Manners is a fun storytime option, but it kept my wheels turning for a while, particularly on a flannel option. I decided upon Bears on Chairs, a darling book and good for a range of ages. My flannel version reminds me of a question I ask myself a lot "does this extend or enhance the book itself?" You know, some books really are best as books! I don't ever want to make a flannel for the sake of making it - I like to make it if it extends the chance of interaction with the kids, extendes their chance of interacting with the story, or if it might enhance the process (visual or otherwise) of telling it to a large group.
What ended up working for me was to just interact with the bears and their chairs, without using the (great!) rhyming text from the book. When I tried it with the text, it seemed forced because I was trying to move bears and chairs a bit too much. The older toddlers responded the best to the bears, counting chairs and then ultimately having them share. It is an easy and cute story to just talk through, ask open ended questions, and let your kids watch the final resolution and cheer for bears who share.
I brought out my 3 mice friends to sing this adorable song:
3 Nice Mice
3 Nice Mice
See how nice they are
See how nice they are
They're always polite when they nibble their cheese
They never forget to say thank-you or please
They cover their noses whenever they sneeze
ahchoo! ahchoo! ahchoo!
3 Nice Mice
3 Nice Mice
Funny mouse stories: the baby group seemed a bit frightened of the mice - something that never crossed my mind! If the mouse in the middle looks more loved than the others, the middle mouse is a a most-important member of my own family, while the other two are "library mice."
Line-up of great book options:
