Flies, Flies everywhere!

 

We are all set to do a fun storytime about flies!! I bought this felt set of the Old Lady that Swallowed a Fly many years ago! I don't even remember where I got it. Her dress front is clear vinyl so that as I put the fly and other animals in her mouth the kiddos will see them in her stomach. I shared ideas for this theme before HERE.  I made some cute pipe cleaner and pom pom flies on a popsicle stick for a fun activity and as a home extension. I adapted Mel's idea here. 

Flies are a lot of Fun with Friends at Storytime!

Wee Willie Winkie

So here's my felt piece for the roaming insomniac, Wee Willie Winkie! LOL!  We used him to kick off 2 different storytime themes. Miss Melissa talked about Neighbors last week and this week she's talking about Clocks and Time.  We had a fun home extension for our clock theme too! The kiddos and even parents liked the home extension this week! It was easy prep. We cut paper towel rolls into 1 and 1/2 inch pieces and cut out watch faces printed on card stock. They loved it!

Miss Melissa talked about having a schedule for our day and a digital clock and an analog!   

Wow there was lot's of vocabulary and lots of Fun with Friends at Storytime!

My Lovey Friend!

We just did a sweet program about having a 'Lovey'.  I made up a rhyme with an activity for our program. Since not every child has a teddy bear as their lovey I made it a little more inclusive, LOL! Here's a link for the rhyme 'Where's Teddy?'  I saved the Google images that I used on that link also. I printed them, rough cut so that I could laminate 2 images at a time in our little laminator, cut them out and put a dot of Velcro on the back of the big pieces. I used a piece of double-sided tape on the backs of the 'lovies' so that there is no bump under the big pieces. I set up the board with the teddy bear last. I set up the activity before the kiddos came. This way the kiddos didn't see that there was something behind every item. I let the kiddos come up and check under each item for teddy. I used the different lovies so that each kiddo finds something! So much fun! After that game we played 'Which One is Missing?' with the lovies. Talking and Playing are those ECRR components covered with this activity.  

This turned out to be a really fun theme that seemed to 
resonate with the littles in my storytimes this week! I used this precious book at both my toddler and preschool sessions and it was a big hit! I also used Knuffle Bunny with the older set. When I introduced it I heard a child say, "I love that book!". Yay!!

We offered a Home Extension based on the illustrations from Sam and Jump. Those kiddos love something with a handle!! We had a picture of our mascot puppet, Harvey cut out so that he would tuck into the bucket shape.  I suggested that they use Harvey to play a hide and seek game at home later. I heard caregivers affirming that idea! Love when that happens! We love our 'Lovies'! and have Fun with Friends at Storytime!! *update: I had a caregiver tell me the next week that they had played with Harvey all week! Love it!!

There are other ideas this week @ Flannel Friday Roundup. Check out the wonderful resources on the Flannel Friday Pinterest Boards. Here's the link for the official Flannel Friday blog for more info! 

I Love Food!

It's getting close to Thanksgiving so my mouth is already starting to water, thinking of FOOD!  I shared on another post about a rhyme I have about healthy food called 'Brown Bread, Brown Bread'. We have used it this week in storytime to talk about Thanksgiving food. It's been a lot of fun. I laminated Google images of the different colored foods and handed them out. As I put a pic of the food on the flannelboard, the kiddos bring up their matching picture and put on my big platter on my lap. It's so cute that many of the little ones are so used to putting their piece on the board that they'd stand there and try and try to stick their laminated piece on the board! Since they had 2 different pictures (I made 5 of each food) the second time they would get it right!

We used one of my favorite food/family books, Feast for 10. I really like Cathryn Falwell's book for toddler/preschool storytime. It has nice big uncluttered pictures and minimal text. The kiddos think that the 5 kinds of beans page is funny! (hint: one of the kids is holding a bag of jelly beans!).  One of my kiddos today noticed that on the last page of the book, one child is eating jellybeans while the other is reading a book! It's not explicitly a Thanksgiving book but it ends with the family seated around a table that looks a lot like Thanksgiving!  
We  also gave out a fun Home Extension of pieces to make a bunch of grapes. The pieces are different shapes and the circles are different sizes and colors so there is a lot of scope for conversation about that! I have a sizzix diecut for the circles so prep was quick! 

