I'm Going Batty!

I have an adorable little Beanie Baby bat that inspired this theme for my Storytime. Last year when I saw this cute post by Amanda at Trails & Tales about Bats! I just had to make my own set.  I tweaked the rhyme by adding one more verse*.

5 Little Bats
1...
2...
3...
4...
*5 little bats were trying to behave
They hung by their feet upside down in a cave.
They slept all day until the fading of the light.
Then they woke and said, "We're hungry!" and flew into the night!
(alternate: Then they woke and said, "Happy Halloween" and flew into the night!)


Then I found an adorable song by Carole Peterson on her CD, H.U.M. - Highly Usable Music, All Year Long!; "Black Bat Farm".  I decided to make flannel pieces to go with it as I sang it. I don't use the CD because I don't sing the ghost verse.  But, it is still adorable!  It's a version of "The Green Grass Grew All Around".
Black Bat Farm
Carole Peterson - adapted by Kathryn Roach

There was a farm - *echo line*
A quiet farm -*
The quietest farm -*
that you ever did see...eeeeee!
A field is on the farm, the farm is dark and quiet
Chorus: And the black bats flew all around, all around
Oh, the black bats flew all around.
And in that field -*
There was a vine -*
the creepiest vine -* that you ever did see...eeee! The vine in the field, the field on the farm, the farm is dark and quiet
Chorus

And on that vine -* 
There was a pumpkin -*
the cutest pumpkin-*
that you ever did see...eeeee!
The pumpkin on the vine, the vine in the field, 
the field on the farm, the farm is dark and quiet...
Chorus

And on that pumpkin -*
There was a face -*
the happiest face -*
that you ever did see....eeeee!                
The face on the pumpkin, the pumpkin on the vine,
the vine in the field, the field on the farm, the farm
is dark and quiet...BOO!
Chorus
Happy Halloween!

I made the field with two sheets of felt and pieces of yarn glued on as rows in a plowed field.  The vine is green ribbon with some velcro under the pieces of felt glued to the 'B' and exclamation point.  I glued the ribbon so that the 'O's keep their shape.  I cut out 10 of the small black bats and added a few each time I sang the chorus until they were all up on the board. The caregivers and kiddos soon were singing the chorus with me and everyone liked the happy Jack-o-lantern face at the end. I also got quieter as I sang the last part, "the farm is dark and quiet"... pause... then I said, "Boo!" and we all laughed and sang the final chorus together. This was a really big hit! Turns out I am a batty old lady after all!  LOL!   
Bats are a lot of Fun with Friends at Storytime.
update: Check out the rest of the roundup @ Library Village.  Have questions about Flannel Friday? Check out the Flannel Friday official blog.  Be sure to  join us on the Flannel Friday Facebook page and enjoy the great Flannel Friday Pinterest boards too!

Happy Trails to You...Cowboys!

Cowboys is a really fun storytime theme. I found some Pinterest boards with ideas. Here's one from Colleen at Teaching Heart and Jana's board here. Here's another from Linda Martin that has some really adorable pins.  Anyway, a few years ago I decided to put together a Cowboy storytime. I couldn't find many rhymes so I made up several to fill in my theme.  The titles are links to the rhymes.

Cowboy Boots! 

I can't remember where I got the pattern for the boots since I made these several years ago.  It could have been a Mailbox magazine pattern. I subscribed to Mailbox magazine when I taught preschool many years ago. I'm sure you could find a clipart pic that would work. I love the glitter and large sequin 'spurs' of these colorful boots!

I also made up a rhyme about Cowboy Joe and his colorful Cowboy Hats!  Cowboy Joe wears a different color hat each day of the week.  I made this set out of pellon and embellished with glitter, sequins and fabric paint.                                                 
I found 2 new picture books that fit the Cowboy theme. The first might be storytime material; Cowboy Boyd and Mighty Calliope by Lisa Moser. Another really cute book that would be better for reading at home is Giddy-up Daddy! written and illustrated by Troy Cummings. The only slightly cowboyish song that I have right now is Mama Don't Allow. We love to clap our hands and stomp our feet and bounce up and down and spin around; but our favorite is to shout, "Yee-Haw!" in storytime. *Update* I found a funny cowboy song, "The Cowboy Song": a funny song by Bryant Oden. 
Cowboys, boots and hats are a LOT of  Fun with Friends at Storytime!!

More Monster Mash!

Monsters are so much fun!  I have a couple more monster flannelboard sets to share this week. But first I thought I'd mention some of the books I use with this theme. I have used There's a Nightmare In My Closet by Mercer Mayer and the classic, Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. There's a new picture book that's really cute, Monsters Love Colors by Mike Austin, that I want to use the next time I present this theme. But, my new favorite monster book is Some Monsters Are Different by David Milgrim. It is ADORABLE!  Hooray! I've got so many great books to choose from now!  Anyway, I made 2 sets of 5 little monsters inspired by Flannel Friday posts *here and here. I tweaked the colors from *Anna's Five Little Monsters Sitting on the Floor, to use the colors I had. I found this terrific link at Preschool Education.com with several adorable rhymes to use them with too!

Five Little Monsters Sitting on the Floor.

