Color Fruits!

I'm looking ahead to March to Nutrition Month. I've got food on the brain! LOL! I mentioned this rhyme and picture set in a previous post HERE. I thought I'd share the rhyme and some pics for this great counting, color, fruit rhyme! I had found it somewhere and this version is my adaptation of the rhyme.





Color Fruits
1 yellow banana extra nice,  pretty please, give me a slice.
2 round oranges really sweet, what a super-duper treat!
3 red apples very bright, hurry up and take a bite.
4 purple plums in a sack, make a really special snack.
5 ripe pears golden delight, good to eat, morning or night!
6 green melons nice to eat, a sweet dessert that can't be beat.
7 peaches rather pink, a very good fruit to eat, I think.
8 blueberries firm and good, do have some, you really should
9 cherries so shiny red, try some now. Go right ahead.
10 green grapes so great to munch, here, eat a few for your lunch!
10 great fruits and now you know. Eat some daily to help you grow!

I used diecut numbers and Google images of real fruit. I glued the pieces on different colors of construction paper and laminated them. I usually hold them and flip through as I say the rhyme. I'd eventually like to make felt fruit that the kids can help put on the flannelboard. Good nutrition is yummy and 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.

Drivin' in my Car!

My grandsons have been obsessed with cars since the Disney movie Cars came out a few years ago. We have cars here and at their home and in their car... I guess it's about time I did a post about cars. Many years ago I made a set of 5 race cars to go with a cute rhyme that I had discovered. I didn't cite it on my copy so I don't know where it came from (I hate when that happens!!) Anyway, I used it and made 10 different colored cars to do the basic, count to 10 rhyme and read some books and we sang a fun song and had a great storytime! I used 'Driving in my Car' from the fun, Ralph's World CD. I've used several of the songs from this CD.

Five Fast Race Cars

Five fast race cars speeding round the track.

The first car said, " I can't look back!"

The second car said, "Oh no! I'm out of gas!"

The third car said, "Beep! Beep! I'm fast!"

The fourth car said, "Watch my tires spin."

The fifth car said, "Vroom vroom! I win!"

Then beep went a horn and flash went the lights,

And five fast race cars sped out of sight!

Here are my 10 little race cars...

1 little 2 little 3 little race cars;  4 little 5 little 6 little race cars;  7 little 8 little 9 little race cars;

10 race cars zoom past!

10 little 9 little 8 little race cars;  7 little 6 little 5 little race cars; 4 little 3 little 2 little race cars;

1 race car is last!  (Feel free to tweak this!! please!!)

You can tell I used a diecut for the car shapes. They've been handled and stretched a bit but they are still lots of Fun with Friends at Storytime!

I did a craft at the time I did this storytime but you could easily adapt the idea for a Home Extension. I had copied a map onto 11 x 17 paper and set out pans with some green paint and small cars. The kiddos 'painted' by dipping the car wheels in the paint and driving them on the map. I had a small paper green car for them to glue to the map after they painted. FUN!! You could hand out the map paper and small car cutout and tell them to take it home to color or paint. 

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.

Bo Peep and her Sheep!

 Here's an oldie but goodie! Little Bo Peep and her silly sheep. I made this set a very long time ago. I used Pellon and crayons and added a bow and green felt bush for the sheep to hide behind. I start with Little Bo Peep and add the 'hiding' sheep and then take it off and add the other sheep at the end. I also made a basic pellon set to use with Baa Baa Black Sheep. I use these with either a farm theme or sheep theme (HERE) or a nursery rhyme theme. The craft I offered with this theme was easy! I had a cut out programmed sheep for each kiddo. The kiddos could color the face, ears and legs and tail. They rubbed a glue stick all over the fleece part and then patted it with a cotton ball that was real cotton. The kiddos then have a fluffy sheep to remember the fun Storytime about sheep.

Little Bo-peep has lost her sheep and can't tell where to find them...

Leave them alone and they'll come home wagging their tails behind them.

Baa baa black sheep, have you any wool?

Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full.

One for my master and one for my dame 

and one for the little boy that lives down the lane.

Home Extension

Sheep 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.

O Christmas Tree!

I wanted to share the felt Christmas tree and decorations that we are offering as an interactive activity in our children's area during our program break in December. I used my Sizzix Big Kick machine with several different diecuts. I made them so that they can be sorted by shape or main color or even size. We generally offer a different activity each week during the same time that we would normally offer our preschool or toddler storytime. This is a great way to continue to interact with our kiddos while we are planning for our next programming session!

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.

Guest post for Bethany: Three Nervous Turkeys!

I'm so happy to be hosting Bethany on my blog! She is Head of Children's Services at the Bedford Free Public Library. She has a really fun song/rhyme in time for Thanksgiving!

Three Nervous Turkeys

A Thanksgiving flannel board song

I found Five Nervous Turkeys on the ALSC blog (http://www.alsc.ala.org/blog/2013/11/give-thanks-for-storytime/).  The song is funny, filled with my favorite autumn fowl, and easy to make with free clipart.  But, as I searched for images and hummed along, I wanted a chorus for everyone to sing and a new verse for the ducks.  5 turkeys, with a full chorus between each verse, plus a final verse to acknowledge the duckiness … is too long for my young storytime kids!  I reduced the turkeys to 3 and scavenged my surplus turkeys for silly mistakes on the duck costumes.

Three Nervous Turkeys—tune: “My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean”

Three turkeys were getting quite nervous.

Thanksgiving Day soon would be back.

So one turkey put on a duck suit, (swap a duck for a turkey)

And now he goes “Gobble, quack-quack.”

Chorus:

Turkey, turkey, (hook thumbs together, fingers stretched out for the turkey feathers)

Turkey goes “Gobble, quack-quack, quack-quack.” (flap elbows/wings like a duck)

Turkey, turkey, (feathers)

Turkey goes “Gobble, quack-quack.”  (wings)

Repeat for 2 turkeys and 1 turkey.

After all of the turkeys are in duck suits:

Now no little turkeys are nervous.

They’re finally feeling their luck.

But you, my poor dears, might get hungry …

… unless, of course, you like duck!

(Chorus)

Ha! Thanks Bethany for sharing a fun Turkey flannelboard set! 
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.

Flannel Friday Roundup/Placeholder 11/20/15

Hello Flannel Friday Friends. I have been so grateful for this generous group of storytime enthusiasts. The ideas and inspiration have been a continuing source of affirmation and encouragement to me this past year. I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday next week. We will not have a Roundup next week as we celebrate the holiday. So, I invite you to share your ideas and enjoy this week's Roundup!

Thanks Bethany for sharing an adorable rhyme, 'Three Nervous Turkeys'!

Katie@ Felt Board Magic has an adorable set to go with the fun song, 'Bingo'.

Katie, thanks for a second post this week, 'Five in the Bed'.

I'm sharing an interactive apple rhyme, 'I Love Apples - game', and a cute Home Extension.

Thanks Jane @ Piper Loves the Library,  for this wonderful post to remind us all to work together towards Peace in our world!








We really have so much to be thankful for!! I'm thankful for all of you Flannelboard Friends! 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.