Food at Thanksgiving is delicious and a lot of Fun with Friends at Storytime! There are more great ideas on the Flannel Friday Roundup! Check out the wonderful resources on the Flannel Friday Pinterest Boards. Here's the link for the official Flannel Friday blog for more info!

Happy Gorillas!

During the month of November we are featuring storytime themes that start with the letter G. Our first week is a week of gorillas! After checking the Flannel Friday Pinterest boards, I decided to make my own rhyme and set of gorillas. Here's the link for 'Happy Gorillas' and pics of my counting to five set of gorillas and colorful gorilla food.  To make my pattern for my gorillas I used the best features from 2 or 3 different Google images that I traced and deconstructed for the parts.I made my own patterns for the banana, leaves, tree, bush and bugs. The five bugs have pipe cleaner legs hot glued to the back. I have a diecut that I used for the flowers and the berries. We are giving a Gorilla paper bag puppet as our Home Extension.  Yep, Gorillas are a lot of Fun with Friends at Storytime!







There are more great ideas on the Flannel Friday Roundup. Check out the wonderful resources on the Flannel Friday Pinterest Boards. Here's the link for the official Flannel Friday blog for more info!

Sunny Days!

I saw this post by Amy @one little librarian and remembered the sunflower post I shared a few years ago. I mentioned that I had done a Sunshine storytime that was so much fun. I just had to make a set of those cute little suns and clouds to add to my plan. I used my Sizzix sun and circle diecuts and glued on google eyes and a crescent piece cut from a large sequin. I just freehand cut out the cloud shapes and added a little white glittery fabric paint. I'm kinda pleased with how these turned out. I'm so happy to have the great resources from Flannel Friday! 

Amy has the rhyme for the 10 little suns that I made into a printable doc HERE and the lyrics for Raffi's song Mr. Sun.  Here's a youtube clip of Raffi singing, Mr. Sun.  We offered a Home Extension using my Sizzix sunshine diecut and some pipe cleaners to make 'sun'glasses! Ha! We enjoyed playing rhythm sticks with 'You Are My Sunshine'. We had so much Sunshiney Fun with Friends at Storytime!
There are more great ideas on the Flannel Friday Roundup. Check out the wonderful resources on the Flannel Friday Pinterest Boards. Here's the link for the official Flannel Friday blog for more info!

Catching Fireflies

Fireflies are so magical! I've done this theme for years! Several years ago I made up a rhyme that I used with a pellon set of a jar and 5 pellon fireflies. Then I made a smaller set of 10 fireflies and a smaller pellon jar. Then, recently I was inspired to remake my set in flannel when I saw this post @catch the possibilities. Check out the Flannel Friday 'bugs' Pinterest board for other posts about fireflies. I decided to add my set and rhyme to the mix!  Here's a printable link for my rhyme,  'Catching Fireflies'


Here's the progression of my fireflies...

I also offered a craft with this theme. I cut out a jar shape from black construction paper. I put out pans of glue with glitter stirred in it and the kiddos stamped with little porcupine rings to make fireflies in their jar. Easy Peasy!  We recently got in this new firefly book. It's beautiful!! I want to use it next time I do this firefly theme! Fireflies are so much Fun with Friends at Storytime. There are more great ideas on the Flannel Friday Roundup. Check out the wonderful resources on the Flannel Friday Pinterest Boards. Here's the link for the official Flannel Friday blog for more info! 

Drivin' in my Car!

My grandsons have been obsessed with cars since the Disney movie Cars came out a few years ago. We have cars here and at their home and in their car... I guess it's about time I did a post about cars. Many years ago I made a set of 5 race cars to go with a cute rhyme that I had discovered. I didn't cite it on my copy so I don't know where it came from (I hate when that happens!!) Anyway, I used it and made 10 different colored cars to do the basic, count to 10 rhyme and read some books and we sang a fun song and had a great storytime! I used 'Driving in my Car' from the fun, Ralph's World CD. I've used several of the songs from this CD.

