How Does Your Pumpkin Grow?

As I was going through my fall theme tub, I found a cute pumpkin prop that I got a few years ago from a guest presenter from the Farm Bureau. I tweaked it a little and added the Jack-o-lantern to mine. Since then I found a cute set HERE.  

Here's mine: 

                 'Life Cycle of a Pumpkin'

A seed is planted in the ground. 
(pull out seed shape)

A leaf appears. (keep pulling until leaf shows)

Next comes a blossom...   

Then a small, green pumpkin...               

Which grows and grows and turns orange.  

Here's an orange pumpkin that we can pick and carve into ... 

(After you show the orange pumpkin, flip the brown paper plate over and show the Jack-o-lantern) 

A funny Jack-o-lantern!

I painted one paper plate brown for the 'ground' and taped a long piece of green curling ribbon in the center of it. I stapled another paper plate to the back of the brown plate with the ribbon sandwiched between the two. I taped the shapes at intervals on the ribbon and then stacked them on top of each other and tucked them into the paper plates with a small piece of ribbon showing to pull the pieces out. I used Google images for a Jack-o-lantern for the back side. There was a lot of 'oooing' and 'ahhhhing' as the pieces magically appeared from the paper plates. Way fun!!

The Pumpkins Are Here                                                      

The pumpkins are here. The pumpkins are there.

The pumpkins, the pumpkins are everywhere.

The pumpkins are up. The pumpkins are down.
The pumpkins, the pumpkins are all around.

The pumpkins are in. The pumpkins are out.
The pumpkins, the pumpkins are all about.

The pumpkins are low. The pumpkins are high.
The pumpkins, the pumpkins all say,  "Goodbye!"

This classic rhyme sung to the tune of the 'Farmer In the Dell' is fun. Give each child a pumpkin cutout on a popsicle stick to move as you sing the song.  I usually sing the song very slowly when I do it with toddlers.  If you make enough props, you could let the kiddos take one home as their home extension. I have offered a craft with my pumpkin/ Jack-o-lantern storytimes also. Here is a fun easy one that was very popular.  I printed the Jack-o-lantern pattern  on construction paper. Then I cut it out, including the facial features and covered the front with a piece of contact paper cut to fit. I put the paper piece on the back until we were ready for the craft time. Then the caregiver or older preschooler peeled the paper off and added glitter to the features. I do it 2 different ways. I usually use a pie pan or paper plate with glitter in it that the kiddos can either, pat their Jack-o-lantern on; or 'pinch' the glitter and sprinkle it over the features. The pinching of the glitter is a good fine motor exercise. I have wet wipes or wet paper towels for the glittery fingers. The kiddos really like this craft!

Pumpkins and Jack-o-lanterns are so much Fun with Friends at Storytime! Check out the rest of the roundup @ Mel's Desk .  Have questions about Flannel Friday? Check out the Flannel Friday official blog.  Be sure to  join us on the Flannel Friday Facebook page.

Pie!..."it's pretty tasty!"

My first ever Flannel Friday contribution was 2 years ago when I was a guest of Amanda @ Trails & Tales. I shared a couple of my pie sets and since then I have made another pie set inspired by Sarah @ Read Rabbit Read. I'm already thinking about the holidays coming and all the good food we cook around Thanksgiving and Christmas time. But you could use these pie rhymes anytime of the year! I thought I'd put my pie sets all together on my blog and share them again! Here's the picture of my "Five Pumpkin Pies in the Bakery Shop". I couldn't resist adding some shiny glitter 'sugar' to the tops of my pies. LOL!

ONE WHOLE PIE

One whole pie set by the door,

Cut into pieces, I count four.

Four pieces of pie all for me,

I ate one piece, now there are three.

Three pieces of pie for me too, 

I ate another piece, now there are two.

Two pieces of pie; oh what fun!

I ate another piece, now there is one.

One piece of pie; I can’t wait! 

I ate that last piece, empty plate! 

Yummy Pies

Tune: "Three Blind Mice"

By Jean Warren - 

(adapted by Kathryn Roach)

Pies, pies, pies,

Pies, pies, pies.

Yummy pies,

Yummy pies.

Strawberry, blueberry, and cherry, too.

Apple and Key lime to name a few.

Chocolate, lemon, how about you?

I love pie!

That's no lie!

After I sing ‘Yummy Pies’ and put up the flannel pieces, we talk about the different colors of the pies. Then we play “Which Pie  Did Miss Kathy Eat?”  The children close their eyes, I remove one piece and they guess.  When they guess correctly, I show them the piece and pretend to gobble it up! They always think this is hilarious! Of course, they have to talk about their favorite flavor! 
Pie is delicious and Fun with Friends at Storytime!

Check out the rest of the roundup @ Storytime Katie's blog.  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!

All God's Critters...

