Transcript

QUEENIE: How great to see you here again at the Kids’ Poetry Club podcast. While we wait for Little Dazzy Donuts to start, I wanted to remind you that kidspoetryclub.com contains YouTube videos of illustrated poems and a packet of activities based on this week’s episode. It’s all free. Okay … let the fun begin …

Let's have some fun 

with things that rhyme

welcome Kids 

it's poetry time!

Hip Hip Hurray!

Welcome back to Kids Poetry Club with me, Little Dazzy Donuts, and a massive thanks to Kora, who is today’s STAR of the episode for reading out the introduction poem that you just heard. Remember that you can also be a STAR of the episode – just check out kidpoetryclub.com for more details.

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I hope you’re feeling ready for some rhymes and fun today because we're going to spend the next 15 minutes listening to three poems on this week's chosen topic. Plus, Queenie promised to drop by the Club, and that means we’re guaranteed plenty of fun. So, while I play our intro music, get wriggling around to find a comfortable spot ... I’m so excited! It's time for this week's Kids’ Poetry Club!

Music

Before we play "guess the topic of the week", let's start off with club registration. This is where you get to shout out your name and get a club point for being here. So, on the count of three, shout out your name so that I can hear you through your phone, computer, or radio.

Let the drum roll begin. Here goes …. One. Two. Three! ….. Excellent!

So let’s see if you can guess this week’s topic based on three clues. Are you ready? Oh, hang on….  

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that’s the Kids’ Poetry Club phone. I better get this in case it’s an emergency.

Hello, this is Little Dazzy Donuts at Kids’ Poetry Club.

QUEENIE: Hi, Little Dazzy Donuts. It’s Queenie.

Hi, Queenie. Is everything okay?

QUEENIE: Oh yes! I just wanted to warn you that I’m running late. I didn’t sleep well last night. I was awake half of the night … and, when I did finally get to sleep, I then slept through my alarm.

Don’t worry, Queenie – it will be great to see you when you get here. So, how come you were awake in the night?

QUEENIE: Well, it keeps happening to me. I fall asleep just fine – but then I wake up and start worrying about things. They’re usually things that don’t worry me at all during the day. There’s just something about the night that gets my mind racing. Sometimes, I worry about serious things, like the health of the people I love. And then I also worry about silly things. Last night, I was worried about my socks. Why do I keep losing socks?  I’ve got a whole sock drawer that contains just one sock from each pair. Where do all of those missing socks go? What happens if I run out of socks?

Well, Queenie, I may not be able to help you with your socks, but I’d really like to help you with your worries. We were just about to play “guess the topic of the week”, but I’m thinking that we should focus this week on helping you with your worries. Why not jump on your motorbike and head into the Club, and we’ll see how we can help you.

QUEENIE: That sounds so great. Thank you!!!!! I’ll see you soon. Bye! …… Okay, I just need to find my helmet …. Oh, and my gloves ….. oh, and my backpack ….. oh my gosh, and some pants too. I don’t have any pants on. I almost left the house without any pants on. That would have been so embarrassing! Whoops, I’m still on the phone aren’t I? Sorry! I’m leaving now.

While we wait for Queenie, why don’t we read our first poem, which fits perfectly with the topic of Queenie’s worries last night. It’s called “My Lost Socks”. But how do you think the poem will get here? Listen carefully and see if you can make out how the Poetry Postal Service is going to deliver our poem. Here it comes …..

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…. It came by Donkey! I don’t think we’ve had a donkey delivery before. Well, now it’s here, let’s hear our first poem, “My Lost Socks”

The washing machine keeps eating my socks!

It hides them, then eats them at night.

It doesn’t eat both socks at one time:

it just eats the left or the right.

My wardrobe now stores a collection of socks.

Just one of each kind! It’s so sad.

I walk around one foot in a sock –

which makes me so hopping mad!

I wonder if that’s what keeps happening to Queenie’s socks – the washing machine eats them at night!? Talking of Queenie, I hear her motorbike pulling up now. Here she comes …

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QUEENIE: Hi Little Dazzy Donuts. Hi everyone.

Hi Queenie – it’s so great to see you here at the Club. How are you feeling now?

QUEENIE: Well, I’m feeling tired because of not sleeping, but I’m also feeling less worried now that I know that we’re going to use worries as today’s topic. Perhaps there will be some helpful advice on how to deal with my worries when they crop up.

I’m definitely hoping so. You know what, Queenie, I have worries too. In fact, I think everyone worries at some point.

