Let's Build a Snowman.

One of my all-time favorite books to use with a snowman theme is Lois Ehlert's, Snowballs. It's always a big hit with the kiddos! I've got several snowman rhymes that I like to use for this theme. I made a pellon set for the classic snowman rhyme, 'Cute Little Snowman'.



I have another pellon set for a song/chant; 'Happy Snowman'. I really need to add some velcro dots to help the pieces stay in place as I dress the snowman. If the group is small you can hand out the pieces and the kiddos can dress the snowman!






Here's a little rhyme for this sweet snowman,

              'A Happy Jolly Fellow'

A Snowman sits upon the hill,

He's a happy, jolly fellow.

His hat is black, his scarf is red,

And his mittens are bright yellow!

And here's one more Snowman rhyme/song; this file folder one that I use with the CD by Carole Peterson; *Highly Usable Music kids Can Sing, Dance & Do! H.U.M.* all Year Long. The tune is London Bridge is Falling Down. Here's the printable doc. for  I Can Make a Snowman.  
Snowmen are so much 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 info! 

Old McRainbow's Flower Garden

Here's another post for springtime bees and flowers! I was inspired last week to make up a new rhyme for Old McRainbow for Springtime! This is a color recognition and listening activity as well. Since I hand out the colored bees the kiddos have to wait and listen and watch for the color of the flower to change in the filefolder. There are several learning skills happening with this simple little activity! My littlest kiddos get the hang of this very quickly and love to add their piece to the flannelboard! Here's the link for the rhyme:  Old McRainbow's Flower Garden.

This is fairly easy to make too. I used a Google image of a cute bee and programmed a sheet with four bees and copied them on colored paper. I used my handy little laminator and laminated them. I rough cut them so that I could laminate 6 at a time and use less laminating film. Once I cut them out more carefully I'll add a small velcro dot to the back. I also used a Google image for my flowers. I just cutout some 'grass' for the bottom of the filefolder and a couple of leaf shapes. I cut out the flowers and the bee but colored with a sharpie the outline and stripes of the bee shape. I laminated the filefolder and hotglued two little googly eyes and stacked my paper and we're ready for 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!

Presents!! Happy 5th Birthday, Flannel Friday!

♫ Happy Birthday to Flannel Friday! ♫   I'm sharing a couple of ideas in honor of this momentous occasion!! The first is an inspired flannel set that I tweaked from In The Children's Room blog. I added 2 more boxes to have 5 presents. We all know that 5 is the magic preschool number! LOL!  Here's a link for the rhyme that you can print out Presents! 

I have a small piece of velcro at the top of each 'present' so that each one will stay in place as I 'unwrap' the paper from the biggest to the smallest to the heart. All the ribbon embellishments are glued on with fabric glue. This set lends itself to sequencing from biggest to smallest or counting to 5 or recognizing colors. You could play, Which one is Missing? with these also. I have a couple of other birthday posts too, HERE!

I also have a file folder set that I made this week that could be used 'as is' or with a bunch of cutout felt 'presents' for the kiddos to bring to the flannel board as you show the file folder colors. I have a diecut that I use for all of the little presents. I just chant the little rhyme and change the colors as the kiddos bring the matching felt presents to the board. They never get tired of this activity! Here's a link to a printable copy.

Oh Happy Day, Happy Birthday to me!

Red is the birthday present I see!

(kiddos bring up the presents and I change the color and repeat the line for the new color)

Hooray, Hooray, Happy Birthday to me!

There are so many colorful presents I see!

I added sequins to the file folder before I laminated it. I also laminated a piece of birthday present wrapping paper that I cut to fit the folder. I have it in place when I start the rhyme and then start changing the colors. I used variegated yarn and cut two small slits and tied the bows for the presents. I took this picture before I finished tying the gazillion bows! LOL! I made 6 of each color because I want to be sure to always have enough for storytime kiddos!! Birthdays 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. Here's the link for the official Flannel Friday blog for more info!

Someone left the Barn Door Open!

