"A", You're Adorable

They filed in quietly, one after the other for five minutes. It takes a while for 125 preschoolers to come into a room and get settled on the floor. We loved watching them come in, so cute and well-behaved. The YesterUkes had come to present a program on ukuleles. It began with a short history of the instrument. Everyone knew that ukuleles came from Hawaii. But they didn't know that before Hawaii, there was a Portuguese connection. We were glad we knew at least one more thing than the four-year-olds!

We brought every size ukulele with us so the children could see them and hear each one. Many children wanted to tell us that they had a ukulele....or a guitar... or a drum... or a television, or a dog, etc. at their house. We talked about how to tune a ukulele, the "My Dog Has Fleas" pattern. And some wanted to tell us about fleas at their house. Don't you love children?

Then the music started. The YesterUkes played and led the children in singing several familiar songs. All was well until one two-year-old dissolved into tears because she couldn't remember all the words to "The Alphabet Song." And we think grownups have all the problems. Before the last song, a drawing was held and one little boy won a ukulele and lessons--lucky kid. We ended our set with "Skinnamarink." Everyone knew all the words to that one, so it was all smiles at the end. Boop, boop, ee-doo!