Monday, September 20, 2010

Riddles

At our school we use Junior Great Books as part of the literature program and this week's story for the second graders is Beatrix Potter's The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin




This is a lovely chance for me to introduce riddles to the class, so appropriate for that age group.


I do not breathe, but I run and jump.
I do not eat, but I swim and stretch.
I do not drink, but I sleep and stand.
I do not think, but I run and play.
I do not see, but you see me every day.

(shadow)


It's hard to find a good collection of classic riddles for children, though. Here are two I recommend:

A Collection of Songs, Verses, Riddles and Stories for Children of Grades 1-3 by David Adams, available from waldorfbooks.com




Or, if it's just Riddles you want plain-and-simple, Steiner Waldorf Fellowship Publications used to have a book of them. I purchased a copy in February 2007 for £1.75 GBP. They have a new website so the link to the old bookstore doesn't work. I found the new Bookshop but no luck with the title "A Collection of Riddles". The book has no author listed inside the cover. Thank heavens I had the good sense to hang on to my copy, knowing it would probably drift back out of print. I did find a list of teaching vacancies posted on their site, including a kindy teacher position in Aberdeen! I used to live in Aberdeen, so that was cool to see.

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