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!

Let's Go Fly a Kite!

Hooray, it's March and almost spring! It still doesn't feel like spring here but we know it's coming. We are doing some typical March themes at storytime including Kites.  I know there are several great Kite links on the Flannel Friday Pinterest boards like the one here. Two great kite theme books are, Someone Bigger by Jonathan Emmett and Kite Day; a Bear and Mole Story by Will Hillenbrand.  We have several kite flannels but I really wanted something interactive for the toddlers.  So, here's a rhyme and set of small felt kites that the kiddos can add to the board as we talk about colors and kites.

Color Kites

by Kathryn Roach

On a breezy spring day

Way up in the sky,

See the many *red kites

Flying high!

orange, yellow, green, blue, purple,

  

On a breezy spring day

Way up in the sky

   See the lovely rainbow color kites flying high!!

It's hard to see the red kite against the red felt of our board.  Anyway, I cut out 5 of each color and used the primary color variegated yarn (Walmart) cut into small lengths the same color as the kite for the tails. (It's the small things HA!) I usually stack the kites in the color sequence to be sure that every color is handed out. Then as I say the rhyme the kiddos bring their color kite up to the board.  They really enjoy this type of active rhyme. There are a lot of cognitive and social skills involved in this type of storytime activity; active listening, waiting for a turn, and a sense of collaborative pride when the board is full of the different color kites to make a 'rainbow'. Wow! I'm tired just thinking about it LOL!   

Kites are so much Fun with Friends at Storytime! 

Check out the other Flannel Friday posts at the roundup hosted by Amy at Catch the Possiblities. 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!