More Duckies!

Well, it's spring time and in my mind that means eggs and chicks and ducks!! I shared the set I made last week for a Duck theme HERE.  Our preschoolers right now are young and so they really enjoy an interactive activity at the flannelboard so I made a set of colored ducks and a new rhyme so that we can play a game.  They don't seem to get tired of this activity!!  I say the first part of the rhyme initially and then only repeat  *The (color) ducks go swimming with a quack quack quack* and change the color each time. The kiddos with that color felt duck get to bring it up and put it on the felt board "pond". Then I close the rhyme with the last two lines and we all admire the colorful ducks!  

Old McRainbow’s Colorful Ducks

by Kathryn Roach 

There’s a funny kind of farm where colorful ducks grow.

They’re cared for by a funny farmer, Old McRainbow!

Waddling to the pond way out in the back

*The red ducks go swimming with a quack quack quack!

Orange Yellow  Brown Green Black Blue Purple Pink  White

See the colorful ducks swimming and their quacking seems to say,

"Please come back to play with us on another day!"

                         

Be sure to check out my other duck post HERE!  Ducks are so much Fun with Friends at Storytime!

Not-a-Flannel Valentine Post!

Hey Friends, over the past 3 years I've posted a couple of Valentine's theme posts...Here and Here. I've also posted a  Friendship theme,   Here. So, this time I'd like to share a few not-flannel ideas that I've used over the years in a preschool classroom setting that would work in storytime too.  I have two different types of Bingo/Matching games. I made half sheet LOVE Bingo cards that I laminated and handed out to the kiddos. I used candy heart markers...yes, you know how that went! LOL! but you could use clothespins to clip on the pictures (fine motor practice) or small heart diecuts or even valentine erasers. There so many learning concepts covered in this activity! Talking and Playing!! I made a second set of whole sheet matching cards that I laminated and these could be used before or after storytime! I had another idea of putting the pictures on a heart shape and clipping clothespins to the matching picture like I did with a camping set HERE.


I have a set of laminated construction paper diecut hearts that I've used in a preschool class as a Hide and Seek game. I 'hide' the small heart in the classroom. I usually just lay them out in various places so that the kiddos can see them. I instruct them to only pick up the one that is the same color as the one in their hand! LOL! This is really hard for some kiddos! It's fun to watch them help one another too! This could easily be adapted to storytime by placing the cutout heart diecut on the magnetic/flannelboard and having the child with that color bring it up to fit inside and make a complete heart! Just add a dot of velcro or a magnet to the back of each piece!

There's the easy peasy matching game of duplicate kiddy valentine cards laminated with a dot of velcro or a magnet on the back of them! Or you can make a matching set by using duplicate valentine stickers on heart shapes and laminate them! There are so many ways to jazz this up!  Have the kiddos reach into a mailbox to pull out a card and then match it to the one on the board. You could hand out the duplicate pieces to an even number of kiddos in storytime and let them find the matching piece among the group (this could get a little loud LOL!) Another idea is to have one of the set hanging on a line with clothespins. The kiddos take turns walking down the line to find their matching piece. It could be even better if they can use those fine motor muscles to pin the two pieces together back on the line!

My last idea is a before-and- after activity supervised by an adult because of the small pieces. I have found Valentine erasers at the Dollar store and programmed a pattern on pink paper using the copier. The kiddos find the matching eraser and make the pattern on the paper. Be sure, this is well supervised! I usually put the erasers in an empty heart shaped candy box. Ha! That's my classic preschool teacher move, I don't throw anything away. I find a way to use it!! I've been out of the classroom for several years but you can't get the classroom out of me! LOL!! Valentines Day activities are sooo 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!

Colorful Puppies Are Ready to Nosh!

