Maypole Archives ~ Happy Whimsical Hearts

A maypole dance at playgroup

The playgroup children excitedly chose their ribbon around the maypole and waited patiently for the parents to join the fun.

And as the sun shone down, we sang:

Now we go round the maypole high
maypole high, maypole high
Now we go round the maypole high
Let coloured ribbons fly

See lasses and lads go tripping by
tripping by, tripping by
See lasses and lads go tripping by
Let coloured ribbons fly

In rainbow hues make garlands gay
Garland gay, garlands gay
In rainbow hues make garland gay
Let coloured ribbons fly
Let coloured ribbons fly

(sang to the tune of ‘here we go round the mulberry bush’)

First we all went in one direction, wrapping the ribbon, before turning around to unwind. We walked, we skipped, we danced.

And we kept it simple! The children who dance the maypole for Waldorf school fetes have practiced and practiced. Our playgroup children came to it new and fresh this very day.

They looked so joyful as they went round wearing their beautiful flower crowns and with ribbons in their hands. Such a wonderful way to celebrate Spring!

You can read how to make this simple maypole stand here.

Happy Spring everyone, Kelly

October 5, 2015 by Kelly

How to make a maypole

My husband is very used to hearing me say ‘I have an idea’. It may elicit a groan, but not always. And it doesn’t always mean I am asking for his help, but sometimes it does *wink*

My most recent idea was making a maypole for my Waldorf playgroup. Something on a smaller scale than the beautiful maypole at our Waldorf Spring Fair. And something easy to set up and pull down. And then it came to me ~ why not use a Christmas tree stand!

We used a long branch (that we had in the garden for loose parts play) as our pole. My husband drilled a hole at the top of the branch and screwed in an eye screw. Then I placed the pole in the Christmas tree stand, tightening it up to hold the pole in place. I also added some sand to help stabilise it.

Next was the wonderfully colourful step of adding ribbon! I used 6 colours that were 3 meters in length. I folded them in half and used a slip knot to tie them to the eye screw.