WHEN

September – October

 

WHERE

Organised directly with primary schools by invitation only

 

About

Maurice Leyden and Jane Cassidy offer a workshop for primary aged children teaching traditional singing games, selected from Maurice’s book ‘Boys & Girls Come Out To Play’ (Appletree Press). Well-loved songs and games like ‘In and out the Dusty Bluebells’ and ‘Our Queen up the River’ reminds us of an era when children sang and played in the streets, and took their songs into the linen mills and factories when they started as half-timers.

The workshop is lots of fun and gets the children up singing, moving to music, and working as a team. Maurice and Jane spend an hour teaching 6 or 7 singing games to one class of around 30 children – ideally P4 or 5. After a break, the rest of the school is invited to sit in a large circle.

Maurice and Jane teach the assembled children each song and the workshop class then demonstrate how the game is played with their school-mates belting out the song in support. By the end of the morning, the entire school has learned to sing and play at least 6 traditional singing games and had a great time in the process.