How about a wee poem for Burns Night! Up in the Morning Early is a short and simple Rabbie Burns poem with a wintery theme that makes it particularly suitable for this time of year. Scroll down for some very simple sensory prop suggestions that will make this poem good Burns Night fun for everyone, including children or young people with severe or profound addtional needs.
Verse 1 – wind – use a fan and/or a whistle to make the feel and sound of the wind. If you blow gently through an ordinary whistle you will make a whistling wind sound. You could try putting wind sounds onto voice recorder switches as well and then encourage the children to join in with these.
Chorus – snow – use white tissue paper confetti. Let this fall gently on the children. Repeat this when the chorus is repeated.
Verse 2 – birds – use bird sound whistles (try Acme whistles) or sound effects. Cut the shaker out of a shaking baby toy and put it in a little drawstring bag. Use this to let the children feel the trembling of the little birds.
Cauld blaws the wind frae east to west,
The drift is driving sairly;
Sae loud and shrill’s I hear the blast,
I’m sure it’s winter fairly.
Up in the morning’s no for me,
Up in the morning early;
When a’ the hills are cover’d wi’ snaw,
I’m sure its winter fairly.
The birds sit chittering in the thorn,
A’ day they fare but sparely;
And lang’s the night frae e’en to morn,
I’m sure it’s winter fairly.
Up in the morning’s no for me,
Up in the morning early;
When a’ the hills are cover’d wi’ snaw,
I’m sure its winter fairly.
I would suggest using just one sensory idea for each verse. It may work best if one person recites the poem and another person carries out the sensory activities. If you have other adults in the room with you print out the words to the chorus and encourage everyone to join in. It is a short poem but you can linger over both the words and the activities – repeat lines and verses, double back, take it nice and slow…
With poems like these the quality of the language is a lovely sensory experience. If you’re unfamiliar with Scots you may find reciting poems by Burns to be a bit of a challenge – I would encourage you to enjoy your mistakes. Particularly if you are reciting it as a classroom activity the children will have even more fun if you make lots of mistakes!
The narrator of the poem does not want to get up on a cold winter’s morning. You could finish your Burns-themed activity by handing out duvets and blankets – everyone snuggles under their covers. Ask everyone in turn: ‘Do you like to get up on a cold morning?’ and give them a yes/no voice switch to answer with.
Remember – not all of my props recommendations are toys! The props I suggest should not be used by children unsupervised.