Five Fast Race Cars

Five fast race cars speeding round the track.

The first car said, " I can't look back!"

The second car said, "Oh no! I'm out of gas!"

The third car said, "Beep! Beep! I'm fast!"

The fourth car said, "Watch my tires spin."

The fifth car said, "Vroom vroom! I win!"

Then beep went a horn and flash went the lights,

And five fast race cars sped out of sight!

Here are my 10 little race cars...

1 little 2 little 3 little race cars;  4 little 5 little 6 little race cars;  7 little 8 little 9 little race cars;

10 race cars zoom past!

10 little 9 little 8 little race cars;  7 little 6 little 5 little race cars; 4 little 3 little 2 little race cars;

1 race car is last!  (Feel free to tweak this!! please!!)

You can tell I used a diecut for the car shapes. They've been handled and stretched a bit but they are still lots of Fun with Friends at Storytime!

I did a craft at the time I did this storytime but you could easily adapt the idea for a Home Extension. I had copied a map onto 11 x 17 paper and set out pans with some green paint and small cars. The kiddos 'painted' by dipping the car wheels in the paint and driving them on the map. I had a small paper green car for them to glue to the map after they painted. FUN!! You could hand out the map paper and small car cutout and tell them to take it home to color or paint. 

There are more great posts on the Flannel Friday Roundup. Check out the wonderful resources on the Flannel Friday Pinterest Boards. If you want more info about Flannel Friday here's the link for the official Flannel Friday blog.

Bo Peep and her Sheep!

 Here's an oldie but goodie! Little Bo Peep and her silly sheep. I made this set a very long time ago. I used Pellon and crayons and added a bow and green felt bush for the sheep to hide behind. I start with Little Bo Peep and add the 'hiding' sheep and then take it off and add the other sheep at the end. I also made a basic pellon set to use with Baa Baa Black Sheep. I use these with either a farm theme or sheep theme (HERE) or a nursery rhyme theme. The craft I offered with this theme was easy! I had a cut out programmed sheep for each kiddo. The kiddos could color the face, ears and legs and tail. They rubbed a glue stick all over the fleece part and then patted it with a cotton ball that was real cotton. The kiddos then have a fluffy sheep to remember the fun Storytime about sheep.

Little Bo-peep has lost her sheep and can't tell where to find them...

Leave them alone and they'll come home wagging their tails behind them.

Baa baa black sheep, have you any wool?

Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full.

One for my master and one for my dame 

and one for the little boy that lives down the lane.

Home Extension

Sheep are so much Fun with Friends at Storytime! There are more great posts on the Flannel Friday Roundup.  Check out the wonderful resources on the Flannel Friday Pinterest Boards. If you want more info about Flannel Friday here's the link for the official Flannel Friday blog.

Mmmmm, I Love Apples!

I have a fun interactive apple rhyme that I made up a few years ago. Here's the link for 'I Love Apples - game'.   I diecut about 4 or 5 of each color. I hand them out and tell the kiddos to bring the matching color to put on the flannelboard as I say the rhyme. You could just as easily use laminated paper apple shapes and let the kiddos come up and put their apples in a basket. Any way you play it, apples are a lot of Fun with Friends at Storytime. Check out my other apple posts HERE and HERE.






I love Apples - game
by Kathryn Roach
I love apples, so good to eat!
* color * apples can't be beat!
*sweet-red
*tart-green
*mild-yellow
*funny-blue
*surprising-purple
*tangy-orange
*silly-pink
See my apples. I can't wait
to eat my apples. They're so great!

I have a small apple die cut that we used with a basket shape for the kiddos to make their own basket of apples for our Home Extension. We got 2 baskets from one 9x12 piece of construction paper. The kiddos can use a glue stick at home as they remember the fun storytime at the library!
Another option could be to stamp apple shapes on the basket using stamps or real apples and paint.
There are more great posts on the Flannel Friday Roundup. Check out the wonderful resources on the Flannel Friday Pinterest Boards. If you want more info about Flannel Friday here's the link for the official Flannel Friday blog.

