Flannel Friday: 5 Little Turtles

These are dollar store turtles sunning themselves on "rocks" by the "lake".  They're having a GREAT day until, uh oh!, who is that sneaking out from the grass?  Ssssss...it's Mr. Snake!  "Agh! said the turtle and he jumped in the lake!"

How many turtles are left?  Let's count them.

I didn't use a specific rhyme for this - instead, we just talked through our turtles sitting in the sun on the rocks until Mr. Snake comes by to cause trouble!  Then we recounted turtles and so on.  I did this for all three age groups & it was successful - the pre-k got into it the most & that was great.  This was a bit of a last minute effort that turned out, for the most part, pretty well! The group I visited today doesn't do well with longer puppet shows, so my standby option of the Tortoise and the Hare was out.

If you are curious about the prop itself - that's just a box covered with paper and gray felt rocks.

I am happy to be hosting Flannel Friday today; a dream come true!  Check out the FF page for all the details and the Pinterest page is beyond fab!

Ten Timid Ghosts: Flannel Friday Halloween!

I bought Ten Timid Ghosts by Jennifer O'Connel for my son at a grocery store checkout line (ha!) and I tell ya, he loooves it.  I've wanted to "make" it for over a year and I finally did it!  In the story, a witch moves into a haunted house that 10 ghosts live in.  She gets the ghosts out by scaring them with her spooky props (or dressing up as something spooky - like a vampire).  It was a pinch labor intensive, but I think I'll get some wear out of it.  Though I love the book and intended the house to be FOR the book, I have found it cumbersome to actually use.  I've updated this post below and added a ghost rhyme a co-worker found online for me, and it seems to work a lot better.

 

The haunted house itself is made of a box lid.  The ghosts in the haunted house are made of cardstock with a small magnet on the bottom. I needed a way to get them in and out pretty easily, and magnets just seemed to be a good idea. The back of the house is below.  The ghosts extend past the curtains by a bit so they are easy to take off as they get scared away.

Here is a cute ghost rhyme found on Twigglemagazine.com that turns out to be super cute for this house.  Obviously, you'll change it to Ten Little Ghosts and adjust accordingly.  I added my felt faces to sticks so they can pop out, scare the ghost, and then be put back.  All in all, this rhyme works better than the original idea I had - one of those cases where the book works better on its own!

Five Little Ghosts
Five little ghosts in a haunted house at play,
Along came a funny skeleton and chased one ghost away.
Four little ghosts in a haunted house at play,
Along came a giant monster and chased one ghost away.
Three little ghosts in a haunted house at play,
Along came a tiny spider and chased one ghost away.
Two little ghosts in a haunted house at play,
Along came an ugly witch and chased one ghost away.
One little ghost in a haunted house at play,
Along came a big fat cat and chased the ghost away.
Can you find the ghosts and say:
1, 2, 3, 4, 5 ghosts come back and play!

Flannel Friday is having a Halloween Extravaganza today; Miss Mary is hosting the Boo Bash! You can get overloaded with Flannel Friday fun over at Pinterest.  Happy Halloween, everyone!

Caterpillars & Butterflies

I tend to take on ideas in the 11th hour.  Bad news for getting things like statistics done but good news for my storytime audiences! This idea, orignially from Read it Again is GENIUS, and even though it was not my original plan, it was too darling to pass up.  I had already been inspired by Miss Mary Liberry's butterfly design.

I got 5 booktape boxes and covered them in black construction paper.  I put velcro dots on the front and back.  The caterpillars start out on the front of the boxes, and we use the rhyme "5 little caterpillars and not one more, spun a cocoon and then there were 4." {Rhyme from the book Storytime Magic.} Replace each caterpillar with a cocoon as you go, placing the caterpillar in your box.

