Tulips in a Row

 

I wanted a new flower set when I do a Flower theme at Storytime  When I ran across a sweet rhyme about 5 Little Tulips on Pinterest I had to make it! 

5 little tulips in the meadow grew.  "Hmmm, I said, "I bet they smell pretty too!"

So I bent down to sniff, but they tickled my nose!

Ah-ah-choo! Oh no! Away 1 flower blows.

repeat with 4,3,2, and 1.

I used a simple Google image to deconstruct to make my colorful tulips.  I did hot glue the leaf to the flower so it wouldn't be floppy.  Tulips make me happy!

Flowers are so much Fun with Friends at Storytime.

 

Flowers in Springtime

 

It's Springtime and I am ready for flowers!! All the colors!!  I made a new set to use when I read, What Does Bunny See? by Linda Sue Park.  I plan on placing each flower on the felt board as I read that color page.  I am especially in love with the tiger lily and pink water lily. We can play, Which One is Missing? with this colorful set!  This was a tedious set to make but it turned out better than I hoped!  Flowers are so much Fun with Friends at Storytime.

What color will Selena wear today?

We're doing a 'Getting Dressed' theme this week at Storytime and I wanted to use my little girl with the colorful wardrobe! This is Selena and she loves fashion...lol.  I start off with her in her nightgown and slippers as she begins to try on one colorful dress after another.  I do have a little rhyme to coordinate the whole activity.  Here she is with her many outfits to choose from.

(change the color dress as you say the rhyme)

What Color Shall I Wear Today?

Good morning, Selena, it's time to get dressed!  

Let's choose a color that we like the best.
How about a red, orange, green, or yellow dress? 

Maybe a purple, or blue, or a pretty flower dress?
Selena tried on her dresses one by one.

Now, she's ready to play and ready for fun!

                                  

 

I really enjoyed making all of Selena's outfits with their embellishments! Getting Dressed for our day is so much Fun with Friends at Storytime!

Mittens Galore!

 

I just realized I didn't have any mitten posts!  So here you go.  The mittens are for a color match rhyme activity.  You can hand out pairs so that the kiddos bring up their matching mittens to make a pair. You can put up one color and the kiddo that has that color brings it up to make a pair.  I have strung a yarn line and had the kiddos clothespin their mitten to the line (fine motor). There are any number of ways to play with these. Here's a couple of rhymes - Each Mitten Has a Mate  or  10 Little Mittens Hanging on the Line.  Here's a song I found MANY  years ago. I don't know the tune but it's a cute chant as you put on a pair of mittens! 

 The Mitten Song    

By Marie Louise Allen

“Thumbs in the thumb-place,

Fingers all together!”

This is the song

We sing in mitten-weather.

When it is cold,

It doesn’t matter whether

Mittens are wool,

Or made of finest leather-

This is the song

We sing in mitten-weather;

“Thumbs in the thumb-place,

Fingers all together!”

  

Stay as toasty warm as you can in mitten weather! Mittens are so much Fun with Friends at Storytime.

Two Little Chameleons!

 

I'm in love with these two adorable chameleons!  I am using my old guessing game Chameleon set from here this week and I needed to add my favorite new finger puppets.  

I'm also using my old set of 5 lizards too!  

Here's the rhyme, I don't remember where I found it tho.  

Five Little Lizards

One little lizard all alone, lying on a smooth, flat stone.

Two little lizards side by side, they play peekaboo, then they hide.

Three little lizards beneath a tree, they run away when they see me!

Four little lizards having fun chasing one another in the sun.

Five little lizards lie so still, snoozing on my windowsill. 

Chameleons and lizards are so much Fun with Friends at Storytime!

Time for Fall Leaves.

 

It's that time of year! I have another Fall post here but I realized I really don't have any fall leaves posts. so here goes!  I usually hand out the small colored leaves to the kiddos and then I use the big leaves as a visual cue for the color in the rhyme.  If your group is too big for them to come add their leaf to the flannel board then they can stand and twirl their leaves as you sing that color in the rhyme.  

*Brown Leaves*

*Brown leaves, brown leaves all around,

twirling, swirling to the ground.

see them dancing through the air,

see them falling everywhere.

Brown leaves, brown leaves, all around, twirling, swirling to the ground.

*Red   *Orange   *Yellow   *Fall (all leaves)

When their color is called the kiddos stand up and twirl and swirl their leaf through the air and then sit down. Last verse all children stand up and do the motions with their leaves.  You can use the green leaves and add that color verse if you want to.  I usually don't use the green ones.  Fall leaves are so much Fun with Friends at Storytime!

Birthday Presents!