Time to do a puppy storytime again and I wanted something new and interactive so...Here are my colorful puppies with dog dish and bones. I used Google images to get ideas for the puppies and finally settled on one body and changed the heads. I was planning on doing 10 puppies and gave out of steam at 7 which still lends itself to eventually a rhyme about a different color pup on the days of the week. I had a dog dish and bone diecut with my Sizzix machine so that was easy peasy.  Here's a printable link for the rhyme, Colorful Puppies. 

Check out my other dog posts HERE and HERE.  Puppies 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!

Morning on the Farm

 

There are so many fun books about Farm that you could use it for the overall theme for a month! Actually, I've done that before. The first week I did general Farm books. The second week I did Chicken books. That was an excuse to use Laurie Berkner's song, ' I Know a Chicken' and use the shaky eggs! The third week I did Pig books and the fourth week I did Sheep books.  I guess I could have continued with Cow or Tractor or Seeds or Veggies.  There are so many great books to choose from. Also, there are so many great songs to use too! There's the classic 'Old MacDonald had a Farm'. It's not technically about a farm but 'Cat Goes Fiddle-i-fee' has all the farm animals. I have a new favorite song now from Nancy Stewart. It's her song, 'When Ducks Get Up in the Morning'.  I think I first saw it mentioned on one of the Flannel Friday blogposts...but I can't remember which?! Anyway, since I have access to some great Ellison farm animal diecuts I decided to make the song an interactive activity. So I cut out about 5 or 6 of 6 different farm animals and handed them out to the kiddos. As we sang about that animal the children holding the matching animal diecut brought it up to the board. I tried a different way to do this with a small group of 2's and young 3's. I was able to give them all the same animal and they had to wait for me to say the sound that the animal makes to bring up their diecut. Waiting and listening for the sound before they could get up was challenging for one of the little kiddos. It didn't take long though, he got the hang of it and could sit on the edge of his chair and wait for the animal sound! I had as much fun as they did!! Playing is one of the ECRR components that we model in our storytimes. Now, I'm thinking a set of jungle/zoo animals might be next on my to-do list. The song is really easy to learn so that you don't have to have the music and you can improvise as you like. Be sure to check out some of the other great Farm/farm animal ideas on the Flannel Friday Pinterest boards.

Farm animals are a lot of Fun with Friends at Storytime! Check out the rest of the roundup  @ Library Village. Have questions about Flannel Friday? Check out the Flannel Friday official blog.  Be sure to  join us on the Flannel Friday Facebook page too.

Old Man Skipper Went to Sea

Yikes!! It's Shark Week and I don't have any shark flannelboard sets to post. My Old Man Skipper song/activity is the closest thing I have. A coworker shared this song with me many years ago. I love a different take on a tune I know. 'Old MacDonald Had a Farm' is now, 'Old Man Skipper Went to Sea'.  I have a duffle bag with a LOT of sea/beach type Beanie Babies that match the song. I tell the kiddos that I'm sharing these stuffed creatures for the game so they can't take them home. I need them back so that I can play this game with other children that come to storytime! Then, I hand out a sea creature to each kiddo before we start to sing. I instruct them to listen and when they hear the name of the creature that they are holding they can bring it up and put it in my bag. We identify each one and get ready to sing. I put the Skipper on the flannelboard and hold open the duffle bag and we have a great time! Here's the link to the doc. for the song, Old Man Skipper. This is always a big hit! (And I've never had a child not put their creature in the bag.) Since I have soooo many Beanie Babies that match the song (I added a few too) I never got around to making felt pieces. My skipper is made of pellon with a black sharpie outline and I used colored pencils to color him. I know that Burt Dow Deep-Water Man is not about sharks but it is about a skipper and I have always loved this story! Sea creatures, including sharks, are a lot of Fun with Friends at Storytime!

Sharon @ Rain Makes Applesauce has the rest of this week's roundup. 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!

Tea Time!

