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Lady Lullaby Blog

Lullabies for babies, grown-ups and everyone in between!

Monday, September 24, 2012

The Other New Year: Three Ways to Celebrate Fall With Your Child




They say that the New Year starts on January first, but I don’t really believe it. I’ve always thought that the year starts in the fall.

Fall brings the excitement of new beginnings.  For kids---a new school year, new fall school shoes, a clean backpack. For grown-ups fall can bring a renewed appreciation of nature that is so glorious this time of year, and of course, there’s the guilty pleasure of five-pound fashion magazines that show us all the new things we should be wanting. And starting up my lullaby blog again---it feels like a new year with new things to share!

The miracle of the leaves turning colors is something to celebrate. Here are three ways to do that:

1. Take a walk with your child and sing a song about fall. Make one up as you go, or sing this one (words by Jean Warren) to the tune of “The Wheels on the Bus.”

The Leaves on the trees are yellow and brown,
Yellow and brown, yellow and brown.
The leaves on the trees are yellow and brown,
All through the town.

The leaves on the trees are falling down,
Falling down, falling down.
The leaves on the trees are falling down,
All through the town.

2. Collect leaves together, finding different shapes and colors, and don’t forget the ones that are half green and half red. You can create a simple book of leaves the old-fashioned way by ironing them between two sheets of wax paper to preserve them, and putting them into a three-ring binder. Label each page with the name of the leaf (if you can figure it out!)

3. Play an autumn lullaby as you put your baby down to nap. This beautiful lullaby sung by Natalie Merchant will make you both drift off to sleep.

NATALIE MERCHANT “AUTUMN LULLABY.”

Here’s to the end of summer and lots of new beginnings!

Sweet Dreams,