Flannel Friday Roundup for 6-14

I'm so glad to be hosting my first ever Flannel Friday Roundup this week!  The generosity of this wonderful group has been so helpful to me. The affirmation for my own work has been motivating for me! The consistently great ideas have been inspiring!  Yessireee, I'm a Flannel Friday Fan!  
So, here we go with another week of terrific posts:
From Mrs. Andre's Library comes 5 Purple Dinosaurs.
From Lisa at Libraryland comes 5 Frogs.
From Miss Meg's Storytime comes There's Something In My Garden.
From Miss Sarah Storytime comes a Pop up Seed Flannelboard.
From Bridget at What Is Bridget Reading comes Gopher In the Garden by Jack Prelutsky.
From Rachee at Say It "Rah-shay" comes a craft/not a flannel Flower Garden post for Dig Into Reading.
From Katie at Story Time Secrets comes S is for Storytime with Sarah's Silly Socks.
From Dana and Lindsey comes their first Flannel Friday post; Jamberry.!
From Sarah at Read Rabbit Read comes Build a Gingerbread Person.
From Linda at Notes from the Story Room comes a vegan version of Herman the Worm.
From Thrive After Three comes great tips for Using Puppets with a Picture Book.
From Miss Mary at Miss Mary Liberry comes A Watermelon Contest.
From Leah at Time For Storytime comes a not a flannel post of shadow puppets for The Lego Song.
From Jane and Piper at Piper Loves the Library comes Simply Stars.
My post this week is a Bucket of Blueberries.
Thanks everyone for making my first hosting of the roundup so easy and fun!
Jane at Piper Loves the Library will be the host next week.  Have questions about Flannel Friday? Check out the Flannel Friday official blog.  Be sure to  join us on the Flannel Friday Facebook page too!  

'Berry' Good Berries!

It's strawberry pickin' time around here! Yummers!  The blueberries will soon be ready too, so I'm thinking it's time for a berry theme.  I have a strawberry rhyme I made up a few years ago that I used when I read, The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear by Don and Audrey Wood.  I also did a couple of blueberry rhymes and read, Jamberry by Bruce Degen.  I had a craft for the kiddos too. I used the shape of the strawberry and let them paint with strawberry kool-aid paint.  Nobody spilled or drank the paint! LOL!  The whole library (we're a one room branch) smelled wonderful too.  It was a lot of fun.

                               Strawberry Pickin'

by Kathryn Roach

Out in the berry patch in the bright sun,

picking juicy strawberries is so much fun.

Here's a big red berry, I know it will be sweet.

Here's another and one more to make a pie to eat.

I'm looking under the green leaves to find a berry treat.

I'll pick one more, so now there's 5. 

Hooray! Strawberries can't be beat!

The berries are red and green felt and I painted the 'seeds' with shiny yellow fabric paint. They look good enough to eat. I'm so glad it's almost summertime.  Or I should say, "I'm berry glad it's almost summertime!"  Here's some more strawberry ideas from Storytime Katie and I found some really cute ideas at this site too.   Enjoy those juicy berry treats! 

More Berry Goodness!

The blueberries in my yard are almost ready! Yummers! I've kinda got berries on the brain. I'll just mention a few blueberry books; the classic, Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey; Blueberry Mouse by Alice Low; Blueberry Shoe by Ann Dixon; One Little Blueberry by Tammi Salzano; and for older preschoolers there's George Shannon's White Is For Blueberry.  

backside of pieces.

I have a blueberry rhyme that I made up that's a twist on the classic, 1 little, 2 little counting rhyme.  To start this rhyme I have a little clear bucket and 10 medium sized blue pom pom 'blueberries' that we count together as I drop them in the pail.  Then, I finish the rhyme with the flannel pieces that I made.

Bucket of Blueberries

by Kathryn Roach  

(drop pom pom's in bucket as you count)

1 berry, 2 berry, 3 berries 4,

5 blueberries...let's count some more!

6 berry, 7 berry, 8 berry, 9

10 blueberries are mighty fine!

Now, I've got a bucket of blueberries

that I want to eat...

It's time to cook up a great berry treat.

I'll mix up some things

and stir with all my might

        Then I'll have a delicious

         Blueberry delight.

      (I pantomime holding a bowl and 

stirring as fast as I can)

Blueberry pancake (place felt pancake)

           blueberry pie (place felt pie)

           blueberry muffin (place felt muffin)

          My, oh my! (rub tummy and smile big smile)

             I hope you can use the patterns here.  I scanned them from my original patterns but reduced them by 78%.  I cut out a blob pancake shape and added the blueberries to it.  Usually when we talk about foods at Storytime, I ask the children to give a 'thumbs up' if they like the food I name.  I'm trying to teach them that everyone doesn't have to talk at the same time! Ha!

I've also added the pattern that I used to cut out 'buckets' for a thumbprint blueberries craft.  I cutout the handle shape so that the kiddos could carry their bucket of blueberries home. We used blue inkpads for printing. You could just as easily use blue paint and a pencil eraser for stamping 'blueberries' in the buckets.  They really liked this craft. It was quick and easy prep and minimal mess so I really liked this craft too!
Blueberries are so much Fun at Storytime!

