A House with No Doors, No Windows and a Star Inside

Author Unknown

Focus:

• To discover that there are hidden treasures in unexpected places.
• To expand awareness of the voice in all things, including the wind.

I first heard this story when my eldest daughter was three-and-a-half years old. I have loved and told it ever since. This is a story that truly captures the child’s sense that we live in a magical world, full of surprises and delights.

As I tell the story, I have an apple nearby. When the story is finished I hold up the apple and ask the children if they think this is a house with no doors, no windows, and a star inside. I cut the apple (horizontally) and peek inside. What a surprise! I can see a star inside. The children catch my excitement and they all want to see. How delighted and excited they are when they see the star!

• After telling the story, pick up an apple and, as you recite the verse, “There’s a star in the apple…” carefully cut the apple in half horizontally. Create a sense of delight and excitement as you look for the star inside the apple.
• Take the children to a place where they can visit an apple tree. What does it look like? Does it have blossoms? Leaves? Apples? Dance around the apple tree and sing to it. Visit the apple tree in different seasons to see how it changes.
• Taste different kinds of apples. See if they all smell the same. See if all apples have seeds. Find the seeds inside an apple. Then plant them in soil in a plant pot and see if they sprout.
• Where else do you find star shapes?
• Follow the wind to see where it leads you.

Songs:

There’s a Star in the Apple

There’s a star in the apple,
There’s a star in the sea.
There’s a star in the heavens,
And a star in you and me.

My Nice Red Rosy Apple

My nice red rosy apple has a secret yet unseen,
To see if you could see inside, five rooms so neat and clean.
In each room there are living two pips as black as night.
Asleep they are, and dreaming of the lovely warm sunlight.

Here is a Tree with its Leaves so Green

Here is a tree with its leaves so green.
Here are the apples that grow in between.
When the wind blows the apples will fall
Into the basket to gather them all.