Here's my version of the file folder prop and rhyme; Open the Barn Door. I had started on it a while back and then I saw Laura's version HERE and was motivated to finish mine. I did add a couple of verses to mine though. Here's a link for my copy. Open The Barn Door.

Sorry for the shiny spots, the lamination makes it tricky to take a good picture. I made my barn in 2 pieces for easier storage. I also used Google images of real animals and put them in order front and back on each green piece of paper to laminate them. I flip each picture over before I go to the next piece of paper as I say the rhyme. I made my barn door kinda big so that I could have a pretty good sized picture of each animal. The peek-a-boo action makes this really appealing for toddlers! This one turned out better than I had envisioned! Hooray! Farm animals in the barn are a lot of 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. Here's the link for the official Flannel Friday blog for more info!

Hens of Different Colors

Here's an oldie but goodie, Hens of Different Colors file folder rhyme.  I usually start with the orange paper in place so that the kiddos can see the hen shape and details that I outlined with a sharpie on the laminating film. Then I start the rhyme and I stop talking as I change the color sheet for the kiddos to say the color. This is fun to use when I sing Laurie Berkner's song, I Know a Chicken! We use the shakey eggs and have a blast!

Hens of Different Colors

This little hen is black.  She stands in the barnyard by a big haystack.

This little hen is red. She is very tired and won't get out of bed.

This little hen is brown. She is feeling sad and wearing a frown.

This little hen is yellow. Her friend is the rooster. He's a handsome fellow.

This little hen is white. She dances and plays; Oh, what a sight!

This little hen is purple. She spends her day running in circles.

This little hen is green. She is the silliest hen I've ever seen.

This little hen is blue. She lays eggs for me and you.

This little hen is pink. She goes down to the pond to get a drink.

I have colorful hens so pretty to see. I love them and they love me!

I hI have posted several other 'chicken' posts so check them out! Chickens are a lot of 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.

My Little Red Car

Here's another car post for your driving pleasure! LOL! This is a file folder rhyme that changes colors. It could be an interactive rhyme if you had car cutouts that the kiddos 'drive' up to put on the flannelboard as you hold the file folder and say the color rhyme.




My Little *Red Car

Hop right in my little *red car,
Let's drive up and down.
Round and round and round we go
All around the town.

*change the color sheet as you say the rhyme. Use the colors you prefer. I had red, blue, yellow, green and orange.

I used a copy of a map to cover the file folder back. I used a Google image to cut out the car shape.  I cut out 2 black and 2 smaller silver (tinfoil) circles for the tires. I taped the tires and headlight and taillight pieces on with double sided tape and ran the file folder through the laminator. Then I positioned the window pieces and ran it through again. You could skip the last step and just draw on the film with a sharpie all the details. I stacked my papers in the folder and we are ready to go! Cars 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.

A Crown for a Day!

Since we are doing a combination Halloween and Medieval theme soon, I got out my felt sets from a couple of years ago. I have a rhyme that I made up about Queen Sophie and her colorful crowns for each day of the week. I made a felt set of crowns and also a file folder crown. I had colorful gems that I used on my crowns along with lots of glitter!! I hot glued shiny sequins to the file folder crown after I had laminated it. I used construction paper in the file folder, but brightly colored card stock or even some shiny or holographic paper would be really pretty too! Depending on the group (or my mood LOL!) I can use either set. Here's the link for the rhyme,  'Crown for a Day' and the pics of the two sets.

Being a Princess 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.

Pretty Color Birds (filefolder)

Here's a quick easy filefolder rhyme to use as a color recognition activity. I traced the bird shape on the filefolder and cut it out. I added white paper cloud shapes and a brown construction paper branch before I laminated the folder. Then I traced the features on the lamination with a Sharpie. The cloud shapes could just as easily be green and be leaves. I've had this rhyme a long time and can't remember where I originally found it. This activity covers two of the ECRR components: Talking and Playing. I have another bird post here with some cute finger puppets.

Color Birds

Blue bird, blue bird,
High in a tree,
How many blue things can you see?

Repeat for other colors.

Talk about the objects in the room or outside the window or on the children's clothing, or even other things that the children know is that color.

