Birthday Presents!

 I adapted a rhyme from In The Children's Room blogspot to make a different felt set.  My version is called Birthday Presents!.  This was a super easy and quick set to make! I already had the variegated color yarn to make the pom pom style bow for each present.  I will hide the items behind the boxes and reveal the 'present' as we play. They never get tired of this technique! You can make your 'presents' reflect your kiddo's interests. I printed and laminated and cut out each item.  I just put a small piece of tape on the back to hold it until we 'open' the present.  I did add a piece of Velcro to the top of each felt piece to hold it as we're handling it.  You can always play, Which One's Missing? after you have all the items showing! Birthday presents are so much Fun with Friends at Storytime.  Check out my other Birthday themed posts Here! 

Happy Birthday times 2!

 

Birthdays are always so much fun as a theme for storytime! I have another set of finger-puppets for our Birthday theme! I used a Google image and slick fabric paint with shiny pipe cleaner and cut up sequin candles for the top of my cakes. I also cut a piece of large sequin for the happy smile and used goofy google eyes for fun!  These guys make me smile! 

Two fancy cakes for your birthday,

One named Hip Hip and one named Hooray!

Blow out their candles, then we all say

“Happy, Happy Birthday,

Hip Hip,  Hooray!” 

Don't Wake Up the Tiger by Teckentrup is a fun, suspenseful picture book with a happy surprise birthday ending! Birthdays are always so much Fun with Friends at Storytime!

Presents!! Happy 5th Birthday, Flannel Friday!

♫ Happy Birthday to Flannel Friday! ♫   I'm sharing a couple of ideas in honor of this momentous occasion!! The first is an inspired flannel set that I tweaked from In The Children's Room blog. I added 2 more boxes to have 5 presents. We all know that 5 is the magic preschool number! LOL!  Here's a link for the rhyme that you can print out Presents! 

I have a small piece of velcro at the top of each 'present' so that each one will stay in place as I 'unwrap' the paper from the biggest to the smallest to the heart. All the ribbon embellishments are glued on with fabric glue. This set lends itself to sequencing from biggest to smallest or counting to 5 or recognizing colors. You could play, Which one is Missing? with these also. I have a couple of other birthday posts too, HERE!

I also have a file folder set that I made this week that could be used 'as is' or with a bunch of cutout felt 'presents' for the kiddos to bring to the flannel board as you show the file folder colors. I have a diecut that I use for all of the little presents. I just chant the little rhyme and change the colors as the kiddos bring the matching felt presents to the board. They never get tired of this activity! Here's a link to a printable copy.

Oh Happy Day, Happy Birthday to me!

Red is the birthday present I see!

(kiddos bring up the presents and I change the color and repeat the line for the new color)

Hooray, Hooray, Happy Birthday to me!

There are so many colorful presents I see!

I added sequins to the file folder before I laminated it. I also laminated a piece of birthday present wrapping paper that I cut to fit the folder. I have it in place when I start the rhyme and then start changing the colors. I used variegated yarn and cut two small slits and tied the bows for the presents. I took this picture before I finished tying the gazillion bows! LOL! I made 6 of each color because I want to be sure to always have enough for storytime kiddos!! Birthdays are so much Fun with Friends at Storytime! There are more great posts on the Flannel Friday Roundup. Check out the wonderful resources on the Flannel Friday Pinterest Boards. Here's the link for the official Flannel Friday blog for more info!

Birthday Candles!

Everyone loves birthday cake and candles! This is a fun and easy theme for storytime. I have links for 2 different counting candle rhymes: Five Candles and Ten Birthday Candles.  I have a cake shape made from pellon with white ric-rac trim and a red 'platter' to use with both rhymes. I made 2 different sets of birthday candles.  One set is based on the number shaped candles that you can buy for birthday cakes. The other set is a basic candle shape with added glitter!  There are some really great birthday ideas on the Flannel Friday Pinterest board.  Birthdays are so much Fun with Friends at Storytime!

The rest of the Flannel Friday roundup is @Storytiming. Have questions about Flannel Friday? Check out the Flannel Friday official blog. Be sure to join us on the Flannel Friday Facebook page too!  

Balloons say Happy Birthday!

Birthdays are so much fun for preschoolers. This is a great theme that offers lots of opportunities for fun flannel sets. I've got a not-a-flannel set of balloons to share.  I made my set from laminated paper with pipe cleaner 'strings' and a small piece of velcro on the back. I like the shiny look from the lamination, plus the last balloon can be programmed with the colorful words that say, "Happy Birthday". You could also play, "Which One is Missing?" with this set.  This could be a cute file folder set. Here's the link for the rhyme - Birthday Balloons.

We offered a home extension for this storytime. It's a crown that I saw on Pinterest that we adapted for our theme. We prepped the paper plate crowns and gave the kiddos some holograph stickers and paper birthday candles to decorate their birthday hats! This is super easy prep for a lot of kiddo fun!! 

This is one of my favorite author/illustrators. Our library copy of this book is too small for using in Storytime, so I scanned and enlarged it and mounted the pages on black construction paper and laminated them. I typed out the script and mounted each page's text on the back of the laminated sheet. The last 2 pages I mounted on a larger sheet of construction paper for the impact of the Happy Birthday! This is a big hit with the kiddos! 
Happy Birthday is a LOT of Fun with Friends at Storytime!!   

The rest of the Flannel Friday Roundup is @ Literary Commentary.  Have questions about Flannel Friday? Check out the Flannel Friday official blog. Be sure to check out the Flannel Friday Facebook page too!