Hawkins Hollow Kids Songs
Dahl Seed Listening Cone
Song promise: Each round removes one sound, and careful listening reveals what shade and sunlight make the cone do differently.
The part everyone joins: “Keep the beat—then leave one out; watch what the quiet figures out.”
Lyrics
Opening — Careful Discovery Weather
Gold light sifts through the leaves today,
No rain taps and no branches sway.
At the berry landing, four lean near:
“Circle once. What can we hear?”
Austin counts the stepping track,
Alice listens front and back.
Aydin points where sunlight falls;
Zylar marks the shade-line walls.
Once around—not twice, not three—
Slow enough to look and see.
Click from bronze and hush from green:
What can different daylight mean?
Keep the beat—then leave one out;
Watch what the quiet figures out.
Clap, tap, knock, ring—four in line;
Shade gives one sound, sun gives shine.
Pair by pair across the squares:
Austin, Aydin take the lead;
Alice, Zylar cross behind,
Matching steps at listening speed.
Under leaves, the cone says click;
Out in gold, it answers ting.
Alice says, “The place has changed it.”
Aydin says, “Let’s test one thing.”
Keep the beat—then leave one out;
Watch what the quiet figures out.
Clap, tap, knock—three in line;
Shade gives one sound, sun gives shine.
Austin sets it in the shadow:
Clockwork teeth go low and slow.
Zylar carries it to sunlight:
Warm brass wakes a higher glow.
Back to shade, then back to brightness—
Same clear change at every turn.
“That is evidence,” says Alice.
“Now imagine what we’ll learn.”
Round Three — Two Sounds
Tap, knock—two. Leave one out.
What can the quiet figure out?
The listening cone turns toward the leaves;
Gold slips through in narrow sheaves.
A tiny line of light appears,
Keeping time between their ears.
Final Round — One Sound, Then None
Knock—one sound. Now leave it out.
No one fills the waiting space.
Four still shadows hold their place.
Through the cone, the sun draws rings—
One bright pulse for missing things.
The leaves add hush, the brass adds tone,
Warm air carries both as one.
Only here, in outdoor light,
Weather makes the harmony right.
They do not sing the chorus through.
The vanished beat has changed the tune.
Four walk in; four listeners leave—
Counting what the quiet revealed.
About This Song
Age lane: S3 — Early Elementary, approximately ages 5–8.
Theme: Counting and movement through evidence, imagination, listening, and shared timing.
Energy: Golden, curious, lightly suspenseful, then quietly astonishing; a walking pulse with alert pauses rather than high speed.
Estimated duration: Approximately 3 minutes 15 seconds.
Participation: Pair walking, circling, body percussion, call-and-response counting, and removing one sound each round.
Cast: Austin Turtle, Alice Mole, Aydin, and Zylar. Bentley is not present. Lillian was considered as an available underused character, but the four-person design best supports two balanced pairs and the four-round subtraction pattern without crowding the premise.
Ways to Join In
- Four-sound round: clap, thigh tap, gentle floor knock, and a small bell-like vocal “ting.”
- Three-sound round: omit the “ting.”
- Two-sound round: omit the clap; perform tap and knock.
- One-sound round: perform only the gentle knock.
- Final pause: omit the knock and hold still for two uneven counts before the coda begins. Children may participate standing or seated, using voice, hands, feet, a gesture, or attentive stillness.
- Pair movement: Cross an imagined quilt pattern two at a time; the second pair begins only after the first pair reaches the far edge.