Two Little Cows!

 

Two little cows eating grass and mooing softly,

One named Billy and one named Bonnie.

Moo moo Billy,

moo moo Bonnie,

Two little cows eating grass and mooing softly,

one named Billy and one named Bonnie!

I used a Google image to deconstruct and make my two cute cows. Some slick fabric paint and googly eyes and we're ready to moo, moo with Friends at Storytime.

Two Little Turkeys

 
For your Thanksgiving enjoyment! LOL!  Two Little Turkeys finger puppets.

Two little turkeys ready to play 

One named Tina and one named Trey 

Run away Tina,   Run away Trey. 

Come back Tina, Come back Trey. 

Two little turkeys gobble, gobble to say 

Have a Happy Thanksgiving day! 

I made up a new rhyme for them for Thanksgiving but you could easily change it out for a farm theme or forest animal theme. We are using them with a Native American Heritage theme that emphasizes forest animals.

I deconstructed a Google image and tweaked (simplified) it to make my little turkeys. The opening for your finger is between the dark grey and darker brown pieces so that the turkey body lays a little flatter. I used two pieces for the body to sandwich the little feet. Tina and Trey are too cute though! Finger puppet turkeys are a lot of Fun with Friends at Storytime!

More Duckies!

Well, it's spring time and in my mind that means eggs and chicks and ducks!! I shared the set I made last week for a Duck theme HERE.  Our preschoolers right now are young and so they really enjoy an interactive activity at the flannelboard so I made a set of colored ducks and a new rhyme so that we can play a game.  They don't seem to get tired of this activity!!  I say the first part of the rhyme initially and then only repeat  *The (color) ducks go swimming with a quack quack quack* and change the color each time. The kiddos with that color felt duck get to bring it up and put it on the felt board "pond". Then I close the rhyme with the last two lines and we all admire the colorful ducks!  

Old McRainbow’s Colorful Ducks

by Kathryn Roach 

There’s a funny kind of farm where colorful ducks grow.

They’re cared for by a funny farmer, Old McRainbow!

Waddling to the pond way out in the back

*The red ducks go swimming with a quack quack quack!

Orange Yellow  Brown Green Black Blue Purple Pink  White

See the colorful ducks swimming and their quacking seems to say,

"Please come back to play with us on another day!"

                         

Be sure to check out my other duck post HERE!  Ducks are so much Fun with Friends at Storytime!

Rabbits!

A few weeks ago, Wendy @Flannel Board Fun shared her bunny sets and several rhymes and I was inspired!! We are planning to do a bunny theme in May so Wendy's post was a tremendous help in our prep! There are lots of bunny posts on the Flannel Friday Pinterest boards too. Anyway, here's my take on the bunny sets plus an original rhyme/activity set too. I used pom poms for the bunny tails and google eyes instead of making them from felt. I like the extra dimension it gives to the bunnies...plus cutting out eyes is a pain! LOL! I love the carrot patch and the baby bunnies!

Here's a printable link for Rainbow Rabbits. It's a take on my Old McRainbow character and his rainbow carrots and rabbits that eat them! The felt rabbits are a diecut. The carrots are just freehand cutouts. They are about 6 inches long. I did add some glue to the back of the carrot tops to stiffen them. They weren't quite dry when I took this pic. I do plan to make a filefolder of the carrot shapes too...eventually.

Rabbits are a lot of Fun with Friends at Storytime! There are more ideas 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!

Sheep, Sheep everywhere!

One of my earliest posts for Flannel Friday was 'Five White and Fluffy Sheep'. In it I mentioned a post I had seen @MissMaryLiberry of her colored, numbered sheep she had made for Counting Ovejas by Sarah Weeks. I had made a set myself but I can't find them??!! So I've made another set of colored sheep. I'm not going to add numbers to mine so that I can use them with other rhymes too.  I'm thinking since there are 10 of them they would lend themselves to the easy '1 little, 2 little ...' rhyme and then to a fun game of 'Which One's Missing?'. You know this could also be a verse of an Old McRainbow song too! (sing it slowly and have your sheep stacked in order) Check out my other Old McRainbow post HERE.

Old McRainbow had a farm, eieio!
and on his farm he had some sheep! eieio!
Red, brown, green, yellow, purple, pink
blue, black, white and turquoise
Old McRainbow had a farm, eieio!

These were quick and easy to cut out by stacking a couple of colors and cutting two at a time (I staple them together) I had these done in no time!

You'll recognize the sheep from the craft on my post, HERE. I just tweaked the pattern a little, added google eyes and black slick fabric paint for the nose. I think they are adorable!  Baaaa! Sheep are a lot of 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!

Someone left the Barn Door Open!

