Guest tinkerbell Posted March 25, 2006 Posted March 25, 2006 Went on a course this morning and had a brilliant time ! I am definitely going to find the school maypole (been hidden for10 years) and get cracking.Do any of you teach your children Maypole dancing??How do you do it? and when? Tinkerbellx
Guest Posted March 25, 2006 Posted March 25, 2006 We have a traditional May Day celebration with May King and Queen. We process through the village onto our school field. Only our oldest children do maypole dancing, but all the rest (even the 4 year olds) do country dancing. We also have an age old performance of George and the Dragon. It is village tradition, but a great day for all and the only day in the year that the children are expected at school on a Saturday - this year 6th May.
Inge Posted March 25, 2006 Posted March 25, 2006 I live in a village where very similar happens but it is always on May day BH. The whole village participates in the parade and ends at a local field with a May fair, and maypole dancing by the school children. At pre-school we do morris dancing (of a sort) using scarves or hankies and bells on their ankles and then have a maypole dance (ours is ribbons on a broomstick in a bucket!!. ....but we did use a member of staff one year with ribbons coming from their hat. ......a fun day if a little exuberant!!) they use what has become to be known as "Inges Pole dancing music!!" which is a CD made from music we found on thre internet about 4 years ago...(no idea where...left that to the teenagers around at the time!!!) we do our dancing on the day after May Day so the children have seen the other hildren the day before and can have a go.....mostly movement to the music and tying each other in knots but a good laugh..... Inge
Inge Posted March 25, 2006 Posted March 25, 2006 glad to pass them on... the children always love this one... ofsted impressed by the pictures and a fun day had by all...... just need to persuade the staff member who wears the hat!!! Inge
Guest Posted March 25, 2006 Posted March 25, 2006 Hi We do maypole dancing/ country dancing each year. Parents are invited to attend our May celebrations. We have a May Day King and Queen and attendants. We use a CD and booklet and interpret these to suit our Foundation stage. Last year nursery walked/skipped around the pole and recepetion wlaked around in opposite directions and then reversed. Hard work but the children and adults enjoyed the outcome. Will look out the name of the CD and book next week. Lisa
Guest Posted March 26, 2006 Posted March 26, 2006 I've taught all the attached maypole figures to junior aged children some years ago. I've not done much with the younger ones though. The figures are in 'May' published by The English Folk Dance and Song Society in 1991. There is also a companion volume 'Plough Monday' Both are brilliant resources. AlMaypole_dance_figures.doc
Guest tinkerbell Posted March 26, 2006 Posted March 26, 2006 Thanks all for your replies i am impressed with it all.Our school is a village school 109 children the villagers have just managed to reinstate the PO and have a community shop.I need to teach the childrenl the maypole dancing by 2007 when the village historic society have a historic pageant which will run the length of the village, passing the school where the children will be dancing round the maypole and finishing on the local 'rec' for a hog roast. Must share this ....when my collegue told her family she was going Maypole dancing on saturday morning to her 2 teenage boys and husband.Eldest child said 'thats disgusting !'and walked out of the room.She then said 'and mrs Cuthbertson is coming too'.She said there was a look of horror ,then her husband said'I hope she doesnt forget her thong!!!!!! It made us both laugh Enjoy the rest of the weekend Tinkerbellx
Marion Posted March 26, 2006 Posted March 26, 2006 We used to have a school Maypole and the children used to perform for the village once a year Wonder where they hid it
bubblejack Posted March 27, 2006 Posted March 27, 2006 I would just love to do this activity with my children. They are age 2.5 to rising 5 but I don't know how to adapt it for very young ones. I only have one peice of music suitable. We used this at our Mothers day concert last week when the older children held a decorated hoop and skipped round. I have been talking about this all day to staff and we have come up with lots of ideas of how to make a maypole.All I need now is music and ideas so any ideas will be greatly received!!!!
Andreamay Posted March 27, 2006 Posted March 27, 2006 I live in a smalll market town of Knutsford and we have amy day,with a big procession and crowning of the may queen.All the children in surrounding schools are in the parade but our little pre-schoolers are not allowed. The procession meet on a big heath where there is maypole and morris dancing etc. At pre-school we talk alot about it as it is part of our history and we dress up as characters for parents forming our own parade and then we dance around our maypole (made from a school netball post in the ground or tub of clay if weather not good.We make a circle of flowers for bottom of bucket and tie about 6 ribbons from top.The children take it in turns to dance around the maypole while the may queen sits by and watches(she does also have a turn)We have band music for the parade but we dont have music for the dancing we sing. Round and round the maypole round and round the maypole round and round the maypole round and round and round the children all face the same way and thenwhen first verse finished they stop make reference to the pattern on the pole and then they turn the opp way and off they go again round and round .......... when you finish the ribbon shoul be unwound! we then have a crown bearer who walks up the red carpet to crown the "Queen of the may" we practise lots before hand so the children get to be the may queen or crown bearer then we just choose someone who hasnt had a turn for the parents.Because they everybody is dressing up in the parad they are fine about it! Children love it staff love it and parents love it! we dont however do it with our younger children they have aturn the next year but you could be brave!We are able to do it this way cos our older ones come in on certain sessions.
Andreamay Posted March 27, 2006 Posted March 27, 2006 sorry should also have said we clap while singing and the tune is to round and round the village
bubblejack Posted March 27, 2006 Posted March 27, 2006 Thanks Andreamay I'm thinking that the little ones could walk round with a short ribbon whilst the older ones skip round the outside. I'd like to attempt morris dancing too with bell and scarves but I need some suitable music. The trouble is when ever I did an idea it becomes sooooo involved!!!!
Guest Posted March 27, 2006 Posted March 27, 2006 I cheated a bit when we made a maypole, I used a cutlery stand, you know the ones that you can hook the handles of cultery on. It rotates so the ribbons don't get caught up, our little ones can just go round and round and not get frustrated by getting tied up, we attach it to a broom stick placed in a bucket of sand. I also use plastic, transparent ribbon cut from a door curtain. My mum plays the accordian ( I was bought up with folk dancing on a weekly basis because mum and dad were youth hostel wardens). The children love it when great nanny Peggy comes in to play the accordian. Peggy
Guest Posted March 28, 2006 Posted March 28, 2006 Went on a course this morning and had a brilliant time ! I am definitely going to find the school maypole (been hidden for10 years) and get cracking.Do any of you teach your children Maypole dancing??How do you do it? and when?Tinkerbellx 51731[/snapback] Hi tinkerbell I start my lessons by spending the first session clapping out the steady beat. We do this all the way through the track at first. Then we clap the first 8 beats then tap our shoulders for the next 8 then tap our knees for the next 8 etc so that they begin to hear the change in the music. We then stamp the beat and skip the beat and anything else we can do to the beat. (I'm exhausted by this point!!) Next lesson we spend skipping to the beat and changing direction on every 8th beat. This helps them further to hear the change in the music and understand that they will have to change direction....all this before they have even touched the maypole ribbons. They usually are quite familiar with the music by then and are able to skip well around the pole. Hope that helps for starters Trudiex
Inge Posted May 7, 2006 Posted May 7, 2006 hope you all had fun with May Day festivities... we did Inge
Guest tinkerbell Posted May 7, 2006 Posted May 7, 2006 Good stuff Inge. I have just started getting my Yr1's doing simple patterns and dancers. We showed the rest of the school in assembly and the kS2 children were very impressed soooo...I am now (starting this week ) doing a lunchtime maypoledancing club for them wish me luck..... Tinkerbellx
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