| Owl's Game On a Roll |
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Children love to play tag and they love to climb trees. I used to do both at the same time when I was nine years old. There was an old Maple that used to hang over the backstop at our 3rd grade baseball field. It had so many strong overlapping branches that four or five kids could be moving around it at the same time with plenty of escape routes to make the game fun. These kinds of games are important for social growth and development. Deciding on the rules together as a group is a great learning experience. The nice part about rules in a game of tag is that they can change depending on who is playing. Kids learn that if no one can ever tag them the game isn't very fun. Tree climbing is also about challenging the body and exploring. I get nostalgic when I see my own kids and their friends up in a tree. |
Owl's Game by Tim Seston An owl and a monkey and a bear and a snake Were sitting on a log at the shore of a lake They were four good friends thinking what they should do When the owl spread his wings and he questioned whoooo The owl said, "Whoooo thinks that he can catch me?" And the owl flew up to a hole in a tree Well the bear said, “GRRRR” and he ran to the trunk And with his great big claws took out a big chunk The bear started climbing way up to the hole But the owl flew away before the bear reached his goal The owl said whoooo do you think you are Climbing like that won’t get you too far Whoooo thinks that he can catch me And the owl flew up to a branch in the tree Well the monkey said “Oo Oo Oo Oo Oo Oo Ah Oo” With my great long arms I’m gonna catch you The monkey started swinging high up in the air But when he reached the right branch the owl wasn’t there The owl said whoooo do you think you are Swinging like that won’t get you too far He said whoooo thinks that he can catch me And the owl flew up to the top of the tree Well the monkey and the bear looked down on the ground But there friend the snake just couldn’t be found The snake had started slithering high up the tree Hidden in the branches so the owl couldn’t see But as the leaves got smaller and the limbs became thin There wasn't much cover for the owl to hide in The owl was searching with his big yellow eyes And when he spotted the snake he flew up to the skies Whoooo do you think you are Slithering like that won’t get you too far Whoooo thinks that he can catch me And the owl flew off to a neighboring in the tree Hey there, who can catch me? SSS, GRRR, OOOOO, Hoo Hoo The snake was mad and so was the bear The monkey shouted out, “Hey owl your not fair. All of us are friends but we don’t want to play Because before we get close you just fly away.” And so the monkey said, “OoOoOoOoOoOo do you think you are? Flying like that won’t get you too far. We all have special skills because no one’s the same. But we’ve all had enough and now are done with your game.” The owl was sorry he had made a mistake. He flew back down to the log by the lake. But the wise old owl did not want to quit, So he said to his friends, “Perhaps I should be it.” The owl said, "Whoooo thinks that he can get free?" And the owl started counting by the base of the tree One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten Ready or not, it's time we're playing again. |
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