Here's my version of the file folder prop and rhyme; Open the Barn Door. I had started on it a while back and then I saw Laura's version HERE and was motivated to finish mine. I did add a couple of verses to mine though. Here's a link for my copy. Open The Barn Door.

Sorry for the shiny spots, the lamination makes it tricky to take a good picture. I made my barn in 2 pieces for easier storage. I also used Google images of real animals and put them in order front and back on each green piece of paper to laminate them. I flip each picture over before I go to the next piece of paper as I say the rhyme. I made my barn door kinda big so that I could have a pretty good sized picture of each animal. The peek-a-boo action makes this really appealing for toddlers! This one turned out better than I had envisioned! Hooray! Farm animals in the barn are a lot of 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!

Hens of Different Colors

Here's an oldie but goodie, Hens of Different Colors file folder rhyme.  I usually start with the orange paper in place so that the kiddos can see the hen shape and details that I outlined with a sharpie on the laminating film. Then I start the rhyme and I stop talking as I change the color sheet for the kiddos to say the color. This is fun to use when I sing Laurie Berkner's song, I Know a Chicken! We use the shakey eggs and have a blast!

Hens of Different Colors

This little hen is black.  She stands in the barnyard by a big haystack.

This little hen is red. She is very tired and won't get out of bed.

This little hen is brown. She is feeling sad and wearing a frown.

This little hen is yellow. Her friend is the rooster. He's a handsome fellow.

This little hen is white. She dances and plays; Oh, what a sight!

This little hen is purple. She spends her day running in circles.

This little hen is green. She is the silliest hen I've ever seen.

This little hen is blue. She lays eggs for me and you.

This little hen is pink. She goes down to the pond to get a drink.

I have colorful hens so pretty to see. I love them and they love me!

I hI have posted several other 'chicken' posts so check them out! Chickens are a lot of 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. If you want more info about Flannel Friday here's the link for the official Flannel Friday blog.

Bo Peep and her Sheep!

 Here's an oldie but goodie! Little Bo Peep and her silly sheep. I made this set a very long time ago. I used Pellon and crayons and added a bow and green felt bush for the sheep to hide behind. I start with Little Bo Peep and add the 'hiding' sheep and then take it off and add the other sheep at the end. I also made a basic pellon set to use with Baa Baa Black Sheep. I use these with either a farm theme or sheep theme (HERE) or a nursery rhyme theme. The craft I offered with this theme was easy! I had a cut out programmed sheep for each kiddo. The kiddos could color the face, ears and legs and tail. They rubbed a glue stick all over the fleece part and then patted it with a cotton ball that was real cotton. The kiddos then have a fluffy sheep to remember the fun Storytime about sheep.

Little Bo-peep has lost her sheep and can't tell where to find them...

Leave them alone and they'll come home wagging their tails behind them.

Baa baa black sheep, have you any wool?

Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full.

One for my master and one for my dame 

and one for the little boy that lives down the lane.

Home Extension

Sheep 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. If you want more info about Flannel Friday here's the link for the official Flannel Friday blog.

Mouse and the Apple

Recently we started organizing and weeding our flannelboard sets at my library. We came across an adorable set of pieces that illustrated this book. Then as I was looking through some Flannel Friday Pinterest boards I came across a pin from Mel's desk that inspired me to make my own set of pieces to go with this book. I used both sets to make my patterns and I can't wait to use this story about patience and the reward that comes to those who wait!

We used to tell my grandson, J, 'patience is waiting without whining!'  I need to remember that lesson myself!
We're having 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. If you want more info about Flannel Friday here's the link for the official Flannel Friday blog.

Five Clean and Dirty Pigs!

There are several different sets of the piggies on the Flannel Friday Pinterest farm animal board and I'm adding my set to the mix! I use these with 2 different rhymes; Five Clean and Dirty Pigs (tune of Five Green and Speckled Frogs) and 10 Little Pigs Rolled in the Mud. I just say 5 instead of 10 and it works just as well! 

My piggies are double sided. They are pink and clean on one side and light brown and dirty on the other. Getting those tails to line up was the trickiest part of these little pigs! But, now we are ready for some piggy fun!! I have a couple of other piggy posts here and here. There are more great posts on the Flannel Friday Roundup. Check out the wonderful resources on the Flannel Friday Pinterest Boards. If you want more info about Flannel Friday here's the link for the official Flannel Friday blog.

Bzzzz...Said the Bee!

I have a felt set...well, really a Pellon set of animals to use with the text of this great book! I think I adapted the animal patterns from Felt Board Fingerplays many years ago to use for this set. If I could only have 1 resource for storytime this is the book I would have! I have used this book A LOT!! So I made my Pellon animals and colored them with crayons. I did add a tiny google eye to the bee. I had the text of this Easy Reader book typed out and used the animals on the board. It's easy peasy and lots of fun! I'm sure the minimal text and simple plots of a lot of Easy Readers would lend themselves to being adapted to flannel board stories. Hmmm.... I'll need to do some more research on that! This little story would go well with any farm theme and this song that I posted HERE.

