One of the songs that has delighted the children is
I'm a little teapot,
Short and stout
Here is my handle, here is my spout
When I get all steamed up
Hear me shout
Just tip me over pour me out.
I'm a little teapot
Short and stout
Here is my handle, here is my handle
Ha, Ha! tricked ya!
I'm a sugar bowl.
Some of the children didn't seem to understand what a teapot was, so that lead to a whole new discovery - how to make a cup of tea and what tea is.
Many of us know how to make a cup of tea with a tea bag, but is that how a cup of tea was made when this rhyme was written?
The children held in one palm dry tea leaves and in the other hand some wet tea leaves that had been sitting for a while. The discovery was "the wet ones smell more" and "the dry one's hard".
We talked about where tea came from, how it grew and became the tea leaves we drink. We looked at photo's that helped us understand the process.
This is a woman picking leaves and collecting them in a basket on her back. ready for the next.
We looked at some leaves that had been 'brewing' for a short time.
Next, came the smell test......we tried Japanese Lime, Sweet Fennel, Sunday fruit and black tea.
Isabella and Toby
Ciara - "it smells like raisins"
Finlay and Kane
(Daniel wasn't so keen on the smell of the Fennel in the tea bag.)
Now for the pouring....
We used a tea strainer to catch the loose leaves
And now for the taste test...
Daniel didn't like the taste of tea!
Ciara quite liked it.
Amani had several sips, "that's delicious"
"My Grandpa and Nana put sugar in their tea"
Hmm, we have discovered the journey of a tea leaf - I wonder if sugar could be another story.
Question: "What is this?"
Daniel's idea...."it's a tea hat"
Yes, it's a tea cosy to keep the tea warm.
Documented by Karen