Not a Flannel post---New Books for Old Themes!!

 Hey Ya'll!  We recently got a lot of new books at my library and I tested them on my 4 year old grandson. LOL! He loves books! Anyway, there were several that I thought would be great for storytime and so I'm adding the link to the storytime theme I've already done beside the book that would be a great addition to that theme! 

Dogs   or Transportation:  

This book has minimal text and nice large clear pictures! We thought it was funny!   It's a counting up to 10 and then subtracting back to 1 with a surprise ending. Fun!

Fathers  or   Hair/haircuts:                     

 The conversation between the father and child is charming. They both are so handsome with new, fresh haircuts at the end! We liked this one. 

Farm animals or Ducks or Emotions or Rain/Rainbow: 

 This is not a new book but it's a favorite! The ending is soooo satisfying.  My grandson really enjoys the buildup to the great ending! Smiles all around. 

Rabbits/bunnies  or Garden/veggies: 

  There's a tension between 'expert carrot growers' and then a mystery and a great resolution!  Some of the illustrations are a bit busy or intricate. But mostly it's easy to follow and lot's of fun! 

Music/ Rock and Roll: 

 Penelope the T-rex is back! We loved We Don't Eat Our Classmates by Ryan T. Higgins and this title is just as tongue in cheek funny! Read it several times!! 

Nature  or Thankfulness!

 Oh My Goodness! This book is stunningly beautiful. We did a lot of looking and talking about these large clear pictures. There's minimal text that rhymes and the pictures are wonderful! This one was my favorite! 

Great books are so much Fun with Friends (and Grandchildren!) at Storytime. 

One Potato...and more! *Update!

  * This is an update with a new picture book that would be so fun to use with older preschoolers.  My 4 year old grandson liked this book a lot! His 9 and 11 year old brothers enjoyed the clever play on veggies plus animals!  

I've been thinking about St. Patrick's Day and this summer's library theme, "Dig Into Reading", and naturally I thought of potatoes!  I did a potato storytime several years ago and we all really enjoyed it!  I used Diana Pomeroy's One Potato and Potato Joe by Keith Baker.   I've recently discovered this adorable book, Pigs Love Potatoes by Anika Denise, and would like to find a way to use it too!  Of course we'll do the traditional One potato, Two potatoes rhyme and I found a cute potato chant at Yakaberry that I want to use too.  I really didn't find any other potato rhymes so I made one up to go with some felt potatoes that I had made for a simple count to 10 activity. 

 

Digging Potatoes  

by Kathryn Roach

Let’s go out to the garden and dig in the ground,
Down in the dirt 10 potatoes will be found!

10 brown potatoes growing so fine,
The farmer dug one up and that left nine.

Nine brown potatoes will be yummy on my plate!
The farmer dug one up and that left eight.

Eight brown potatoes in a line so even,
The farmer dug one up and that left seven.

Seven brown potatoes for my potato pancake mix,
The farmer dug one up and that left six!

Six brown potatoes have grown to a good size.
The farmer dug one up and that left five.

Five brown potatoes now,... there used to be more!
The farmer dug one up and that left four.

Four brown potatoes that have eyes but cannot see!
The farmer dug one up and that left three.

Three brown potatoes to add to the veggie stew,
The farmer dug one up and that left two.

Two brown potatoes that never saw the sun!
The farmer dug one up and that left one.

One brown potato, the last one of the bunch

The farmer dug it up and baked it for his lunch!

   

Transportation Activity: Where Does it Go?

 

Here's a fun activity with a new rhyme for our next Transportation theme for Storytime.  You can use any flannelboard transportation pieces that you have to sort them by where they Go.  This is a fun and educational activity.  Here's a couple of articles that explains all the benefits of sorting.  From Especially Education, "Sorting-Why Children Need This Skill" or from Education.com, "Preschool Math: All Sorts of Sorting".    Here's my rhyme and instructions for Where Does it Go?  Sorting and Playing are so much Fun With Friends at Storytime! 

Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater!

Here's my latest in my Nursery Rhyme series of felt sets. I had to use several different Google images and tweak them a bit to get my patterns for my Peter and Mrs.Peter.  He looks happy with his sweet Mrs and cute pumpkin house! LOL!  Check out my other nursery rhyme sets HERE.   I figured this set could be used in the fall with a pumpkin theme, or in the spring with a garden/bunny theme.  I did think of an alternate line to the rhyme about Mrs. Peter. 
"He had a wife and wanted to please her. They moved into a pumpkin shell and there they lived very well!"   Anyway, bunnies and pumpkins are so much Fun with Friends at Storytime!

Wheels on the Bus several ways.

I recently made a set of 10 colorful buses for a fun activity/song for The Wheels on the Bus.  My grandson loves to watch videos of this song and we saw a really cute one that I wanted to make for Storytime.  So I found a Google image that I deconstructed for my pattern.  I first made a bus with the little children riding in it. I have a diecut for the paint splashes and children. Then I made 10 colorful buses that can be counted or used with the kiddos.  This can be a match the wheels to the color bus or match the wheels to the color splash or count the color buses activity.  I'm super happy with how it turned out. 

Singing and playing the Wheels on the Bus at Storytime is so much Fun with Friends at Storytime! 

A Tisket a Tasket; A Green and Yellow Basket

This nursery rhyme could be added to a Friend theme or Mail or even Valentine's day themes.  It's also fun to sing and skip around the room to!  I stacked 2 sheets of felt (green and yellow) and stapled them around the edge. I cut the basket shape out of both at the same time and then cut off the handle part and cut it apart. Then I stacked alternating color pieces to make the handle look like it's wrapped. I cut the bottom yellow piece into strips and wove them through slits in the top green piece.  The 'letter' is a long rectangle with a rounded edge folded and hot glued with a 'stamp' in the corner. I used fabric glue to write on the letter. The basket is made like a pocket so that the letter can go in it.  This could lend itself to games or activities using the basket. You could make a set of color letters that the kiddos bring up to the board as you say the color.

Nursery Rhymes are so much Fun with Friends at Storytime!

1,2, Buckle My Shoe!

This is a favorite nursery rhyme for counting, rhythm and the funny fat hen at the end! 

I did use a real buckle for my shoe and stuffed my sticks made of felt with a pipe cleaner so that I could bend them into the shape I wanted.  I added velcro dots to the back of these pieces because they are large and heavy. Counting is lots of Fun with Friends at Storytime!