To finish, you can use "then one cocoon opened up in the sun / a butterfly came out and that makes one..."  But, I really liked the idea of clapping for the butterfly while it came out & that is what I did today, just letting the rhyme drop after the cocoon line and having the kids clap so the butterfly will emerge.  Each of the butterflies has fishing line taped to its back, so you just grab the line from the back of your board and give it a tug.  Since the butterflies are flannel, they lightly stick to the board and the string doesn't have to be held taut.  The part I love the most about this idea is how visual and symbolic it is for the actual caterpillar/cocoon process - I feel like it is a great way to help kids visualize it and the surprise of a butterfly is truly surprising and delightful.

This set for the Very Hungry Caterpillar was one of the first things I made when I started at the library - it is showing its age, but it was a labor of love at the time.  When I tell this story, I keep the pieces in my lap, hold them up at their time, and have the caterpillar munch through them.  When done, I just set them on the floor or a chair beside me.  I think the size of my pieces are the main appeal, as well as cute Mr. Caterpillar. 

I have a piece of brown suede fabric that I use for the cocoon, just wrapping it around him and mentioning that he fell asleep for two weeks.  Then the warm sun comes out and little caterpillar begins munching his way out of the cocoon and, surprise, butterfly wings!  Anyone who reads this story loves it, of course, but it is a tribute to the story itself that it is so flexible.  It can be done from young gradeschool down - even babies - you just limit the details and even edit out some of the food if needed.  But the story stands on its own, to be sure, and is a delight.

And here's a classic bee rhyme, just for fun:

Here is a beehive
But where are the bees?
Hidden inside where nobody can see.
Let's count the bees as they come out of the hive -
1, 2, 3, 4, 5!
Buzzz!

Flannel Friday: Rain, Clouds & Rainbows

I had so many ideas for this storytime that I actually FORGOT to do the one I was most excited about! Too many fun things (pretty sure it is the rainbow...it distracts me!)

Interactive Rhyme.  I did an interactive version of 10 Little Raindrops and 10 Little Umbrellas.  I had 10 kids be umbrellas (sitting on the floor) and 10 kids be raindrops (standing above them) and we went through our rhyme.  I also counted down, so that the raindrops went away - the sun came out and then we counted down our umbrellas and put them "away."

The raindrops were made with kebab skewers and fishing line.  The number of raindrops on the line reflected what number it was (#1 had one raindrop, #2 had two, etc., all the way up to 10.)  The raindrops were really fun to look at and shake - they had a great rain effect.  {Be warned: they are prone to twisting & tangling!}

Here's the scoop on this kind of activity.  Honestly, a bit of an overreach for my audience, which is a daycare.  They don't have the immediate parental support of a mom nudging them and saying "it's okay!"  And some of them are younger and not the best age for this activity - which is probaby best for older 3's and even better for 4's.  Super fun to do and they did like it, but I could see it was pushing them and possibly would be better in an audience with more parent support and fewer tiny ones.

Rainbow Stew is the adorable activity I forgot (and had been so excited about).  I first saw it here.  Just too cute! Put all those pieces in a pot & use this rhyme (also from Roving Fiddlehead Kitlit).

Take an apple
Put it in the pot
Stir it, stir it, stir it a lot.
Take it out. What will it be?
The prettiest red you ever did see.

Puppet Activity.   Today the kids helped Woolly find the most appropriate shoes to wear in the rain.  I used some flannel pockets and put the shoes in the pocket.  Selected children got to pull the shoe out and tell us if it was a good rain shoe or not.  In the end, Woolly was SUPER excited because the rain boots we found for him matched an umbrella he already has - way to coordinate, Woolly!

Craft

The craft was such a huge hit!  Oh my - I saw this in a catalog of all things a few years back (like, just a decoration in a staged children's bedroom.)  I used wrapping paper tissue for the rainbow streamers, but you could also use crepe paper / streamers.

Books we read are below - both really fun with great language and rhythm.  It was definitely a full storytime!



Flannel Friday: Princess and the Pea

Not truly a flannel contriubtion today, but I feel like it does fit the overall spirit of Flannel Friday!  Here's a fun way to tell the story of the Princess and the Pea.  I'm sure the idea is not original, but I did not base my particular idea on anyone else.

