Reciting Poetry for Christmas

Every year, our Friday co-op holds a Christmas Co-op.  We bake cookies, make crafts, and visit a near by nursing home.  At the nursing home, the children sing, play instruments, and recite for the residents.  Afterwards, the children give their homemade gifts to the residents who attended the program as well as those who did not attend.

This year, our children recited poetry.  The two older combined efforts and shared a recitation of Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, by Robert Frost.  It was complete with sleigh bells used as a sound effect for line 9: 'he gives his harness bells a shake'.  Our two younger children worked together as well.  The poem, The Gift, by Christina G. Rossetti, was recited by our daughter as our youngest son used motions and props for visual aids.

The motions and visual props that accompanied a recitation of
The Gift, by Christina G. Rossetti
What can I give Him,  {child holds out empty hands, palms facing upward}
Poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd,  {child holds up stuffed lamb}
I would bring Him a lamb.
If I were a wise man,  {child holds up gift wrapped box}
I would do my part.
But what can I give Him?  {child holds up red paper heart}
Give Him my heart.

The children will recite these poems again at our family's Christmas celebration before performing their original play, A Valley Forge Christmas.