A Basket Full of Easter Eggs



I know I have posted other Easter Egg posts...here and here... but here's one more just-for-fun set. I made this set with my Sizzix small double egg diecut. I made another basket and egg set that is a lot bigger in this post HERE. This one is a lot smaller so it would work with a smaller group or as a center for one or two children. The larger eggs are glued to the basket shape and the smaller eggs are meant to match them. I could see this used several different ways. I could 'hide' the small egg shape in the room for the children to hunt and then bring to match the one in the basket. I could hand out the small eggs and either point to an egg or call a child's name to bring their egg up and match the egg on the basket.
I could put all the small eggs in a cute container and let the children take turns pulling one out and matching it to the one on the basket. This could be a quiet activity for one child that needs some alone time. I plan on using this little Easter Basket in several different settings and several different ways! To use this set in storytime I did make up a rhyme to go with it:

Basket Full of Easter Eggs
A basket of Easter Eggs is so much fun!
Let's match the pretty eggs one by one!

Yes sirree! Matching colored eggs is a lot of Fun with Friends at Storytime! 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 

Chickens and Eggs!

It's that time of year again! Time for Chickens and Eggs!! Even though real chickens are not that cuddly or cute, storytime chickens are adorable! I have posted some chicken rhymes on a post from a few years ago HERE. I do have a new egg rhyme activity to share. "What's Inside the Egg?" . I saw the idea initially @ Mel's desk and tweaked it a little. LOL! I made eggs about 5" x 4". I cut them to look as if they had cracked apart. I used Google images that I sized to fit behind each colored egg. I doubled the felt on the lighter colors so that the kiddos couldn't see through them. I place them on the board so that the children can't see the items behind the eggs. Then we talk a little about eggs and what could be inside and then we play the game. I say the rhyme and remove the bottom part of the felt egg. As the kiddos see part of the item they can guess what it is. Then I move the top part of the egg and we see what was in the egg. Each item is very different and gives a lot of scope for discussion! We're looking for the baby chick so I make sure that's the last egg we 'crack' open! 

If you are doing an Easter Egg theme I have 2 posts from a couple of years ago, Here and Here. Of course, we will sing Laurie Berkner's fun song, I Know a Chicken! I have shakey eggs that I made for us to use. I put a teaspoon of rice inside the shiny plastic eggs and super-glued them shut. They've held up pretty well. I usually go through and check the eggs before I use them and reglue or take out any that are 'iffy'. Occasionally one will pop open but it's no biggy since there isn't much rice in them. I just run the vacuum quickly after storytime and we're good to go! Having them in a basket makes it easier to get them back too. This song is a favorite! Lots of clucking and shaking and laughing going on!!

We did hand out a fun Home Extension for this theme. I programmed a paper with 2 basket shapes and ran them off on colorful paper. We cut them out and cut out the handle. I have a Sizzix diecut of 2 small eggs that we used with large sheets of sticker paper to make our own stickers. Each basket had 5 for each kiddo to count and color and stick in their basket. 

Yessiree!! Chickens and Eggs are a Lot of Fun with Friends at Storytime!
The rest of the Flannel Friday roundup is @ Library Lalaland. Be sure to check out the Flannel Friday Pinterest Boards for other great chicken and egg ideas! 

Filling My Easter Basket

Here's a fun interactive activity/rhyme I made up for Easter a couple of years ago. I put the big basket on the flannelboard and hand out the colored eggs. As I say the rhyme, the children holding the appropriate color eggs bring them up and put them on the basket.  My basket is fairly heavy pellon with ribbon glued on for decoration. To make it easier to store, the handle is a separate piece with velcro on the back to help stabilize it on the board. I've posted  another Easter Egg rhyme I made up many years ago here. 

Filling My Easter Basket
by Kathryn Roach

Here's my Easter basket. Let's fill it up today.
Come put in my basket the color eggs I say!

Red, orange, and yellow, there's room for every one!
These beautiful, happy colors are so much fun.

Next I need green, then light and dark blue.
We're making good progress now, we're almost through.

There are two more colors; pretty purple or pink!
Hooray! We filled up my basket as quick as a wink.

Easter Eggs are a lot of Fun with Friends at Storytime! Check out the other Flannel Friday posts at the roundup hosted by Lisa at Libraryland.  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! 

Which Came First? The Chicken or the Egg?

