This Week on Purple Day: Grandpa Ivy & the Hedgehogs

Purple Day is a podcast from Storytime in the Schoolhouse. Our Purple Day podcasts are the audio from Storytime’s Monday episodes. Please note: Storytime is written and recorded for the screen. Some elements of Storytime will transfer better than others.

In this week's episode of Purple Day, we will sing songs about autumn and continue to work on our latest fingerplay (this one is a kid favorite!). This Storytime episode will teach you and your child seasonal songs, poems, and fingerplays as well as a nature-based story. Enjoy Storytime with your child and deepen your connection to each other and the world around you. 

Click here to listen to Purple Day episode 9: Grandpa Ivy & the Hedgehogs.

Every Purple Day, or Monday, we are inside the Schoolhouse for circle time and storytime. 

We enjoy singing and reciting nature-based, seasonal songs and poems during circle time. We start a new circle time at the beginning of the month, slowly learning the songs and poems together throughout the month. We also practice a deep breathing exercise on Mondays. 

After circle time, we listen to a story together. Ms. Becca tells us a Grandpa Ivy story the first week of each month. This week, we hear the story of Grandpa Ivy & the Hedgehogs. 

Grandpa Ivy wakes to the smell of frost in the air and realizes he needs to finish harvesting his vegetable garden. After spending much of the day working, he takes a break to have some tea before he finishes harvesting. Then he falls asleep sitting on his porch! He sleeps until the sun sets, and the hedgehogs across the creek wake up for the night. They see Grandpa Ivy hasn’t finished harvesting his vegetables, and they know a frost is coming. They work together to harvest the rest of the garden for him and, when doing so, find a rather large pumpkin--too large to move. So they leave it in the garden and use it as their winter home! 

Click here to listen to Purple Day episode #9 Grandpa Ivy & the Hedgehogs

LESSONS FROM THE SCHOOLHOUSE: Beeswax & Pinecone Hedgehog

Create cute hedgehogs out of pinecones and beeswax. These go well with our story “Grandpa Ivy and the Hedgehogs.” 

Materials:

• Pinecones
• Modeling beeswax (see resources section for sourcing and using beeswax for modeling) You can also use clay, playdough, Sculpey, or something similar. 
• Material for the eyes (dark-colored wax, small glass beads, etc; see suggestions below)

Method

1. Create the beeswax nose/face.
2. It’s easiest to start with smaller balls of beeswax. Warm the wax in your hands and mold it into a cone shape. This will be the hedgehog's nose! Gently press and smooth onto the end of the pinecone. See the Resources section for more help with using beeswax.
3. Add the eyes.
4. Find or make eyes for your hedgehog. Gently press the eyes into the wax nose.

Ideas for eyes: 

• Use your creativity and what you have around the house for the eyes! 
• Small glass beads
• Small stone
• Darker-colored wax or sculpey. (Shape into small balls for eyes.)

Enjoy! 

Use your hedgehogs to act out the story of Grandpa Ivy & the Hedgehogs.

Purple Day is a podcast from Storytime in the Schoolhouse. Our Purple Day podcast episodes are the audio from our Monday videos. Storytime members can easily create a rhythm of songs, stories, and creative projects by accessing our complete program of Storytime episodes, curriculum, and resources. Registration opens twice a year. Click here to be the first to know when doors open again.