One Little Monster Had a Fright

I can't remember where I got the One Little Monster Had a Fright rhyme/song... sorry! It's sung to the tune of One Elephant Went Out to Play. If you need the tune listen to this youtube link. My monsters are handpuppets. I used one 9x12 sheet of felt folded and trimmed to make the front and back. I first embellished the front, let it dry and then glued the front to the back. Here's the rhyme/song:

My Favorite monster ;)

One Little Monster                                                
One little monster had a fright
on a dark and stormy night.
He thought it was so much fun that
he called for another monster to come!
2, 3, 4...
Five little monsters had a fright
on a dark and stormy night.
They had fun but were ready to sleep
So they went to bed without a peep!    SNORE!!



And, last but not least is my version of this adorable Polka Dot Monster from Dorothy at The Wielded Pen-Children's Corner and Sarah, in the comments, that made up the rhyme.  I tweaked mine a little and glued on the facial features so that the kiddos only add the dots.

Monsters are Fun with Friends at Storytime!

Monster Mash!

Lisa at Thrive After Three inspired me to share my monster 'stuff' this week. There are several great Flannel Friday posts on the Pinterest boards too.  Here's my inspiration for today's not-a-flannel prop and rhyme; Lucy at In The Children's Room. I loved the rhyme, but I wanted to use it more interactively. I laminated Google images of the food items and hand them out to the children. As I say the rhyme the children holding the items bring them up and 'feed' them to the monster.  Everyone loves this one!

A Munching Monster
by Marian Swinger

A Monster ate a monster lunch,
a monster pie,
a monster *punch
a monster apple,
a monster plum,
the monster filled his monster tum.
He licked a monster lollipop
He drank a bottle of monster pop.
He chomped a monster chocolate cake
...and got a Monster stomach ache!
* adaptation by Lucy

My Monster is poster board with card stock embellishments and the whole thing was laminated.  His arms and legs are velcroed to the back of the Monster so that I can take them off and store them more easily.  I velcroed the big round body/head to a box that I lined with black paper.  I usually make 4 of each item just to be sure I have enough for everyone.



Here's another Monster to go with this fun theme!

I have 2 sets of felt pieces for Go Away Big Green Monster.  I made my sets a long time ago but I found several on the Flannel Friday Pinterest boards. The first set I use as I read the book.  The other set, with the individual hair and teeth pieces, is for the children to help me build a Big Green Monster as I read the book.  I will let the kiddos play with that set too.  We love to say "GO AWAY Big Green Monster!!" Check out this youtube animation of the book.

We usually sing Laurie Berkner's great song, Monster Boogie too. I found a cute youtube version here.Monsters are soooo much Fun with Friends at Storytime!

An Apple a day...is delicious!

Fall is almost here so naturally I think of apples!  There are several posts on Flannel Friday Pinterest boards for apples.  Here's one  from K. Leigh @ Storytime ABC's that inspired me to make my own set.
This is a cute version of BINGO for apples.

I also like to sing the song, Farmer Brown Had Five Green Apples.  I found various versions including Ella Jenkins' version that is Farmer Brown Had 10 Green Apples.  Here's another youtube version of the song with red apples.  Here's another link with the words and a sample of the music. My favorite version is Sharon, Lois and Bram on Mainly Mother Goose here.

I made up a rhyme a few years ago that is a counting by 2's:
I Like Apples
by Kathryn Roach
I like apples crisp and sweet
Apples are my favorite fruit to eat!
2 red apples, I want more.
Add 2 green apples, now I have 4.
2 red, 2 green, now I'll add to the mix,
2 yellow apples; wow!, that makes 6.
Yes, I like apples crisp and sweet.
Apples are my favorite fruit to eat!

These felt apples are Ellison diecuts with extra pieces cut and glued on for the stem and leaves.

Here's another tweak to a classic:
Five Little Apples - 
Chant to 'Five Little Monkeys'
*Five little apples hanging in a tree,
Teasing Mr. Slinky worm, "Can't eat me",
Along come Mr. Slinky worm quiet as can be...
CRUNCH!
* 4, 3, 2, 1...
No little apples hanging in a tree.
Along came Mr. Slinky worm as quiet as can be...
His tummy is full and he's happy as can be.
Yum! Apples for lunch!

I have 5 felt apples on the board and let Mr. Slinky worm gobble up an apple each time I say the rhyme. The children think it's hilarious.

Here  is the hand puppet that I made a few years ago for a puppet skit (I can't even remember what it was?).  Anyway, I used 2 brown pieces and 2 green pieces of felt and sewed the front green piece to the front brown piece and then sewed the front to the back. The two branches are made so that my thumb and pinky can fit in them and move them.  The apples and mouth are velcroed on and the google eyes are hotglued. I usually use this puppet during a song or rhyme during this theme. Also, I use the handpuppet to wave goodbye during my ending song; Skinnamarink.

There are soooo many apple posts on blogs, but for newbie storytellers here are a few links.  Try this Pinterest board for some ideas. Here's a post from Mollie @ What Happens in Storytime.  Here's another from Anne @ So Tomorrow that's really cute too. One last link from Katie @Story Time Secrets!
Apples are so Fun and Delicious and Nutritious with Friends at Storytime!