Having just done an Easter Egg program, I've got eggs on the brain! Maybe my brains are 'scrambled?' cue the laugh track...  Anyway, I thought I'd share these two cute little chicken flannels that I've had a loonnggg time!  I can't remember where I got the rhymes or the idea for the nest and mother hen's movable wing.  I've used Nancy Tafuri's book, Five Little Chicks and Hurry! Hurry! by Eve Bunting when I do a chicken and/or egg theme.  I also like A Big Fat Hen by Keith Baker.   Another good egg book that's not necessarily about chickens is First the Egg by Laura Vaccaro Seeger.
When I do these rhymes I always do the Five and Five Eggs rhyme first with the mother hen.  Then I  read a book, sing a song and do the other rhyme, Sleepy Chicks, with the same mother hen, but a different nest.

Five and Five Eggs 

Five and five eggs
that makes ten.
Sitting on top is mother hen.
Crackle! Crackle! Crackle! 
What do I see?

Ten fluffy chicks as yellow as can be!  


I made two nests and stacked them on top of each other.  When I say the crackle line, I take off the top nest and ...ta da! there are the 10 yellow chicks!  Even the caregivers laugh when they see the surprise! The chicks are made of yellow cottonballs with little google eyes and orange felt beaks glued on.

Sleepy Chicks

"Come little children,"

calls mother hen.

"It's time to take your nap again."

So under her feathers the small chicks creep,

and she clucks a song till they fall asleep.

I start with just the mother hen on the nest.  I put the chicks under her wing when she calls and finish the rhyme by closing her wing.   We play peek-a-boo a few times with the mother hen's wing which is always a big hit with my youngest preschoolers.  We do a lot of clucking and peek-a-booing; and a lot of giggles!

Chickens are a lot of fun at Storytime!

Hiding Easter Eggs

I don't like to ignore holidays but I also don't go into full blown holiday mode either.  Easter is a great excuse for doing books about eggs, chickens, bunnies, sheep and spring!  One of the books I like to use isn't an Easter book at all. I love the book, An Egg is Quiet by Dianna Aston and illustrated by Sylvia Long.  This book can be used in different ways. I read the largest text and let the children lead in talking about the illustrations on the page. I also use The Golden Egg Book by Margaret Wise Brown.  sooo sweet!

Then there is the great song by Laurie Berkner, 'I Know a Chicken', to sing with egg shakers that I made out of plastic Easter eggs, rice and hot glue/super glue. The children LOVE this song! I do like to play with Easter Eggs.   I have a fun Easter egg rhyme that I like to use. After I present the flannel rhyme we play a game, 'Which One is Missing?'.  I have the children close their eyes and cover them with their hands...(sometimes their little fingers are leaking and I see eyes peeking! LOL!!)  I usually stand in front of the board and reach behind my back to take one of the eggs off the board.  Then, I say "Open your eyes! Which one's missing?"  Usually the older preschoolers shout out the color first.  I will ask, "Are you sure??" And then I show them the egg and we all cheer and do it again!  I'm trying to be more intentional about telling the caregivers the educational benefits of these fun games.  This game is good for;  following directions, being patient, visual memory, color recognition and FUN!      Here's the rhyme:

Hiding Easter Eggs

by Kathryn Roach

I’m hiding Easter eggs today,

I have lots of colors so everyone will say,

“Look at all the fancy eggs.”

Come on, let’s start the hiding play!

The blue one with the pretty stripes I’ll hide inside a shoe. 

The red one with the squiggles will soon be hidden too!

High on a shelf the green one hides, it has colorful squares.

I’ll hide the yellow fancy egg beneath my father’s chair.

The rainbow dotted purple egg I’ll hide beneath the sink.

Inside a bag is just the spot for this egg colored pink.

I’ll hide the bright orange Easter egg in a very little space

When someone finds this funny egg they’ll have a happy face!

Let’s look for all the pretty eggs,

We’ll find them one by one

Grab your basket. Come on let’s go,

Finding Easter Eggs is fun!

These felt eggs are about 6 inches tall and embellished with yarn, fabric paint, more felt, ribbon, sequins, and details cut from fabric. These make me happy!       Have a Happy Easter everyone!  

I'm reposting this for the 5th Birthday/Anniversary Roundup of Flannel Friday! Woo hoo!! Check out the other posts on the ROUNDUP! Check out the wonderful resources from the last 5 years on the Flannel Friday Pinterest Boards. Here's the link for the official Flannel Friday blog for more info!