More Kite Flying

This is a repost for the Roundup at Flannel Board Fun for June 24th, 2016

By the end of the week of our kite theme, a book that we had requested finally came in to the library. Kite Flying by Grace Lin is perfect for older toddlers, 2 and young 3 year olds. There is minimal text and clear, uncluttered illustrations! I loved it so much that I have bought my own copy and made a felt set to match it that is an activity.  My plan is that after we read the book I 'make' the kite on the flannel board, except for the colorful streamers around the edge. I hand out the streamers and call for a color streamer and they bring it up and add it to the kite on the board. I had thought of calling for kids whose name begins with ..."name a letter". This would only work with older 2's or 3's. You could call for kids wearing socks or kids wearing a skirt or kids wearing a belt, kids that have a dog...you get the idea. If the group is small you could call for the boys to come up and then the girls to come up and add their color streamer to the kite.  It always takes longer than you would think to do these activities with the young kiddos, but it's worth the effort for all the learning happening!
Here's my felt set:

I cut out the center of the big yellow circle and filled it with purple glitter. I added orange glitter (non-metallic) to the edge of the yellow circle.

I edged several pieces with blue/green glitter glue and used purple shiny glitter for the 'eyebrow' and eyeballs of the dragon kite.  Walmart sells some colored glitter that is not metallic that is really pretty that I used for the yellow whiskers and the edging of the big octagon kite shape. I made up my own patterns by looking at the book's illustrations.  To get the nose even on both sides I drew and cut out my pattern folded in half and then opened it and placed it on the felt. The red kite is a 9x12 sheet of felt with the edges trimmed. I'm so pleased with how it turned out and the kiddos that played this activity at storytime seemed to really enjoy it!

Kites are so much Fun with Friends at Storytime!

Check out the other Flannel Friday posts at the roundup hosted by Bridget @ What's Bridget Reading?. .  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!