Beary Sleepy Bedtime

Bears and Bedtime are a winning combination for storytime! I've posted some other bedtime posts HERE and HERE. I made my own new set of Five in the Bed inspired by Miss Mary Liberry and Sarah at Read Rabbit Read. I actually made 6 little bears (can't remember why??) We offered a really easy prep, Home Extension that uses the adorable bear and bunny from this cute picture book! We put the cut squares in an envelope and paper-clipped it to the precut, programmed paper so that they could color Bear and bunny and make the blanket with the squares and a glue stick. I'm showing the example that I made. They loved it!! 

We also sang a fun silly song I saw at 1234 More Storytimes about colored pajamas that had everyone laughing! I laminated and cut out Google images of kids in 5 different colored pajamas; red, orange,green, pink and blue. I used those colors because they were one syllable and fit the song. Anyway, I was VERY expressive with my singing! After 2 colors the caregivers and the kiddos began singing with me. They thought it was hilarious! LOL! We're having so much Fun with Friends at Storytime! There are more great posts on the Flannel Friday Roundup. Check out the wonderful resources on the Flannel Friday Pinterest Boards. If you want more info about Flannel Friday here's the link for the official Flannel Friday blog.

EEeekk! Snakes in the Grass!

There's something fun and shivery about doing a snake theme for Storytime. There's a fine balance between the scariness of snakes and the fun books and rhymes about snakes. Still, I really like this theme! I don't usually have realistic pictures to show, but I do mention that there are non-fiction books available that have great pictures and information for any kiddos that really want to investigate snakes!  I like to use my soft, beanie baby snake as a prop and let the kiddos touch it. I've got a couple of rhymes to share that I use with the felt snakes.  I have 2 different 5 little whats-it rhymes: '5 Little Snakes' and 'Five Little Snakes'. One of the rhymes calls for specific colors in the rhyme. You can make your snakes any colors you'd like! Here's mine:

I think I got the pattern from the craft that I offered. I believe I originally found this idea and the patterns in one of the series of monthly idea books by The Education Center: Mailbox Magazine.

This is easy prep and a great fine motor, eye-hand coordination activity. Actually, you could let the kiddos cut the 'grass' at the top of the 9x12 piece of construction paper. I'd probably prep the slits for weaving. But you could have the paper folded with lines drawn for the older kiddos to cut. Snakes in the grass are a lot of Fun with Friends at Sssstorytime! There are more great posts on the Flannel Friday Roundup. Check out the wonderful resources on the Flannel Friday Pinterest Boards. If you want more info about Flannel Friday here's the link for the official Flannel Friday blog.

In My Little Red Wagon

We recently did a very fun 'Little Red Wagon' storytime theme.  Our mascot Harvey was the star of the Home Extension/craft that we offered and the first rhyme/activity was about him.  Miss Debbie had found Google images of objects that rhyme and we printed them and laminated them and then cut them out. I had a miniature red wagon that we pretended that Harvey was pulling with the objects in them. We would pull out an object and show it and discuss it and add it to the felt board then bring out the next object and point out that they rhymed! There was a lot of discussion about the different things in Harvey's wagon!


Here's the rhyme that Miss Margaret made up for this activity:

Wagon Flannel Game

(by Margaret Vaughan)

Walking along pulling his wagon behind,  

Look and see. What did Harvey find?

We had :  flower - shower ; log - dog ; book - hook ; pickle -nickle ; rock - sock ; and some random pics of items. Miss Margaret also made a cute flannel set of 5 colored wagons to play a version of the 'Little Mouse hiding in a colored house' game with a Google image of a dragon. Our flannel board has gotten a little bit slick so we added velcro to the back of the wagons. 

We sang Bumping Up and Down by Raffi and we used the parachute to sing and move to Old Brass Wagon (Wee Sing). Playing with a little red wagon is so much Fun With Friends at Storytime. There are more great posts on the Flannel Friday Roundup. Check out the wonderful resources on the Flannel Friday Pinterest Boards. If you want more info about Flannel Friday here's the link for the official Flannel Friday blog.