I just love this song and book! The illustrations are absolutely adorable. I have a CD with the song on it that I can play while I sing/read along and show the kids the pages. If you've never heard the song here's a Youtube link for All God's Critters Got a Place in the Choir. I have used my extensive collection of Beanie Babies with this theme. I hand out the beanies after an explanation that I'm sharing with the children so that we can play with them today and when we are finished they will give them back so that we can use them again another time...no problems getting them back! Anyway, the kiddos hold onto the Beanie Baby animal while I sing/read the book and then they use them like a beanbag as we sing Beanbag Boogie by Greg and Steve. They get to hold them as we sing our goodbye song, Skinnamarink by Sharon, Lois and Bram. This theme is a good excuse to use the classic and ever popular, 'Five Little Monkeys Swinging in a Tree'. My sets are made from pellon.

and 'Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed'.

I offered a craft with this theme too. I programmed an 8 1/2 x 14 paper with a 'stage' at the bottom of the paper and the title of the book.  I used crepe paper to cut 'curtains' for the sides and half of a piece of crepe paper for the top curtain valance.  I had my teen volunteers cut out pics of animals from the back issues of the kid's animal magazines. The kiddos used a glue stick and chose 3 or 4 animal pics to glue on their paper 'stage'.  

All God's Critters are a lot of Fun with Friends at Storytime!

Check out the rest of the roundup @ 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!

Inspired Pumpkins

This is my version of Sarah @ Read Rabbit Read's 'Five Giant Pumpkins'. I loved the 2-sided action with her images. I combined felt and images in my set. I made the pumpkins out of felt and, of course, added some glitter. I used laminated Google images with velcro on the back for the items hiding behind the giant pumpkins.  The kiddos really liked this one last year. Then we played, 'Which One's Missing?' with the items after I moved the pumpkins. I love a 2 for 1 set!!

You just can't have too much Fun with Friends (and pumpkins) at Storytime.  Check out the rest of the roundup HERE.  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!

Flannel Friday Roundup

Hooray! Summer Reading programs are done. They were so much fun, but now it's time to get ready for fall programming! Here are some great ideas for this week to help plan for future programs.  

Bridget @ What is Bridget Reading? has an inspired post this week, with a great way to use pieces from other felt sets too. 

Nikki @ Hey There Library shared a great way to use stars to help tell a Native American legend.

Mrs. Todd @ A Librarian Less Ordinary has made a wonderful felt prop! Lowly Worm is one of my favorite Richard Scarry characters.

I feel fall coming!! I have an inspired post about Five Giant Pumpkins! (Thanks Sarah)

Jane and Piper @ Piper Loves the Library welcome a new friend, Kaden, to their storytime! 


Be sure to join us next week when Bridget @ What's Bridget Reading? will host the 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!

Tea Time - Take Two

I seem to have tea party on the brain. I finished all my teapots and teacups and I'm totally in love with them! I noticed that I had 7 colors of teapots after I finished the Tea Time rhyme/activity and thought, "Hey, 7 days of the week...I'll make a rhyme that uses a different color for each day."  So, I sat right down and thought up a rhyme...well, not so fast.  I admit to having a bit ...o.k. ... a lot of trouble with it, but I think this one will serve the purpose; Days of the Week Tea Time. I've also had the nursery rhyme/song  'Polly Put the Kettle On' stuck in my head for a week! Maybe now I've got this out of my system, and I can move on to another theme LOL!

 

Tea time is a lot of Fun with Friends at Storytime!  Tara @ Storytime with Miss Tara 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!

Old Man Skipper Went to Sea

Yikes!! It's Shark Week and I don't have any shark flannelboard sets to post. My Old Man Skipper song/activity is the closest thing I have. A coworker shared this song with me many years ago. I love a different take on a tune I know. 'Old MacDonald Had a Farm' is now, 'Old Man Skipper Went to Sea'.  I have a duffle bag with a LOT of sea/beach type Beanie Babies that match the song. I tell the kiddos that I'm sharing these stuffed creatures for the game so they can't take them home. I need them back so that I can play this game with other children that come to storytime! Then, I hand out a sea creature to each kiddo before we start to sing. I instruct them to listen and when they hear the name of the creature that they are holding they can bring it up and put it in my bag. We identify each one and get ready to sing. I put the Skipper on the flannelboard and hold open the duffle bag and we have a great time! Here's the link to the doc. for the song, Old Man Skipper. This is always a big hit! (And I've never had a child not put their creature in the bag.) Since I have soooo many Beanie Babies that match the song (I added a few too) I never got around to making felt pieces. My skipper is made of pellon with a black sharpie outline and I used colored pencils to color him. I know that Burt Dow Deep-Water Man is not about sharks but it is about a skipper and I have always loved this story! Sea creatures, including sharks, are a lot of Fun with Friends at Storytime!

Sharon @ Rain Makes Applesauce 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!