time her mother had led her off, for she would have gone on talking and talking to Santa Claus. And if she had kept on talking and missing her sleep, she would have been too tired to enjoy Christmas Day when it came.

       At last it was Christmas Eve. Again Peggy called up the chimney, and she put her stocking first on one side and then the other. And by her stocking hung four smaller ones, for Peggy's little sisters and brothers.

       ''Good night, Santa Claus, Merry Christmas. My love to the Reindeer,'' called Peggy for the last time. And the younger children called out too, 'Good night, Santa Claus, give our love to the Reindeer.'

       And off they all trotted to the land of dreams which they had to pass through before Christmas morning would come.

       The next morning, bright and early, Peggy and her sisters and brothers were up looking at their stockings. Such goodies as they found! Peggy got her rag doll, and a doll who could shut her eyes, and say 'Mamma, Papa.' And she got a set of paints and a fine book.

       Her sisters and brothers got the presents they had asked for, and they had such fun over the oranges in their stockings. Several of them were covered with black soot which Santa had dropped coming down

the chimney! They loved to think of how Santa Claus had picked out these very oranges himself.

       But when the first excitement was over, Peggy thought to herself, 'There is no doggie.' But then she thought Santa Claus was not supposed to get her everything she asked for. So after brushing away a tear which had fallen she began to laugh and play and say, 'Merry Christmas,' over and over and over again, to her mother and daddy, her sisters and brothers. But in a moment or two they all thought they heard a whimper outside the front door. 'I shall see what can be outside,' said Peggy, with beating heart. She opened the door! And there stood a little white dog, shivering miserably in the cold. 'I have no home,' the little dog's eyes seemed to say, and as Peggy held him closely to her she said, 'I know Santa Claus sent you here, and I wish you a Merry Christmas! And this is to be your home, Doggie dear!'

• Here's A Puppy to Color for Christmas!
• Let's paint a polka-dot puppy for the Christmas tree...