It's time for tea!  We are planning to start our fall programming session with a tea party theme. We'll sing "I'm a Little Teapot" from Toddler Trio; Music for Little People Choir.  It's the first song on the third disc. I like their version because they have a second verse. They sing, "I'm a little teapot, it is true/ Here let me show you what I can do/ I can change my handle and my spout/ Tip me over and pour me out!"  I use many of the songs from this CD trio. I also wanted an interactive rhyme to go with our Tea Party theme. My rhyme is called Tea Time. I used Google images and made a programmed sheet of a line drawing of a teapot and six teacups.  I used the copier and different color paper to make the copies of the teapot and teacups. I laminated them and cut them out. A dot of velcro on the back, and we are ready to play.  I also made a felt version of each color teapot and one teacup. I deconstructed a Google image and used 2 shades of each color to add dimension.  Couldn't help but add a little glitter too!! LOL!  I can use these at least two different ways. If my group is small I can put the teacups on the board and let the kiddos take turns finding the cup that matches the teapot that I hold up.  We can also play a "Which One is Missing?" game with the teapots or teacups.  This theme is also a chance to use my Five Little Cupcakes again!  I reworked the rhyme and here's the link; Five Cupcakes for Tea Time.  So, now we'll have cupcakes for our tea party storytime! The rhyme was a chance for me to address using good manners in a fun way too! It's never too early to start learning good manners. 

Having a tea party is so much Fun with Friends at Storytime!  Anne @ itsybitsymom has the rest of this week's roundup. 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!

Pigs and Pancakes

Pigs are fun and who doesn't love pancakes? Put them together and you have a recipe for FUN. A coworker shared this rhyme/game and pattern with me. (Thanks Louise!)  Here's the link for the rhyme and instructions on how to play. I tweaked it a little (5 instead of 6 piggies). This could be used with a Piggy or Farm theme or a Pancake or Breakfast theme. The kiddos really enjoy this one!

Pigs and Pancakes are a lot of Fun with Friends at Storytime!  Lisa @ Libraryland has the rest of this week's roundup. 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!

Beautiful Butterflies

Butterflies are incredibly beautiful and such a wonderful storytime theme! I haven't checked the Flannel Friday Pinterest boards yet, but I'm sure there are several with butterfly posts.  I thought I'd add mine here. I have an original rhyme, Color Butterflies, that I use with my large glittery felt butterflies and diecut matching butterflies that I hand out to the kiddos to bring to the pretend flannelboard 'garden'.  I also use the large butterflies minus one to do a counting rhyme. I can't remember where I found it sooo long ago!

Counting Butterflies

Six little butterflies happy to be alive

One flew off, then there were five.

Five little butterflies on flowers galore,

One flew off, then there were four.

Four little butterflies among the sweet peas

One flew off, then there were three.

Three little butterflies with nothing to do,

                                   One flew off, then there were two.

                                         Two little butterflies resting in the sun,

                                      One flew off, then there was one.

                                        One little butterfly, now the only one,

                                        She flew off, then there was none.

You can see the pic of the craft. A coworker shared this idea many years ago. I used snack ziploc bags that the kiddos spooned some colored cereal into. They colored the clothespin black. Then the bag and a small piece of black pipecleaner was pinched together in the clothespin to make the 'butterfly'.  Instead of cereal you could use shredded tissue paper or sequins. (This is a craft from many years ago ... librarians/preschool teachers don't throw anything away LOL!)   Butterflies are a lot of Fun with Friends at Storytime!

Bridget @ What is Bridget Reading? has the rest of this week's roundup.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!

Hot Air Balloons take 2

This is technically not-a-flannel post. LOL! Last year I posted my Hot Air Balloons and promised a riddle game that goes with that theme. Finally, I am posting the riddle rhyme link here; Hot Air Balloon Ride. I used Google images that I mounted on colored construction paper and laminated for each verse of the riddle. You can add a piece of velcro to the back of each picture and put them on the flannelboard as you say the riddle rhyme. My memory of using this is that it generated a good bit of discussion about the places we like to play or go.

