Two Little Bats

Here's my Two Little Bats in time for Halloween Fun!  I do have another post that include bats HERE! These are super easy and lot's of Fun with Friends at Storytime! 

Two Little Bats

By Kathryn Roach  10/24/2023

Two little bats hanging out in a cave.

One named  Shiver and one named Brave.

Fly away Shiver!

Fly away Brave!

Come back Shiver!

Come back Brave!

Two little bats hanging out in their cave.

One named Shiver and one named Brave! 

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!                                               

Little Forest Animals revisited!

Last year I posted about a rhyme/activity that I used called Little Forest Animals. When I made it up I hadn't seen any of the other wonderful posts on the Flannel Friday Forest Animal Pinterest board. Since then I found similar rhymes @Falling Flannelboards and @ 1234 More Storytimes. You could do a month of Forest/Woodland animal storytimes with all of these resources!  I usually use the Beanie Baby animals that I have with my rhyme but I also made a set of laminated animals from Google images (just in case) LOL!

This theme would be an excellent opportunity to use or highlight non-fiction titles for little kiddos! Any of these rhyme/activities would be great for the Talking and Playing components of ECRR! Forest Animals 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.

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!

I'm Going Batty!

I have an adorable little Beanie Baby bat that inspired this theme for my Storytime. Last year when I saw this cute post by Amanda at Trails & Tales about Bats! I just had to make my own set.  I tweaked the rhyme by adding one more verse*.

5 Little Bats
1...
2...
3...
4...
*5 little bats were trying to behave
They hung by their feet upside down in a cave.
They slept all day until the fading of the light.
Then they woke and said, "We're hungry!" and flew into the night!
(alternate: Then they woke and said, "Happy Halloween" and flew into the night!)


Then I found an adorable song by Carole Peterson on her CD, H.U.M. - Highly Usable Music, All Year Long!; "Black Bat Farm".  I decided to make flannel pieces to go with it as I sang it. I don't use the CD because I don't sing the ghost verse.  But, it is still adorable!  It's a version of "The Green Grass Grew All Around".
Black Bat Farm
Carole Peterson - adapted by Kathryn Roach

There was a farm - *echo line*
A quiet farm -*
The quietest farm -*
that you ever did see...eeeeee!
A field is on the farm, the farm is dark and quiet
Chorus: And the black bats flew all around, all around
Oh, the black bats flew all around.
And in that field -*
There was a vine -*
the creepiest vine -* that you ever did see...eeee! The vine in the field, the field on the farm, the farm is dark and quiet
Chorus

And on that vine -* 
There was a pumpkin -*
the cutest pumpkin-*
that you ever did see...eeeee!
The pumpkin on the vine, the vine in the field, 
the field on the farm, the farm is dark and quiet...
Chorus

And on that pumpkin -*
There was a face -*
the happiest face -*
that you ever did see....eeeee!                
The face on the pumpkin, the pumpkin on the vine,
the vine in the field, the field on the farm, the farm
is dark and quiet...BOO!
Chorus
Happy Halloween!

I made the field with two sheets of felt and pieces of yarn glued on as rows in a plowed field.  The vine is green ribbon with some velcro under the pieces of felt glued to the 'B' and exclamation point.  I glued the ribbon so that the 'O's keep their shape.  I cut out 10 of the small black bats and added a few each time I sang the chorus until they were all up on the board. The caregivers and kiddos soon were singing the chorus with me and everyone liked the happy Jack-o-lantern face at the end. I also got quieter as I sang the last part, "the farm is dark and quiet"... pause... then I said, "Boo!" and we all laughed and sang the final chorus together. This was a really big hit! Turns out I am a batty old lady after all!  LOL!   
Bats are a lot of Fun with Friends at Storytime.
update: 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 and enjoy the great Flannel Friday Pinterest boards too!