Written by Linda Bonnefoy

All the animals in the forest heard the horse crying. Grandpa. Bear came to see what the matter was. Baby rabbit came quickly too. Mommy wolf came and so did old Mr. Billy Goat. Mama moose came. The Bunny Rabbit came and so did squeaky the mouse.

So all of the animals came from the forest because horse was their friend and he was so sad.  “Did you bump your head Mr. Horse,” asked Grandpa Bear.
“No, no  I didn’t” said Mr. Horse and he sniffed and sighed.
“Did you loose your shoe?” asked Mommy Wolf
Mr. Horse just shook his head. “No, no” he said and cried a little more.

Then Baby Rabbit hopped a little closer and closer to Mr. Horse and he asked in a very gentle voice: “why are you so sad Mr. Horse? If you tell us why you are crying we can help you because we love you and you are our friend.”
Mr. Horse sniffed not once, not twice but three times. “Okay he said because you are my friends and I know that you love me I will tell you what happened…my friend flower died and I am so sad.” Mr. Horse sniffed again and let out a really big sigh.

“Everyday Miss Flower and I did everything together. We woke up to see the sun rise. We stood out in the rain as it fell from the sky. And each day we listened to the birds singing their songs in the meadow. Then this morning…this morning when I woke up Miss Flower was all droopy and all her pink petals had floated to the floor. All her petals were gone and my friend Miss Flower is dead.” Mr. Horse began to cry again.

All of the animals in the forest felt so badly for Mr. Horse that they moved closer and closer and gave Mr. Horse a big hug.

Then all of a sudden everyone heard baby rabbit say to Mr. Horse in a very soft and caring voice, “Mr. Horse, excuse me Mr. Horse but perhaps we can help you plant anew flower.”

“I have some soil said Mama Moose. Err…you see I was digging in the farmers garden and I don’t mind sharing my dug up soil, I don’t mind at all.”
“I have some wild flower seeds I found the other day,” said Grandpa Bear. I was out in the forest looking for berries and honey and I found all of these seeds which I do not mind to give to you if you would like them Mr. Horse.”
“I also found something,” said Mommy Wolf. “I found this lovely tea cup that some human left behind from their picnic and I do not mind to give it to you Mr. Horse if it would make you feel better.”

Mr. Horse thought and thought and although he was sad that Miss. Flower was dead he agreed to plant a new flower. The new flower could not take the place of Miss Flower and that was okay. It’s okay to be sad, it’s okay to cry and it’s okay to miss someone who was very special to you.

So all the animals in the forest asked the children to come and help them plant the flower for Mr. Horse.
(each child is called up to the table to help, the animals as props are still used)
And they all helped Mr. Horse and he felt so much better afterwards.
(teacher then gives the grieving child the planted seed in the tea cup and gives the child a hug. Encourages the other children to go up and offer to give the grieving child a hug through out the day)

This puppet show has everything to do with the Yukon (Alligator Pie) Best Practice Curriculum. By making the effort to synchronize and relate everything back to the child in a context that embraces a holistic approach to living in harmony, we as teachers empower the children at an early age to see their relationship to the earth and to other human beings as one. Teaching children how to grow food without a context becomes just another prescriptive exercise to fill out the childcare day. When there exists a rhythm between activities and practices and when those activities and practices become congruent with a philosophy of compassionate care you have a winning combination. You as a teacher then cannot help but make a difference with the children in your care. When you care and love yourself as a teacher you can then care and love the children and in turn you will have a conviction that what you are doing is making a difference and together we can live and share this planet in a more responsible manner.
Developing, operating and sustaining effective program activities requires partnerships between individuals and community based programs and organizations. A committed team of any childcare center can serve as the nucleus to provide children with access to high quality early childcare education outcomes. We believe that the parents of our children are the experts and we are the facilitators. We believe that as the children are the user group they are best able to determine the effectiveness of their learning experiences. We present the children and their parents with the evaluation of our program for our spring and summer program and then again for our fall and winter program:

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