I prepped the craft by punching the holes in the small paper plates and cutting the tissue paper into strips. You could easily just have the kiddos color the plate with markers and even add some stickers before trimming to hot air balloon shape. They threaded the yarn through the holes and glued them to the 'basket' (cut up old file folders).  When I did it, I had the kids glue the tissue to the plate with glue stick and then the parents trimmed the plates but you don't really even have to trim the plates. This craft could lend itself to talking about shapes too!

Hot Air Balloons are a lot of Fun With Friends at Storytime!
Hannah @ Lovin' The Library has the rest of this week's roundup.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!

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! 

Tooth Fairy game

February is National Children's Dental Health Month so I thought this felt set would be a great addition to my previous 'teeth' theme posted here.  I found some resources at the American Dental Association's website.  I found an old set already made in the files at my library and couldn't wait to make my own set. Here's the game and printable patterns at Making Learning Fun.  I enlarged and tweaked the pattern a little and added glitter and gems and ribbon and some slick fabric paint to make my set.  I plan on using this like the Little Mouse hiding in the color House game.  We'll identify the colors of the pillows and then help the Tooth Fairy look for the teeth. There was a cute rhyme in the library's set that someone must have added; "Children, children look and see. Can you find the tooth for me?"  I know this is going to be a LOT of Fun with Friends at Storytime!

I found this Tooth Fairy Flannel Friday post at Storytimes with Moxie. Here's another cute post with a tooth fairy too. The Flannel Friday Roundup is hosted by Lisa at Thrive after Three!  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!

C is for Cookie!

Here's a fun interactive not-a-flannel prop for a Cookie theme.  I saw it at Read, Rhyme and Sing as a flannelboard activity but I wanted to make it a little differently.  I made up a rhyme for different colored 'cookies'.   I mounted a laminated poster board cookie monster to a box lined with black paper and a piece of black felt at the front of the box. The 'cookies' are some 3 inch circles left from another project. I did find a Google image of chocolate chip cookies for the brown cookie in the rhyme. I hand out the cookies and the children bring up the matching color cookie and 'feed' the Cookie Monster! Lot's of Fun!!

Cookies for Cookie Monster
by Kathryn Roach
Cookie Monster wants a yummy cookie treat,
Please bring him a *red, cherry cookie to eat.

*blue berry

*lemon yellow

*purple grape

*pink watermelon

*green apple (or pistachio)

*sweet orange

*brown chocolate chip

Yum!! 

Cookies are Fun with Friends at Storytime!

Old McRainbow's Pumpkin Farm

I just finished doing a Pumpkin themed storytime at a preschool to 10 classes divided into 4 groups.  It was a great success!  I heard, "Read it again!" or "Do it again", or even as he was leaving, a child said, "I love you!".  Of course, I replied," I love you too!".  *sigh*  That's why I do what I do!! Anyway, I used some old favorite flannel sets and a new favorite set copied from Sarah at Read Rabbit Read called Five Giant Pumpkins.  My set is a combination of felt pumpkins with glitter (of course!) and laminated Google images under the pumpkins. We even played a "which one's missing?" game with the Google images. This was a great hit!  But, I didn't have any interactive sets so that the children could get up and participate.  I realize, in that setting, there were just too many kids to really do the interactive game but I still would like a set for my library storytime or a classroom setting. I thought about it for several days and this is what I came up with:

Old McRainbow's Pumpkin Farm

by Kathryn Roach

There's a funny kind of farm where colored pumpkins grow;  

     planted by a funny farmer, Old McRainbow

         (chant or sing to tune of Mary Wore Her Red Dress)

       You can see a red one, red one, red one,

            a pretty red pumpkin on the farm.

(repeat with other colors as children bring up their matching colored pumpkin and add it to the 'farm')

        (speak the last rhyme to close the activity)

 What a funny rainbow farm with pumpkins row by row,

 Colorful pumpkins planted by Farmer McRainbow!

