It was a sunny Sunday morning at the end of Feb 2017. Mr. Duong.L. and I sat in my home kitchen to enjoy a cup of cappuccino and discussed about a song’s lyrics. Mr. Duong.L is not a musician or a singer, but he is very good at playing piano and guitar, as well as singing. D.L at his time in the Monash university was one of the center of music events. Mr. D.L. gave me a hand to select the right words for lyrics, which matching to activities in making a rice paper roll. It sounds crazy, isn’t it?
Back to 2016, I visited a second childcare center to instruct kids to make Rice Paper Roll. When I showed kids a rounded rice paper, and a Rice Paper Roll tray in circle shape, a boy suddenly said that they looked like wheels on the bus. Since I often sing some kids’ song with my young boys, I then tried to make up a song following “the wheels on the bus” rhymes to instruct kids to make veggie rice paper roll. It was quite fun. Kids liked it. Kids sang three or four times, and then they remembered all steps. However, the version of lyrics in the first time just suddenly popped up, so it was not really one hundred percent matching between “the wheels on the bus” and rice paper roll steps.
Mr. Duong.L quickly worked with words, sentence, matching to activities, and tried onto a piano. Finally, a right song was born. The song later applied into some events and workshops. Kids and also adults, when first time listening to the song and watching the way I make a roll, they just smile, then laugh. It is just fun, singing and rolling.
Below is the lyrics of the song. Kids just follow the song, then with the TOOLS, easily make a yummy rice paper roll. I hope that family with kids can practice rolling with singing at home.
Step 1: soften the rice paper.
The paper in the bowl goes round and round, round and round, round and round.
The paper in the bowl goes round and round, land on the tray.
Step 2: pick up flavors from food dish to put onto tray.
The food in the plate goes up and down, up and down, up and down.
The food in the plate goes up and down, on to the tray.
Step 3: folding and rolling.
The end of the paper goes up and down,
side moves in, side moves in.
The finger on the tray goes round and round, till to the end.