 I adapted a rhyme from In The Children's Room blogspot to make a different felt set.  My version is called Birthday Presents!.  This was a super easy and quick set to make! I already had the variegated color yarn to make the pom pom style bow for each present.  I will hide the items behind the boxes and reveal the 'present' as we play. They never get tired of this technique! You can make your 'presents' reflect your kiddo's interests. I printed and laminated and cut out each item.  I just put a small piece of tape on the back to hold it until we 'open' the present.  I did add a piece of Velcro to the top of each felt piece to hold it as we're handling it.  You can always play, Which One's Missing? after you have all the items showing! Birthday presents are so much Fun with Friends at Storytime.  Check out my other Birthday themed posts Here! 

Fireworks in the Sky

Here's a set I use with 2 different rhymes.  

Fireworks in the Sky 

is sung to the Tune of Row, Row, Row You Boat.

Boom, crack, whistle, pop!

Fireworks in the sky.

See them lighting up the night,

On the Fourth of July!

Red, blue, gold, white and green

With fireworks we say,

Happy Birthday, America,

It's Independence Day!

5 Fireworks

*Five little firecrackers getting ready to zoom

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle, sizzle, sizzle

(shake hands from low to high and voice goes from quiet to loud:

BOOM!

(clap hands above head)

(cover firecracker on board with matching fireworks)

*4, 3, 2, 1

5 little Firecrackers zoomed up so high,

making 5 sparkling fireworks to fill the night sky!

Fireworks are so much Fun with Friends at Storytime!

 

Here's a new set to use for a Book or Library theme!  I have 2 ways to use these. I found these rhymes at Storytime in the Stacks' blog post HERE. I added an enlarged  and laminated pic of our library card that we give out to our children patrons. I'm sorry but these colors are not true to life. In person they are more vibrant! I used 2 shades of each color except the pattern books.  I found a Google image that I adapted and deconstructed for my pattern. These were quick and easy!  When I use the ten books I am going to print and laminate book covers of favorite picture book characters to 'hide' behind each book.

I have made a document with the rhymes and pictures of the books HERE.  They never get tired of this activity! Yay for books from the library for Fun with Friends at Storytime!

What's In My Pocket?

I made a fun Look and See game with Pockets! I used my Mushroom Guessing Game idea and made pockets instead! I wish I had made the pockets bigger though.  They are about 4" by 4" and I'd really like them to be more like 6" by 6". If I get ambitious I'll remake them because they are super easy and quick!  The pics are all Google images that I printed and laminated and cut out. I use double sided tape to keep them flat and secure. It's always fun to hear the kiddos' reactions when they see what's in the pocket. This activity is always a big hit and so much Fun with Friends at Storytime!

                                  

Old McRainbow's Wheels on the bus

  

I'm revisiting my schoolbus sets with my Old McRainbow rhyme.  I had forgotten that I made this up a couple of years ago.  This is an interactive rhyme.  I hand out the colored wheels to the kiddos. There's enough for 20 kids.  As I say the rhyme I put up a colored bus and the kiddos bring up the matching wheels.  They love doing this activity. There are so many learning skills involved in this game.  They have to stay engaged to wait for their turn.  They need to know that wheels go at the bottom of the bus shape. They see that each bus has 2 wheels. Plus they enjoy the chance to get up and move and the felt just feels good too!  Old McRainbow and his colorful buses are so much Fun with Friends at Storytime!

My Colorful, Cozy Quilt

 

We are launching a Family Storytime in the evenings and so a bedtime/pajama time theme is the perfect opportunity to make a 'quilt'.  I had sample upholstery fabric swatches that I sorted and cut with pinking shears to make the fabric part of my color felt squares. I hot glued the fabric swatches to the squares of colored felt.  I used a large piece of white felt with hotglued rainbow ribbon to make a grid for my quilt.  I added hook side velcro dots to the top and bottom to keep the backing stable as the kiddos add a color square to make a comfy cozy quilt.  This type of activity works with multiple ages for a Family Storytime. I made up a rhyme to cue the color that the kids bring up.  You can hand out 1 per child if the group is large. Two per child of different colors if your group is small.  After storytime the kiddos can make a quilt on their own. Check out the other bedtime posts in the labels box!   Quilts at bedtime are so much Fun with Friends at Storytime!

My Cozy, Colorful Quilt 

  

Let's make a comfy quilt to keep us cozy in our bed!

It takes a lot of colorful squares, so let's begin with red!

 

by Kathryn Roach 12/20/22 

 

Hand out the squares to the kiddos and as you say the color they can bring up the matching square to add to the ‘quilt’.

Buttons everywhere!