QUEENIE: Do you think so? Even people like Postie Dale, Rhyming Rita, and Sammy Showers? I’ve never seen them worrying – but, if everyone worries at some point, I bet they worry too. I wonder what they worry about … and I wonder what they do when they start worrying.

Well, why don’t we ask one or two of them. We can call someone up and see if they’re willing to talk about how they manage their worries. Before we do, why don’t we read another poem?

QUEENIE: Do you happen to have a poem about how you manage your worries, Little Dazzy Donuts.

Yes, I do, Queenie. It’s called “My Worry Box”. It’s about how small worries can sometimes grow into large ones, and about how it helps me to talk to someone about those worries.It’s also about how to I store my worries away in a box ready for when I can tackle them. Here’s the poem, “My Worry Box”:

Something started worrying me
that was really very small,
but the more I thought, the worse it got,
as that worry began to sprawl

all over my life, and before very long

it kept jumping in my head,
and at night I found I just couldn't sleep
when it jumped into my bed.

That worry started as something small,

but grew to such a size,
that my head was filled with scary thoughts,
my tummy with butterflies.

Until one day, I asked for help

and found it to be true

that the worry may get the best of one,

but not the best of two.

Then, I built a box inside my brain,

where I put my worries away,

and that's where my worries wait

so they don't fill all my day.

Now, when I'm lying in my bed

and a worry calls on me,

I lock it away inside my box.

and then throw away the key.

QUEENIE: Ooohhh. I like that poem, Little Dazzy Donuts. You know, just talking with someone about my worries is making them feel smaller already. I also like the idea of imagining that I’m locking my worries away in a box. I can then get them out when I feel able to tackle them rather than have them running wild in my head when it’s two in the morning and I’m really not able to think through them properly. So, how about we call someone up and ask them about their worries?

I love that idea, Queenie. Why don’t we call the local weather forecaster, Sammy Showers? He’s such a good friend of Kids’ Poetry Club.

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Sammy Showers: Hi, this is Sammy Showers. Want to know if the weather will be bright or gray, call Sammy Showers night or day.

Hi Sammy. It’s Little Dazzy Donuts. I’m here with Queenie, and we’re talking about worries in this week’s episode. We were wondering if you’d be willing to talk about what worries you, and how you manage your worries?

Sammy Showers: Hi Little Dazzy Donuts. Hi Queenie. How lovely to hear from you both again. Well, I must confess that I am a worrier. Not always. But I have times when I worry quite a bit. These days, I worry about my job. So many people get their weather forecast online, and so fewer people call me up for the forecast from me. I really like my job, and so I worry about what happens if I lose it.

QUEENIE: That sounds like quite a big worry, Sammy. I’d hate it if we couldn’t get the forecast from you. You’re the best weather forecaster I know. Ummm … come to think about it, you’re the only weather forecaster I know … but you’re definitely the best one I know! So, how do you manage your worries?

Sammy Showers: Well, I know that my worries are getting too much when I can’t think properly anymore and I forget things because the worry fills my mind. When that happens, I tackle the worry logically by writing things down. I write down what I’m worried about, why I’m worried about it, and what I’m going to do about it. I find that the more I write down, the better I feel about whatever is worrying me, and those worries just don’t feel as big. After all, I’m not likely to lose my job … and, even if I do, I bet I’d be great at something else.

QUEENIE: You would, Sammy. You’d be great at so many things. What would you like to try instead?

Sammy Showers: Well, Queenie, I’ve always fancied being a cowboy. Mind you, I am allergic to horses, which wouldn’t help. Oh, and I’m also allergic to cows too. But, you never know, perhaps I could be a long-distance cowboy who looks after cows from afar.

QUEENIE: Well I love your advice, Sammy – thank you so much! I’m going to try that myself. The other day, I was so worried about something I saw on the news about bananas, and it made me worry that there may not be enough bananas for my tuna and banana sandwiches at some point in the future. Next time that happens, I’m going to write it all down, and see if that helps. Thanks, Sammy. Gosh, I now have several great ideas for managing my worries.

Well, Queenie, listening to Sammy Showers makes me think that it would be worth calling up a friend of the Club who works at the local College. Her name is Donna Worry. She’s an expert  on worrying. How about we call her next?

QUEENIE: What a GREAT idea! Let’s call her now.

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Donna – Hi, this is Donna Worry. Worry’s my name and worrying is my game.

Hi Donna – it’s Little Dazzy Donuts at Kids’ Poetry Club. I’m here with Queenie, and we’re talking about worries in this week’s episode, and it struck me that you’re an expert at worrying. I was wondering if you have any advice for Queenie to help her with her worrying.

