Three Men in a Tub!!

Nursery Rhyme time! Here's 'Rub a Dub Dub'!  I think this is my favorite one yet. I used several Google images for ideas and then did my own tweak to make my 3 sailors.  This rhyme would go well with a boating theme or community helpers theme; or perhaps a bathtime or cooking/baking theme? Nursery Rhymes are so much Fun with Friends at Storytime!

Mmmm, Cookies!!

We had such fun with this Cookies theme! Yum!! I saw  this post @ Story Time Secrets for The Doorbell Rang and wanted to make my own. This turned out to be a big hit with the preschoolers! We added a twist by using our Cookie Monster box that I made last year with a set of ABC chocolate chip cookies on a magnetic tray (the shelf of our easel). When the doorbell rings after Grandma brings in her tray of cookies, we bring out Cookie Monster and our tray of 'cookies'! We invited the kiddos to come up and put 2 cookies in the monster's mouth.  The older preschoolers said the letter as they picked off the cookies. Of course, I made a lot of cookie eating noises! Margaret tells the kiddos that Cookie Monster got too full and .... (dumps out the cookies) "Oh No! Cookie Monster lost his cookies!" LOL! Here's a cute idea @ Thrive after Three for Who Ate All the Cookie Dough?  Here are a few other cookie theme/rhyme ideas: @Miss Mary Liberry; @ storytime Katie ; & @ Mel's Desk. ...last one @ Read, Rhyme and Sing.

Here's our segue from Thanksgiving to Christmas since we won't have any Christmas programs. We used the 5 Christmas Cookies rhyme I shared last year. Of course, there was more munching and pretend eating as I took each 'cookie' off the board. Baking Day at Grandma's is a new picture book that we just had to use. There's a repeating refrain that the kiddos really enjoyed saying with me! Our Home Extension was a ziplock bag with 2 chocolate chip cookies! Those little faces lit up when I got out our tray with the bags of cookies. Adorable!  Mmmmmm Cookies are so yummy and Fun with Friends at Storytime! Check out the other posts of Flannel Friday @ Mel's Desk. Have questions about Flannel Friday? Check out the Flannel Friday official blog. 

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!

Mmmm... Gingerbread!

There are many good smells this time of year, but one of my absolute favorites is gingerbread! Gingerbread houses are adorable and fun to make and gingerbread men (and women) are cute and Yummy! This is a fun, festive and not totally Christmasy theme to use right after Thanksgiving.  Jan Brett's cute book, Gingerbread Baby is fun to use with this theme. I tell parts of it because it is a bit long but the ending is fabulous!! This theme can include any Christmas cookie related books too.  Here's several gingerbread and a cookie rhyme for this theme. These 2 Gingerbread Man rhymes are fingerplay/action rhymes. I do put up my sweet gingerbread man at the end of one and leave him up for the second rhyme. I point to my eyes, nose, head and toes; pretend to run and then 'ta da' point to the board again when you say the last line.
Gingerbread Man
Stir a bowl of gingerbread (stir as in a bowl)
Smooth and spicy brown.
Roll it with a rolling pin (pretend to roll back and forth with a rolling pin)
Up and up and down.
With a cookie cutter (hold up pretend - or real if you've got one- cookie cutter)
Make some little men.
put them in the oven (pretend to open oven and slide pan in)
Until half past ten. (tap top of wrist as if tapping a watch)

Guess Who?
I have big raisin eyes
And a red hot candy nose.
I have yummy white frosting
From my head down to my toes!
I can run, run, run
Just as fast as I can.
Can you guess who?
I'm the Gingerbread Man!

Five Little Gingerbread Men
5 little gingerbread men on the tray.
one jumped up and ran away.
Catch me, catch me, catch me if you can!
I'm pretty fast, I'm the gingerbread man!
4, 3, 2, 1,
No little gingerbread men on the tray
I will have to bake some more another day!!

Here's another 5 Gingerbread Men
5 little gingerbread men in a row
(hold up 5 fingers and wave back and forth)
Not gonna eat one, No, No, no.
(shake finger and head 'no')
But they look so sweet from head to toe
(look at felt figures and rub tummy)
Crunch, munch.... uh oh!!
(slap thighs on crunch, clap hands on munch, then put hands over mouth on 'uh oh')
* count down 4, 3, 2, 1, til *
No little gingerbread men in a row
Wasn't gonna eat one, no, no, no (shake head no, hold hands out )
But they looked so sweet that it's sad to tell
(hand binoculars to eyes, then index fingers run down cheeks to represent tears on 'sad')
Crunch...munch...Oh Well!
(slap thighs once, clap once, then throw hands up and shrug shoulders on 'Oh Well!')
I usually pretend to eat each felt gingerbread man and wipe the 'crumbs' from my mouth. This is always a BIG HIT! I can't remember where I got any of these because I've used them sooooo long! Ha!
Here's one more. This is a classic and I'm sure many of you have it too:

Five Christmas Cookies
5 Christmas cookies with frosting galore.  *mother* ate the white one and then there were 4.
4 Christmas cookies, 2 and 2 you see. *father* ate the green one and then there were 3.
3 Christmas cookies, but before I knew; *sister* ate the yellow one and then there were 2.
2 Christmas cookies, oh what fun! *brother* ate the brown one and then there was 1.
1 Christmas cookie, watch *me run. *I ate the red one and then there were none!
(*you can use children's names *)
I used an Ellison diecut for the little gingerbread men and 5 cookies with some white slick fabric paint on the little men and glitter 'sugar' on the 5 cookies. The big gingerbread boy was a gift from a friend many years ago so he's pretty special to me!  This would lend itself to a 'Frost the cookie' extension! How fun would that be?!  Christmas Cookies are Fun with Friends at Storytime!