Froggies R Playing it Cool!

I love doing a frog theme because there are so many cute frog books!  We just did frogs again at my library and it was a blast!  I read one of my favorites ever, The Wide Mouthed Frog: A Pop-Up Book by Keith Faulkner. The caregivers always laugh too when I purse up my lips very small to read the last line from the frog right before he jumps into the water, "SPLASH"!  I also used 2 other popup books;  Ten Tiny Tadpoles by Debbie Tarbett and Mo Willems', Big Frog Can't Fit In: A Pop Out Book. Of course, I did 5 Green and Speckled Frogs and Little Frog Are You Hiding.  I know someone has done Little Frog with paper?  but I can't remember who? *update...found it here! My version is made of pellon (the little frog) and different colored felt 'logs'*   Anyway, I wanted something new and interactive so...I cut out a bunch of different colored felt frog Ellison diecuts and made up a simple rhyme.  As I snapped  my fingers for the beat, and said the rhyme in a cool and groovy way (as cool and groovy as a white-haired librarian assistant/grandmother type can be; HA!)  the children brought their froggy to the flannelboard 'pool'.

Froggies in the Pool

by Kathryn Roach

Little Froggies *red, if you want to be cool,

Come right up and jump into the pool!

*blue, green, orange, yellow, purple, pink

Next time I'll have to wear sunglasses to help with the coolness factor.  Have a 'hoppy' time at Storytime with froggies! 

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.  

Little Chameleon's Color Game

This is an oldie but goodie from my files. I made this set many years ago. I used the classic, A Color of His Own by Leo Lionni with it and we had a blast!  This was one of my first attempts at making my own rhymes and I was pretty pleased with it.  It was also the first attempt at a giving clues type activity. I could almost see the wheels turning in their little heads as they used their visual memories to match the clues I gave.  I LOVED it so much, I've been trying to do similar things ever since!  It's so rewarding to watch a child 'get it'! Their little faces light up and they are so proud of themselves...I'm so proud of them too!  Anyway, here it is:

Little Chameleon's Color Game
 by Kathryn Roach
(put up the gray chameleon on the board to start)

Little Chameleon let's play a game today

Change your color to match the things that I say!

Fluffy clouds in the sky, cotton balls, a polar bear,

Sometimes this is the color of people's hair   

(put up white one - big laugh, my hair is almost snow white now)

The sun and a lemon, sunflowers too,

Squash and bananas to name a few!    (yellow)

The great big ocean, the big, high sky,

Yummy berries to put in a pie!   (blue)

The grass and frogs, a small snake that slithers by,

Peas and broccoli, my, oh my!  (green) 

Pretty flowers, cotton candy, a little bunny nose,

cute baby pigs and tiny baby toes! (pink) 

Three things I can think of that are this beautiful hue,

Some pansies, sweet grapes and eggplants too!  (purple)  

Now try this color of leaves in the fall,

Pumpkins and carrots and a basketball!  (orange)  

We like this color when it's chocolate to eat, dirt in the garden or wood for a seat.  (brown)

This color is dark, the opposite of white.  You'll see this color when you turn off the light! (black)

  

Roses and cherries, a Valentine heart; Yummy strawberries baked in a tart!  (red) 

Little Chameleon now it's time for you to rest. You've changed to all the colors that we like the best!

(put grey chameleon back on the board)

The chameleon is made from a deconstructed picture from an old Mailbox magazine page. I just cut it apart and used the pieces as patterns. **update**  I found the page in The Mailbox 1996-1997 Yearbook: Preschool pg. 131. I reduced the size a little on the copier, made two copies and cut apart the head, and legs (I didn't worry about two legs for the front and back). I cut the total body shape and glued the head and legs on the body. I added a pink circle 'cheek' just because I liked it that way. Be sure to glue the tail to the back to reduce pulling and general floppiness. **       I did glue the end of the tail to the back of the chameleon  because it was too floppy and one or two were pulled too hard and lost their cute curve. This could also be a cute file folder rhyme too.    This was a LOT of fun at Storytime with my little friends!

10 Swimming Seahorses

Here's another post about getting ready for summer.  I found this rhyme that I made up a couple of years ago when our summer theme was a beach theme.  I made the rhyme work with seahorses and starfish. I really love the seahorses!  I used an organza ribbon to make the ruffled fin down the back of the starfish.  The eyes are flower and circle sequins.
Here you go:
Ten Swimming Seahorses (*Starfish)
by Kathryn Roach

Let's count 10 seahorses* swimming by
All different colors, my, oh my!
The first is red
the next light blue
Here is orange
And purple too.
I see one that's green
We're not done
I see a white one;
This is fun!
Now, yellow, then blue
pink is last
10 Seahorses* swimming fast!
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10


*Update*  This could also be done with a laminated file folder cutout and colored paper.**

Here's the craft we did. I used a strip of yellow crepe paper sandwiched between 2 seahorse shapes. The children spongepainted the seahorse shapes with a small sponge and blue paint and added a stick-on eye.  They were pretty pleased with these!  I had some teen volunteers help cut out the shapes.







Of course, I couldn't leave the starfish shapes alone! Notice the shiny glitter? LOL!










Happy swimmy summertime to come!!