Bees and farm animals are a lot of Fun with Friends at Storytime! There are other great ideas on the Flannel Friday Roundup this week. Check out the wonderful resources on the Flannel Friday Pinterest Boards. If you want more info about Flannel Friday here's the link for the official Flannel Friday blog.

Morning on the Farm

 

There are so many fun books about Farm that you could use it for the overall theme for a month! Actually, I've done that before. The first week I did general Farm books. The second week I did Chicken books. That was an excuse to use Laurie Berkner's song, ' I Know a Chicken' and use the shaky eggs! The third week I did Pig books and the fourth week I did Sheep books.  I guess I could have continued with Cow or Tractor or Seeds or Veggies.  There are so many great books to choose from. Also, there are so many great songs to use too! There's the classic 'Old MacDonald had a Farm'. It's not technically about a farm but 'Cat Goes Fiddle-i-fee' has all the farm animals. I have a new favorite song now from Nancy Stewart. It's her song, 'When Ducks Get Up in the Morning'.  I think I first saw it mentioned on one of the Flannel Friday blogposts...but I can't remember which?! Anyway, since I have access to some great Ellison farm animal diecuts I decided to make the song an interactive activity. So I cut out about 5 or 6 of 6 different farm animals and handed them out to the kiddos. As we sang about that animal the children holding the matching animal diecut brought it up to the board. I tried a different way to do this with a small group of 2's and young 3's. I was able to give them all the same animal and they had to wait for me to say the sound that the animal makes to bring up their diecut. Waiting and listening for the sound before they could get up was challenging for one of the little kiddos. It didn't take long though, he got the hang of it and could sit on the edge of his chair and wait for the animal sound! I had as much fun as they did!! Playing is one of the ECRR components that we model in our storytimes. Now, I'm thinking a set of jungle/zoo animals might be next on my to-do list. The song is really easy to learn so that you don't have to have the music and you can improvise as you like. Be sure to check out some of the other great Farm/farm animal ideas on the Flannel Friday Pinterest boards.

Farm animals are a lot of Fun with Friends at Storytime! 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 too.

Pigs and Pancakes

Pigs are fun and who doesn't love pancakes? Put them together and you have a recipe for FUN. A coworker shared this rhyme/game and pattern with me. (Thanks Louise!)  Here's the link for the rhyme and instructions on how to play. I tweaked it a little (5 instead of 6 piggies). This could be used with a Piggy or Farm theme or a Pancake or Breakfast theme. The kiddos really enjoy this one!

Pigs and Pancakes are a lot of Fun with Friends at Storytime!  Lisa @ Libraryland has the rest of this week's roundup. 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!

I'm Feeling Sheepish!

Spring weather has me thinking about lambs frolicking in a meadow...which leads to thoughts of fun at Storytime with sheep!  I've been wanting to use Counting Ovejas by Sarah Weeks and the adorable colored felt sheep that I made after I saw Miss Mary Liberry's here.  Another pretty sheep book is Ten Sleepy Sheep by Phyllis Root. I love the book, Little Baa by Kim Lewis and there's Mary Had a Little Lamb by Sara Hale.  Farmer Brown Shears His Sheep by Teri Sloat is fun too.  I have to use, Where Is The Green Sheep? by Mem Fox and Judy Horacek!  The trick is going to be to narrow down my book choices. I have an adorable flannel set that I made from a pattern and rhyme that a coworker shared with me (thanks Ruth!) that I can't wait to use!
Five White and Fluffy Sheep
(tune: Five Green and Speckled Frogs)

Five white and fluffy sheep
In the pasture fast asleep.
Their wool kept them warm all night long.
SNORE, SNORE!


The Farmer ran away with one,
Sheared her wool till he was done
Now there are four white fluffy sheep.
SNIP, SNIP!

Baaaaaaaa!

I made the bodies of the sheep from a heathery brown felt. I had thought about lt. pink but decided against it when I found this felt.  The tail, heads, and both sets of legs are cut and glued on. I used black slick fabric paint for the line between the legs and the face. Of course the silly google eyes make the sheep look so funny when the farmer 'shears' each little sheep.  I cut cotton balls in half so that I had that curly look and so it wasn't too fluffy.  I glued them to a piece of felt to make the fleece.  You can see that I covered their eyes so that they can be sleeping and after they are sheared they are wide awake! Baaaa!

Sheep are a lot of fun at Storytime!