Pretty Color Birds are so much Fun With Friends at Storytime! There are more great posts on the Flannel Friday Roundup this week. 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.

Art is in the Eye of the Beholder!

This week at Storytime it was all about ART! This turned out to be a really fun theme with both the older preschoolers and the younger toddler kiddos. The book we used with all the groups was David's Drawing by Cathryn Falwell. This book has fairly minimal text and nice clear illustrations with a great cumaltive device of David's drawing on each page. Since David's 'drawing' is so small in the top righthand corner of each page, I enlarged and copied it on a color copier. I mounted each picture on a piece of construction paper and laminated them. As we read the book we would put the laminated picture on the white magnetic board. The pictures stacked one slightly on top of the other (I put the magnet at the top back of each picture).  This combination of book and white board with pictures was very easy and effective with all of our age groups. I was also inspired to make a felt set of a post I saw @ Story Time Secrets by Katie Fitzgerald. It's called Harold's Other Crayon. I made felt crayons with an Ellison diecut and added glitter! LOL! Then using the same glitter colors I made a rainbow on a big piece of white fleece (my pretend paper) for a shiny happy ending! Big Hit!!

I needed another artsy type of rhyme so I finally settled on a file folder of a paintbrush and I made up a rhyme that ended with a picture and segued into the Home Extension for each kiddo. We had a cardstock programmed 'frame' for each kiddo to make their own picture! Here's the link for my rhyme Colors in My Picture.  I used a Google image of a paintbrush and drew on the drop and puddle of paint. I used black construction paper and some silver paper to make the handle. I cutout the brush, drop and puddle, then laminated the file folder. I stacked the color paper and made the picture to match the rhyme and had it last in the file folder. Oohs and Aahs when I turned it around for the kiddos to see! This turned out better than I had expected! Love it when that happens! Art and colors are so much Fun with Friends at Storytime!!

The rest of the Flannel Friday roundup is @Story Time Secrets. Be sure to check out the Flannel Friday Pinterest Boards for other great ideas!

Going on a Turkey Hunt!

Thanksgiving is my FAVORITE holiday.  There's no big hype leading up to it, no presents, just, family, food and fun!! I wish Christmas was celebrated this way too! Anyway... I mentioned this Turkey rhyme/activity from Mommy and Me Book Club blog in my Thanksgiving post last year. I like it because it's versatile. It can be done with colored turkeys (I use felt Ellison diecuts) to be added to the board by the presenter or the children. It can also be done with a file folder!  There's lots to discuss with this rhyme! Here's a link to a Google doc of the rhyme that you could print out. Going On a Turkey Hunt!  

I guess you can't take the preschool teacher out of the girl. LOL.  Here's a learning game/activity that I made with some foam shapes and the copier.  I just put the pieces on the glass and laid a white paper behind them and printed them on yellow paper then laminated it on a piece of brown construction paper.  The copy was not in color. It was interesting to see  how some children approached this.  I used this when I taught preschool, but it could be a quiet activity for the early birds to do while waiting for storytime to start.  I've also made matching games with diecut shapes and seasonal stickers that I laminate and cut out and offer to the kiddos. So easy and fun too.

I also have a very simple craft/Home extension that is super easy prep and the children really like it. I show the kiddos my finished turkey before I hand out the turkey body and let the children pick 5 colored "feathers" for their turkey's tail. I suggest to the caregivers that the turkey can be attached to a toilet paper roll and will stand up.  I have programmed a sheet of paper with 3 of the turkey bodies so that I can stack and cut out several of them at a time. Prep for the week for 5 storytimes can take maybe 30 min. or an hour.  Easy, Peasy!!  Since the feathers are so easy to cut 3 or 4 at a time, I cut out A LOT and spread them out on one of our small tables.  This craft involves counting and decision making and the children have some control by choosing the colors they want.  I give the caregivers a little pep talk before I do this by telling them that making choices (within reason and when appropriate) builds connections in the brain and helps the kiddos learn to have self control. Having fun and building a brain...pretty amazing! 
Going on a Turkey Hunt is a lot of  Fun with Friends at Storytime!
You'll want to see the rest of this week's Flannel Friday Roundup HERE. Have questions about Flannel Friday? Check out the Flannel Friday official blog. Be sure to check out the Flannel Friday Facebook page too!

