At home we call this the Dutch Lion song:

Hup Holland Hup
Laat de leeuw niet in zijn hempie staan
Hup Holland Hup
Trek het beesie geen pantoffels aan
Hup Holland Hup
Laat je uit ‘t veld niet slaan
Want de leeuw op voetbalschoenen
Durft de hele wereld aan

Dutch football song. It was written in 1950 by KRO employee Jan de Cler and Dico van de Meer.

I was teaching this soccer or football song to the kids, when we were watching FIFA World Cup one time.

We are always watching some sport event. Especially ones where the Netherlands are involved in. It can be FIFA World Cup Soccer or the Olympic Games. We’ll go all out by wearing orange t-shirts and paint red-white and blue flags on our faces.

But why the orange and the Dutch lion?

I am very proud to say that the whole family is rooting for the Netherlands, even my husband, even though he is an American citizen. He is amazed by the support the Dutch give to all the sport teams. Everyone is wearing some kind of funky orange outfit.

Orange is the color of the Dutch royal family. The lineage of the current dynasty—the House of Orange-Nassau—dates back to Willem van Oranje (William of Orange). This is the same Willem who lends his name to the Dutch national anthem, “het Wilhelmus”. (Source: Tripsavvy).

The family of Nassau had a lion in their family weapon. It represents the symbol of power. That’s why you’ll see the lion in several places in the kingdom of the Netherlands. With some imagination you can see the shape of a lion in the country the Netherlands. At least….that’s what I always thought:)

Leaf Lion Craft for Kids

M and I came across this fun leaf lion craft for kids and she choose to make it. First we gathered all the materials and after explaining the next few steps, she made it all by herself.

Here are some benefits by doing this craft (from an occupational therapy perspective):

eye-hand coordination (coloring within the lines and putting the leaves around the face)

tactile sensory integration (touching all the leaves. You can use more things found outside, like acorns, maple seeds, called samaras or better known as helicopters)

fine motor skills (Holding a marker, scissors and glue bottle, managing different levels of strength. Gentle use a marker, opening and closing scissors and push the glue bottle to get get glue on the leaves)

hand-hand coordination (Holding the paper and color, holding the paper and cut)

Crossing the middle line ( if you arrange the materials to glue around the paper, the child needs to pick the materials from different directions around the paper)

M had fun cutting the lions face out and gluing the leaves. For a three year old she did pretty good! But best of all was listening and singing along with us rooting for the Dutch soccer team!!!

Things you’ll need to make the Leaf Lion:

• template  (found here)
• glue
• fall colored leaves
• scissors
• markers or colored pencils

That was fun, wasn’t it? Please Pin this or share with friends!

Danielle

Hello everyone,

Welcome to my Crafty Dutch Girl blog! Grab a cup of “koffie” and browse through fun blog posts about our Dutch family expat life in the USA, Dutch history, Dutch recipes, Dutch things to do in the USA and all kinds of crafts and activities. Don’t forget to connect with me for new ideas! “Groetjes en tot ziens”.