 

I made a set of colorful shirts and buttons to use with Pete the Cat and His Groovy Buttons.  This is an interactive game where I hand out the colored buttons and the kiddos bring them up to match the shirt as I add it to the board.  Even the nonverbal toddlers can play this and they LOVE it!! I deconstructed a shirt image from Google and used 2 shades of each color and glued them onto a dark grey back. I did it this way so that I could make my pieces Big!. I have a Sizzix circle diecut for the buttons. I used some black shiny fabric paint for the thread holes on my buttons.  I usually add a hook side Velcro dot to the back of the big pieces to keep them steady while we play.  I made a Pete the Cat felt set a few weeks ago. He's so mellow and groovy, LOL. 

Buttons for My Shirt

Kathryn Roach 09/16/2022

Here’s my green shirt, but the buttons are gone!
Bring a green button and let’s put it on!

Put up the next shirt and say the rhyme with new color word.
Orange, Purple, Yellow, Pink, Blue

Buttons and Pete the Cat are such groovy Fun with Friends at Storytime!

I Want to Write a Story

 

We are doing Back to School or Starting School storytimes and I wanted a new rhyme inspired by my Five Happy Pencils Ready to Write felt set from a few years ago. The new set has different colors and have emotions that go with the new rhyme I wrote.  Colored Pencils Help me Write a Story   You can't tell but this set is Big! Each pencil is about 10 inches from top to tip. I deconstructed a Google image to make my pencils and used glitter glue and shiny fabric paint and google eyes for the details. 

I can always just tweak my first rhyme to use the color words or the emotion words to use them in a slightly different theme.  We're having a lot of Fun with Friends at Storytime!

Someone Lost a Button!?

I recently made a felt set to be used as I read the book Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons.  I had been inspired by this post HERE  She posts a link for a template for Pete the Cat and his buttons that you could use HERE.  I did use her idea of making Pete's coat attached at the top so I can show off his belly button!  Here's a cute extension activity to make a Pete the Cat booklet! Be sure to change the setting from Letter to Legal size paper for it to print correctly.  I plan to do a Button storytime and use the felt piece for the rhyme/chant, Miss Mary Mack. Buttons are so much Fun with Friends at Storytime!

Shapes, Colors and Counting Felt Puzzle

 

We recently got in 2 adorable board books that have nice large clear pictures and minimal text that will be perfect with our toddler crowd at Storytime.  Miss Margaret asked for a puzzle felt set to  go with them and I noodled a bit and came up with this set. We'll add each row starting with 1 and hopefully they'll guess what it is by the time we get to 10. That's the plan right now...LOL! We'll see how it goes.  I used glitter fun foam for my shapes but I had some butterfly sequins that would fit for the number 10.  There were only 9 shapes in the shape book so we added the trapezoid shaped basket for number 10.  It will be fun to teach them that word!  Shapes and Colors and Counting to 10 are so much Fun with Friends at Storytime!

 

Let's Find a Pearl for the Pail

I saw this cute shell game at Storytime in the Stacks and wanted to tweak it a little and use it this summer with our kiddos at Storytime! We have a lot of really young kiddos so we need to keep it fairly simple but they love to interact with the felt board. This kind of game helps them learn to wait for their turn, follow instructions and enjoy the anticipation and fun of discovery!  Plus...I love watching them play these games 😍.  My plan is to call them by name to come choose a shell. When they discover the 'pearl' they put it in my beach pail! If they can I'll ask them to tell me the color too. I'll take the shell shape down as it's chosen just to speed up the process.  I made 21 shells so we should be good! I did add a piece of velcro to the back of the grey back to hold it on the board as we try to lift the colored front shape.  I did make an alternate rhyme instead of my naming the color shell, I changed it to "Little Clam, Little Clam"  Here's a link to my doc.   Little Shell, Little Shell.

Going to the beach at storytime is so much Fun with Friends!

                         

*updated, Dear Old Dad post

 

I have updated my Dear Old Dad  post and added Grandad and Jr.  This activity/felt set is for a family themed storytime.  Here's a link for my rhyme, Neckties and Bowties.  I jazzed up Dad's ties and made Grandad and Jr.'s bow ties to coordinate with the necktie that Dad is wearing.  I plan on this being an interactive activity with the kiddos.  I'll say the rhyme and add Dad's tie and then the kiddos holding the matching color bowties can come up and put one on either Grandpa or Jr.  The bowties are essentially the same size with a dot of velcro on the back to hold them in place. So, I can still use just the neckties and Dad and the original rhyme too. I guess I could use the rhyme and change out Dad or Grandpa or Jr for 3 different options too.  I just think these men are so dapper! LOL!  Family is so much Fun with Friends at Storytime!

Updating Balls of Yarn!

 

I posted a set of balls of yarn a while back (click here!) and got inspired to finally finish an idea I started in 2015! Here's my rhyme and I finished a set of balls of yarn and the Sweater!! Ya'll I'm super pleased with my cute sweater.  Here's the rhyme:   Balls of Yarn . Playing with yarn is so much Fun with Friends at  Storytime!