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 You're Never Too Old for Mother Goose is a show for third through fifth graders. It's also possible to adjust the show so that it works for pre-K through fifth graders, combining ideas in such a way that the show is entertaining and educational for all. For audiences consisting of only older children, there is still some focus on the art of puppetry, and the rhymes are sung. But there is greater focus on the history connected with the poems, the different music styles over the past 250 years, and how Mother Goose can inspire creative writing and improvisational theatre.

THE HISTORY BEHIND THE POEMS
Many of the poems were originally written for adults, focusing on making fun of people in power. When Humpty Dumpty fell off his wall, for example, it was mocking a politician who messed up so badly that he couldn't fix it (put it together again). Jack and Jill (originally Jack and Gill, two men), were also politicians that fell from grace, so to speak.

Jack Horner was a man who hid land deeds in a pie to keep them from being stolen while in charge of delivering them. We discuss how there wasn't as good a police system as we have these days. But Jack Horner was thought to have stolen the most valuable one (the plum) before delivering them, and so the poem was making fun of him.

We also talk about why Jack and Jill had to fetch water in the first place (no running water) and how amazing our water system is today. Other historical references in poems are discussed, such as the difference between a king and a president (from the king in Humpty Dumpty) and the tax on tea (from Polly Put the Kettle On).

MUSIC, CREATIVE WRITING, THEATRE and more!
We discuss different music styles, and another difference between now and when these poems were written 250 years ago—there was no recorded music. If Mother Goose came to a show 250 years ago with a box that played music for her show, it would have probably scared people who might have thought she had magical powers.

There is also discussion of the process of creative writing, and how Mother Goose can inspire other writing by example and by spinning off from a poem. For example, you could write a story about what the night of Hey Diddle Diddle was like for that dog who laughed to see such a sight.

We also do more advanced theatre games, such as interviewing characters from the poems using children to play the characters. We find out what the spider's side of the story is who scared Little Miss Muffet, who, by the way, was a real little girl who was scared of spiders. Her Dad, Professor Muffet, wrote the poem for her.

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