Another Circus Post!

Yes, I have a new circus rhyme/guessing game/ file folder storytime prop to share.  I am doing a set of special storytimes at a preschool that I love and Circus is the theme I'm planning to share.  I have several books to use:  Little Monkey Says Good Night by Ann Whitford Paul, Circus Numbers; a Counting Book by Rodney Peppe, Circus by Lois Ehlert and The Circus by Heidi Goennel. Since I will be presenting several storytimes for ages 2 - 5, I'll be able to use different titles that will work with the different ages.  I shared a couple of other posts last year about circus here and here.  I just wanted something new (I have a short attention span myself LOL!).  Here's the link for the script for the Circus guessing game. You can tweak it for whatever pictures you want to use.  The file folder is in two parts and the pictures came from Google images.  I cut out several circus tents at the same time and then cut them apart and reassembled the pieces on a piece of file folder so that the tent would be striped. I also added 'curtains' to the inside of the cutout space of the file folder and then laminated the two parts. I added a couple of pieces of velcro to the two pieces to make it easier to store.  I stacked my pictures in order to match the script and we're ready for some guessing Circus fun! *update* I used this today and it was a big hit! 

The Circus is a LOT of Fun with Friends at Storytime! The Flannel Friday Roundup is hosted by Meg at Miss Meg's Storytime!  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!

Growing a Smile - Teeth!

I'm typing this post after doing several Halloween themes and maybe the thought of all that Halloween candy is what reminds me of Teeth!  I know that's pretty random, but they do somehow go together in my mind, LOL! I found cute flannel rhymes to use with a Dental Health theme at this post and this post at What Happens In Storytime.  I was inspired to make a couple of my own too. I used pictures of my grandsons, who LOVE to brush their teeth, to illustrate my rhyme. 

J. is such a happy boy!

Growing a Smile!

by Kathryn Roach

When I was a baby, I had a toothless grin.

I began to grow and soon, my first 2 teeth came in!

2 on top and 2 below, my poor gums were so sore.

Then as I grew, tooth by tooth, my mouth held many more!

Without my teeth I couldn’t chew; my bottle was my treat.

C. is a fun loving little guy!

But now with lots of teeth there are so many things to eat!

Yes, getting all my shiny teeth took a little while.

But now I’m glad to show them off with a happy smile!

I actually had 4 pics of the boys from a toothless baby to these last happy smiling pictures.  You could use your own or some Google clipart. I mounted each pic on colorful paper and laminated them.
I also made up a color toothbrush rhyme that I made 2 different ways. I made a felt set of color toothbrushes and I made a cute filefolder version. 

My Colorful Toothbrushes

by Kathryn Roach

I went to the store to buy a toothbrush

I looked at each one, I didn’t want to rush.

I know that brushing my teeth every day,

Is an important way to stop tooth decay!

So…..     

(sing the following rhyme to tune of 'Mary Wore Her Red Dress')

*I could use a blue one, blue one, blue one,   

A new blue toothbrush is such fun!

*repeat with each color...

(speak this last bit)

I liked all the colors so I bought every one.

Having clean, healthy teeth is colorful fun!

Here's a fun youtube clip of Raffi singing 'Brush Your Teeth'. It is on his CD, 'Singable Songs for the Very Young'  I just sing/chant this without the CD. I also found that Jim Gill sings, 'Hands Are For Clapping' on his CD, "Jim Gill Sings The Sneezing Song and Other Contagious Tunes" that has a whole verse about teeth and toothbrushing!

I used a Google clipart image for the felt and  file folder. I cut out the handle part of the toothbrush and glued on the white bristles and toothpaste and tube of toothpaste and then laminated the folder. I stacked the colors in the folder and taped a copy of the rhyme on the back. For the felt toothbrushes I did use some slick white fabric paint on the bristle part to give it a little more dimension.

Good dental hygiene is so much Fun with Friends at Storytime!