The Luck of the Irish

I really enjoy St. Patrick's Day!  I've posted a few posts before here and here...and here (potatoes). I also found some terrific ideas @ Jen In The Library's blogpost about St. Patrick's Day. I've got a little riddle/rhyme set to use with the flannelboard to go with a St. Patrick's day storytime. It's my Green Guessing Game.  I used some Google images that I printed, laminated, cut out and put a small piece of velcro on the back. I had to add some green sequins to the traffic light for a shiny green 'go'. LOL!  I'm sure this game will lead to a lot of discussion! 

St. Patrick's day and the color green are a lot of Fun with Friends at Storytime! 

The rest of the Flannel Friday roundup is @heytherelibrary. Be sure to check out the Flannel Friday Pinterest Boards for other great ideas!

Art is in the Eye of the Beholder!

This week at Storytime it was all about ART! This turned out to be a really fun theme with both the older preschoolers and the younger toddler kiddos. The book we used with all the groups was David's Drawing by Cathryn Falwell. This book has fairly minimal text and nice clear illustrations with a great cumaltive device of David's drawing on each page. Since David's 'drawing' is so small in the top righthand corner of each page, I enlarged and copied it on a color copier. I mounted each picture on a piece of construction paper and laminated them. As we read the book we would put the laminated picture on the white magnetic board. The pictures stacked one slightly on top of the other (I put the magnet at the top back of each picture).  This combination of book and white board with pictures was very easy and effective with all of our age groups. I was also inspired to make a felt set of a post I saw @ Story Time Secrets by Katie Fitzgerald. It's called Harold's Other Crayon. I made felt crayons with an Ellison diecut and added glitter! LOL! Then using the same glitter colors I made a rainbow on a big piece of white fleece (my pretend paper) for a shiny happy ending! Big Hit!!

I needed another artsy type of rhyme so I finally settled on a file folder of a paintbrush and I made up a rhyme that ended with a picture and segued into the Home Extension for each kiddo. We had a cardstock programmed 'frame' for each kiddo to make their own picture! Here's the link for my rhyme Colors in My Picture.  I used a Google image of a paintbrush and drew on the drop and puddle of paint. I used black construction paper and some silver paper to make the handle. I cutout the brush, drop and puddle, then laminated the file folder. I stacked the color paper and made the picture to match the rhyme and had it last in the file folder. Oohs and Aahs when I turned it around for the kiddos to see! This turned out better than I had expected! Love it when that happens! Art and colors are so much Fun with Friends at Storytime!!

The rest of the Flannel Friday roundup is @Story Time Secrets. Be sure to check out the Flannel Friday Pinterest Boards for other great ideas!

All Aboard the Teddy Bear Train!

Woo, Woo....choo choo choo choo....This week we are combining two favorites of the little kiddos, trains and teddy bears! Miss Margaret made a teddy bear train! Our small groups were able to take turns pulling the train up and down the aisles between the picture books.  So much fun!

We made a felt train on the flannelboard. Here's the link for the rhyme; This Little Train. The kiddos would say the color train car as we put the pieces on the flannelboard. I had a small group one day and was able to hand out the felt pieces so that the kiddos could bring one up to help make the train. 

The pieces are Ellison diecuts. The boxcar pieces have been handled a bit and are stretched a little bit. Oh well, easy to replace them when they are too ragged. Eli had to count the different types of cars. He noticed that there were 3 tankers and 4 boxcars plus the engine and caboose. Love what I do!!  We also sang a new-to-me song, We're All Riding on the Train. We made a train and chugged around the rug while we sang the song. You can access the song at the link above.  It's easy to learn and there are several fun interactive verses. The verse where we go faster was a big hit! 

Of course there are some fun Teddy Bear songs to use too.  I have a little rhyme about Two Little Bear Cubs that I used with my two bear hand puppets.  I made my bear puppets into a brother bear and sister bear by adding a pink bow to one puppet. We offered an easy Home Extension with this theme too. I had some 8x14 white paper that was folded in half so that it could stand up. I diecut a black engine, orange flat car (was the caboose diecut that I trimmed to make a flatcar) and a brown bear.  They were thrilled to get this simple project that will help them to remember our theme. Teddy Bears and Trains are so much Fun with Friends at Storytime!




























The rest of the Flannel Friday roundup is @Ms.Kelly at the Library. Be sure to check out the Flannel Friday Pinterest Boards for other great ideas!

Fun at the Beach!

I know it's the middle of winter but I need some sand and sun and warm weather. I'm longing for summer. This is my mid-winter virtual beach trip. To The Beach by Thomas Docherty has a little boy that utilizes any way he can to get to the beach! I totally agree with his single-minded focus! This is a great read for preschool storytime. I've also used Going to the Beach by scanning and enlarging the pages. I mounted each page on yellow construction paper and laminated them. I have the text on the back of each laminated sheet to make it easier to read. The pictures are clear and uncluttered and there is minimal text.  I was inspired to make a set of sandcastles after seeing this post @Story Time Secrets. Her rhyme is great with a cute ending!  I made my sandcastles out of felt with added shell sequins for some shine! Each of my sandcastles has a different colored flag on a toothpick pole. I cut the shapes out freehand after looking at some Google images. 
Easy peasy!

I use a beach version of the Little Mouse game but it's with a little whale and colored pails.  The rhyme is: 
Little Whale, Little Whale 
Are you hiding in the ___ pail? 
I had to stiffen the felt handle pieces with white glue on the back and of course add some shiny sequins.  The little whale (now that's a contradiction in terms!) is made of Pellon that I colored with color pencils and outlined with a black Sharpie. I think he's adorable! Going to the beach (even in the winter) is so much Fun with Friends at Storytime.
The rest of the Flannel Friday roundup is @ What Is Bridget Reading?. Be sure to check out the Flannel Friday Pinterest Boards for other great ideas!