The National Council for the Maltese Language is inviting people to submit poems, lyrics or nursery rhymes in Maltese suitable for children aged up to five to e-mail kunsilltalmalti@gov.mt by August 31.

The lyrics should look at things through the eyes of children

A committee has been set up by the council and the Depart­ment of Curriculum and e-­Learn­ing at the Directorate for Quality and Standards in Edu­cation to evaluate the lyrics sub­mitted. For the lyrics selected, music will be composed which will then be uploaded on You­tube and compiled on a CD to be distributed free of charge to kindergartens and primary schools.

The lyrics should have basic themes aimed at introducing children to the world and social life around them.

These include seasons, names of the months and days of the week, weather, clothes, holidays such as Christ­mas, Carnival and Easter, village feasts, numbers, alphabet letters and their sounds, body parts and movements, colours, shapes and dimensions, animals, family members, jobs, real or fiction-al characters that appeal to children, toys, musical instru­ments, transport and games.

The list of topics is merely indicative. The committee will consider any other topic suitable for young children.

The lyrics sent should be original and entertaining; related to the world of children today; look at things through the eyes of children, and not a reflection of adult life on childhood; include an element of imagination; use the Maltese language properly; and reflect an open attitude towards other cultures and embrace the principles of social equality.

This is a non-profit project with the aim of compiling educational material for children.

No payments will be given to authors whose lyrics are selected.

The authors shall retain rights to their lyrics and their names will be mentioned wherever these are used.

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