I die cut 4 of each color.  I plan to hand them out to the kiddos to bring up and add to the board as I chant/sing the color verse for each color.  I could see this being tweaked to apples or different veggies or fruit depending on the color. The first verse could be; There's a funny kind of farm where colored produce grow...  That gives me the chance to define a new, big word for the kiddos.  Rainbows and pumpkins are so much Fun with Friends at Storytime!

Little Chameleon's Color Game

This is an oldie but goodie from my files. I made this set many years ago. I used the classic, A Color of His Own by Leo Lionni with it and we had a blast!  This was one of my first attempts at making my own rhymes and I was pretty pleased with it.  It was also the first attempt at a giving clues type activity. I could almost see the wheels turning in their little heads as they used their visual memories to match the clues I gave.  I LOVED it so much, I've been trying to do similar things ever since!  It's so rewarding to watch a child 'get it'! Their little faces light up and they are so proud of themselves...I'm so proud of them too!  Anyway, here it is:

Little Chameleon's Color Game
 by Kathryn Roach
(put up the gray chameleon on the board to start)

Little Chameleon let's play a game today

Change your color to match the things that I say!

Fluffy clouds in the sky, cotton balls, a polar bear,

Sometimes this is the color of people's hair   

(put up white one - big laugh, my hair is almost snow white now)

The sun and a lemon, sunflowers too,

Squash and bananas to name a few!    (yellow)

The great big ocean, the big, high sky,

Yummy berries to put in a pie!   (blue)

The grass and frogs, a small snake that slithers by,

Peas and broccoli, my, oh my!  (green) 

Pretty flowers, cotton candy, a little bunny nose,

cute baby pigs and tiny baby toes! (pink) 

Three things I can think of that are this beautiful hue,

Some pansies, sweet grapes and eggplants too!  (purple)  

Now try this color of leaves in the fall,

Pumpkins and carrots and a basketball!  (orange)  

We like this color when it's chocolate to eat, dirt in the garden or wood for a seat.  (brown)

This color is dark, the opposite of white.  You'll see this color when you turn off the light! (black)

  

Roses and cherries, a Valentine heart; Yummy strawberries baked in a tart!  (red) 

Little Chameleon now it's time for you to rest. You've changed to all the colors that we like the best!

(put grey chameleon back on the board)

The chameleon is made from a deconstructed picture from an old Mailbox magazine page. I just cut it apart and used the pieces as patterns. **update**  I found the page in The Mailbox 1996-1997 Yearbook: Preschool pg. 131. I reduced the size a little on the copier, made two copies and cut apart the head, and legs (I didn't worry about two legs for the front and back). I cut the total body shape and glued the head and legs on the body. I added a pink circle 'cheek' just because I liked it that way. Be sure to glue the tail to the back to reduce pulling and general floppiness. **       I did glue the end of the tail to the back of the chameleon  because it was too floppy and one or two were pulled too hard and lost their cute curve. This could also be a cute file folder rhyme too.    This was a LOT of fun at Storytime with my little friends!

Do You Feel Lucky?

I know St. Patrick's Day is gone but as I was putting away some of the files I used from last month I saw this one and I wanted to share it with you.  This is a version of the classic, Little Mouse...hiding in the color house game.  I made a small 'pot of gold' out of black felt and gold sequins and the other pieces are about 6-8 inches so that I could 'hide' the pot of gold.  I just had to add some glitter ;)  and the mushroom material is a fabric swatch from a sample book that was donated to the library.  Actually the polka dots inspired the whole set because I really wanted to make a mushroom with it and then I needed a way to use the mushroom and one thing led to another...

I made up a little rhyme I say and then the children guess where the leprechaun has hidden his pot of gold.

"Do you feel lucky? Let's be bold! 

Let's see if we can find the leprechaun's pot of gold!"

This game was a big hit!  The only problem was that the sequins made the pot of gold a little lumpy and the older kids picked up on that quickly!  Anyway, we all enjoyed the game and talking about what we'd do if we really found a pot of gold.  Lot's 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!