Colorful Puppies Are Ready to Nosh!

Time to do a puppy storytime again and I wanted something new and interactive so...Here are my colorful puppies with dog dish and bones. I used Google images to get ideas for the puppies and finally settled on one body and changed the heads. I was planning on doing 10 puppies and gave out of steam at 7 which still lends itself to eventually a rhyme about a different color pup on the days of the week. I had a dog dish and bone diecut with my Sizzix machine so that was easy peasy.  Here's a printable link for the rhyme, Colorful Puppies. 

Check out my other dog posts HERE and HERE.  Puppies are so much Fun with Friends at Storytime!There are more great 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!

Dalmations!

I have a coworker that has shared an adorable rhyme he made up and a set of 5 cute dalmatian puppies he made for his Firefighter/Firetruck theme. I made my own set of felt doggies and tweaked his pattern just a bit by adding large google eyes instead of felt eyes for the puppies.  I had the eyes and was too lazy to cut out 10 more small circles!  Anyway, here are the doggies I made and the link to Mr. Thad's rhyme; Five Dalmatians. 

These are about 5 in.circles for the bodies and 3 in. circles for the heads and a gazillion small black dots for the spots and noses. O.K.  so it's not a gazillion...it felt like it as I was cutting them out! That's the main reason for the large google eyes; I was tired of cutting small circles. I used some black slick fabric paint for the mouth.  I might add a little red tongue to a couple of the pups just for variety. I think Dalmatians are so much Fun with Friends at Storytime! 
The Flannel Friday Roundup is hosted by Kay Leigh at Storytime ABC's!  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!

Play ball!

Everyone loves to play ball. I have a circle theme that I've done several times that involves a ball.  I have different types of balls as props; a basketball, baseball, and soccer ball. We talk about the shape of the balls; the difference in the sizes of the balls and how you play with them. I have a simple little rhyme to use with flannelboard pieces. We also repeat the rhyme using our hands and arms.  I've used this rhyme for years but here it is with other great resources for a sports theme. Also, you might check out this Flannel Friday post about baseballs from Maria at The Serpentine Library blog. I want to make a set like hers for my files!

A Little Ball

A little ball
A bigger ball,
A great big ball I see.
Now let's count them.
Are you ready?
1-2-3!

I made the balls out of pellon and painted the colors with acrylic paint. First I traced the balls with a sharpie, then painted them.  After the paint dried I went back over the black lines with a wide black sharpie and cut them out.  The paint does not affect the pieces sticking to the felt board at all.  I like the more even color coverage and it's quicker than crayon or marker.  I've got an adorable set of shoes I'll have to share in another post that I made with this technique.