Donna - Hi Queenie. Hi Little Dazzy Donuts. Oh my, yes! I’ve studied worrying for years. So long now that I started worrying that I may have been studying worrying for too long. When I eventually stopped worrying about it, I was left worried that I was no longer worried about studying worrying. These days, I no longer research the worry about worrying, and just focus on research about worrying itself.

QUEENIE (whispering) - Little Dazzy Donuts … are you sure we should be chatting to Donna? She sounds a little unusual. Does she really work at the College? Have you ever seen any evidence that she has a diploma or a certificate or something official like that?

Donna – So, Queenie, what would you like to know about worrying? What’s worrying you?

QUEENIE – Well, I’ve been worrying about all types of things, and so I was wondering if it’s normal to worry and how to manage my worrying?

Donna – Well, Queenie, it’s very common for people to worry. In fact, what they worry about is also very similar. I actually have a good poem about that. Would you like to hear it?

QUEENIE – Oh, yes please. That would be perfect for today’s episode of Kids’ Poetry Club.

Donna – Okay then. The poem is called “My Worry Time”, and it’s all about what’s common for people to worry about at different ages. It also contains a handy tip for how to manage those worries. Here’s the poem:

At one, I worried about falling down.

At two, I worried about seeing a clown.

By three, scary shadows danced on my wall.

There were monsters under my bed, when I was four.

At five, I worried school was too scary for me.

At six, it was something I saw on TV.

By seven, I was worried did I have enough friends?

When eight, I was worried about tests at year-end.

At nine, I worried my loved ones were old

At ten, I was worried about catching a cold.

By eleven, I worried what I’d grow up to be,

and would I always have something worrying me.

So I decided I’d pick a time of the day,

and I’d then store all of my worries away.

I’d just get them out at worrying time

so they didn’t spend the whole day filling my mind.

Soon, I found my worries started to shrink.

I had more time for fun, to play and to think.

Now, I don’t even worry about figuring out

what I’ll do when there’s nothing to worry about.

QUEENIE – Oh gosh. I really like that poem, Donna. I love the idea of agreeing a time of the day for worrying. Let’s think …. What time should I do my worrying? Well, I’m busy having breakfast at 7 in the morning, and I get dressed at 8. I’m at Rhyming School at 9, and that keeps me busy until 4. That’s when I go for a ride on my bike, or go on a hike. That takes an hour … so I think I’ll pick 5 for my worrying. That way, I can finish my worrying before dinner. How perfect.

Donna – That does sound perfect, Queenie. Just spend 15 minutes worrying at 5pm. If worries crop up at any other time, just put them to one side until 5pm comes around. And I really like the idea of you going on a hike too – being active and in the fresh air also helps people who are worried.

QUEENIE – How fantastic. If worries crop up during the day or night, I’ll put them safely in my worry box, and lock them away. I don’t want them sprawling over my whole day and night. Thanks, Donna – this was so helpful.

Donna – Thanks, Queenie. I’m very happy to help. If you ever want to talk about your worries, just give me a call. Chat soon.

Well, Queenie. How are you feeling now? Has it been helpful that we used worries as our topic for today?

QUEENIE – I’m feeling so much better, Little Dazzy Donuts. Thank you! I’ve learned so much that will help me with my worries, whether they’re related to bananas, my lost socks, or something else. I now know that it helps to focus my worrying during Worry Time, to talk my worries through with someone else, to make sure I keep doing my hikes, and to write my worries down and tackle them logically. I feel so much better prepared for going to bed tonight. If I start worrying, I’m just going to lock those worries away in my Worry Box and only get them out at 5pm tomorrow, after my hike, when I feel ready to tackle them.

That’s all wonderful news, Queenie.

Well, sadly, we’ve reached the end of this week’s episode.

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Don’t forget that there are lots of ways to join in with the club. If you go to kidspoetryclub.com, you’ll see a wonderful drawing by our Club illustrator, Dot Cherch. You can also see the PodSnack video for the episode and download the episode’s PodPack of activities. They’re all free. Plus there’s information on how to send your poems and drawings into the club, how to enter the Spring poetry and drawing competition, and also how you can be the STAR of the episode who reads out our introduction poem. You’ll find everything you need at kidspoetryclub.com.

It has been so lovely to spend time with you! Thank you for joining me, Queenie, Sammy Showers, and Donna Worry.  I hope you enjoyed yourself, and hope you’ll be back for more next time the Club meets. Join us again next week when we’ll have a new topic and more fun.

As usual, let's finish with our short goodbye poem

We've had some fun 

with things that rhymed

goodbye Kids 

until next time!

This is Little Dazzy Donuts saying .... keep rhyming!!!

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