Two Happy Owls!

 

Here are my newest 2 little fingerpuppet owls!  I used a Google image to deconstruct and used large googly eyes.  I made a little rhyme that's a variation of Two Little Bluebirds.  You can tweak the basic rhyme for whatever theme and animal/thing you have.  

Two Happy Owls

Two happy owls hooting in the night;  One named Bob and one named Bright.

Fly away Bob...fly away Bright!  Come back Bob...come back Bright.

Two happy owls hooting in the night. One named Bob and one named Bright!  Hoo Hoo!

These little guys make me happy!  Owls are super Fun with Friends at Storytime!                                               

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! 

Sleeping Bag Chant

For some reason I think of camping this time of year?!! I don't even like to go camping. LOL! I like the idea of camping out but the reality of it...not so much! But, I don't have to tell my little kiddos that I don't like it...we can all enjoy camping fun at Storytime. I have posted before about some of my camping activities and books Here.  Here's my set for 'The Sleeping Bag Chant' that I originally saw @ Welcome to Storytime. I did tweak mine as she suggested (I took out the ghost and cricket). I made a little kiddo in a sleeping bag under a glittery star to begin the chant. I just chanted it and did not use the CD, H.U.M.:Highly Usable Music by Carole Peterson that she cited as the source of these lyrics:

Sleeping Bag Chant

I was lying in my sleeping bag—I couldn’t get to sleep

When the wind began to howl and the bugs began to creep.

So I rolled to the left and I rolled to the right

And I heard every sound that you hear at night—

Then I would make the sound of one of the animals/birds and the kiddos would identify it as I added it to the board. This is a cumulative rhyme so I would say the sounds and name of the previous creatures as I added another one.  This was a lot of fun and led to a lot of discussion!

Camping out is a lot of Fun with Friend 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.

Nocturnal Animals

We did a really fun Nocturnal Animal themed storytime last week. I love it when I get to teach little children big words. I think that at least one or two of the kiddos will remember the word nocturnal after today. I really drilled it! LOL! Anway, I used this great board book with large pictures and cutouts for guessing. I want to buy my own copy to always have it on hand. The children ages, 2-5 were very engaged the whole time. On the page with the large yellow eyes the 5 year old in the group guessed that it was a cat. When I turned the page we saw that it was a fox. The 2 year old beside him said, "Kitty!" and no matter how many times I said, "it's a fox!" he kept saying, "Kitty!". The other 2's took up the refrain until I turned the page. Hilarious! This is why I love storytime!!  There's a fox, weasel, owl, and several other nocturnal animals including the last page that has a lot of small cutouts with eyes that are the mouse's family. Awwww! Happy ending!

We used Nancy Stewart's song of the month, "Nocturnal Animals". I used Google images to make a large set of pictures for me and small pictures that we laminated and hotglued to large tongue depressors. We practiced holding up the matching picture as I held up the big picture and then we tried it again with the song. Big Hit!!  I also used her song, "Five Coyotes".
This theme was a chance to use my Five Little Bats again. I also have a set of 5 little owls that were a big hit with the kiddos. Eli really liked the goofy eyed owl! He even wanted to hold it after storytime and fly it around. Precious moments for me to see the joy of a child! I got my design idea from Loons and Quines@ Librarytime.

Here's the Home Extension that we handed out. We had a lot of help prepping these from our Teen Corp Volunteers. Thank goodness! Actually, this is fairly easy to prep. We used hole reinforcers for the eyes. I made small pics of the finished piece for the caregivers and paper clipped all the pieces together.  They loved it! I'm a firm believer in these Home Extensions. As the child does the activity they can remember the storytime theme and activities we did at the library. Everytime the kiddo looks at their raccoon they'll remember our book, Raccoons and Ripe Corn. They might even remember that big word, nocturnal!  Nocturnal Animals are so much Fun with Friends at Storytime!
*Update* For a terrific customized search through MANY blogs for a theme or topic head over to Mel's Desk and use her search box!! It's Terrific!!
The rest of the Flannel Friday Roundup is HERE.  Have questions about Flannel Friday? Check out the Flannel Friday official blog. Be sure to check out the Flannel Friday Facebook page too!