Old Man With a Beard

Materials

white furry material

Instructions

1. Cut out a beard shape from a piece of white furry material, making it
long enough to reach from a child's chin to her waist. Make a beard for
each child.
2. Sew enough elastic at the top of the beard to fit around a child's head.
3. Draw or photocopy two owls, one hen, four larks, and one wren (for each
child) onto card stock, making the scale of the birds accurate.
4. Cut out the bird shapes. Stick Velcro dots to the backs of the birds.
5. Arrange the birds on each beard so that they fit evenly, and then sew on
white Velcro dots to match those on the birds.
6. Teach the children the following Edward Lear poem, "There Was an Old
Man With a Beard." Choose nine children to act it out.
There was an old man with a beard, (old man with walking
stick walks by)
Who said, (old man strokes his
long beard)
"It is just as I feared!" (old
man looks stricken
and shakes index
finger)
Two owls and a hen,
four larks and a wren,
(eight children walk
by, one after another,
flapping their arms
like birds)
Have all made their nests
in my beard. (each
sticks her card
representation onto
beard)
More to do Art: Display a large reproduction of "The Old Man With a Beard" by Picasso.
Language: Read more delightful nonsense verses from Edward Lear.
Literacy: Show children that the same poem can be read in many different
languages, using the book by Cheewan Wisasa (see below).