Start saving your cereal boxes! (And oatmeal, and envelopes, and Lean Cuisine!) Behind each piece of fabric is any random box, as seen here.  I considered making them all match size-wise, but really thought the mismatched pattern was more fun.  Because the boxes are different depths, this mattress stack ends up being a bit tall - typically taller than your average storytime guest while seated on their bottom.  I think that height makes the story more enchanting - truly "bigger than life" to them.

As you tell the story, you'll place your pea under the first box.  It's never tipped over on me, but just practice to make sure you get it balanced.  My little pea is made of play-doh and left to dry (sorry, the picture isn't great.)  Once dry, it was painted with fabric paint (no reason...just what I had) to give it a better green color.  The princess on top is a random (old) princess doll that we happen to have at our Library. I am sure you have one, too. You could also use a Barbie, if you had one of those sitting around somewhere.

If anyone would like the text that I use when telling the story, I would be happy to send it to you (just leave me a comment).  It is a very simple text that emphasizes the Prince's search for a real Princess.  In the pouring down rain, a girl comes to the door claiming to be a princess, and the mother of the prince (skeptical) goes to hide the pea beneath all the mattresses -the best mattresses, covered in her finest fabrics.  You can have the kids help you make rain and thunder for the storm, knock on the castle door, and feel the soft fabrics of the mattress. 

This story has been a huge hit whenever I use it.  It is very appealing to young gradeschool class visits, as well as storytimes for the preschool age.  It is a good reminder of how powerful storytelling can be...no book, just the power of a great story. 

Flannel Friday: Hidden in the green grass

I planned this to go along with a green storytime theme.

Made up this little song / rhyme:

Behind the green grass
You just never know
What you might see
Or what might grow.

The kids and I sang this together, and they guessed what we might find in the grass. You could also name the object (perhaps hiding it in the room) and choose a child to go find it.  I had too many kids to do that successfully, but this was still fun.  I got a few guesses that I didn't have (mouse, rabbit, leaf), but I just suggested a close alternative or looked in my grass and said "Nope! They're not in here!"

In my grass was a ladybug, baseball, snake, caterpillar, ant, butterfly, frog, turtle, bee, flower and rock. There is definitely room for other creatures or items...I think the surprising ones are particularly fun (like the baseball).

Now, I got super lucky on this because a coworker has the little grass arrangement you see in the photo.  I've seen these around, but I've never thought about using it for storytime.  I used bamboo skewers (like for veggie kebabs) and they easily poke through the grass.  If you don't have a coworker with a box of fake grass, you can easily make one with a small box.  Not quite as darling, I agree, but it would still work (if you forgot all about the awesome fake grass!)

Flannel Friday: House storytime

I love houses! (real kind & flannel kind)

Here's a cute little rhyme from Finger Tales by Joan Phelps where you build a house with shapes:

Some Houses are wood,
And some are stone.
But let's build one
With shapes alone.
Start with a square
But we won't stop.
Add a triangle
up on the top.
Then a rectangle
for the door.
Now square windows
1, 2, 3, 4!
A little circle
just for fun.
Now our shape house
Is all done!

Though I like the rhyme, I sort of threw it out the window and had the kids help me build the house. We talked about which shapes were which and where they would go. It was so adorable because one little girl put a window on the roof (you know, an attic window!) and another little girl had a fit over that idea - "no, no! we need four windows on the bottom!"

This little flannel is for matching the animal to its home.  I had the homes on the board and then the kids guessed what animals lived inside.  Bee & hive, rabbit & his hole in the grass, turtle and its shell, horse and barn, dog and his dog house, and a bird and her nest. (Not pictured: an owl and a tree).  I made up a little song to introduce the houses:

Oh I have a house, a very fine house
And this house is called a ______ (hive)
Who, who lives in a hive?
Who, who lives in a hive?

I repeated the last lines until a child was chosen and they picked out the correct animal.  Though the song was made up (and not very good!) many kids caught on and were singing with me by the 2nd or 3rd animal.

The Mitten

My favorite version of The Mitten is by Jim Aylesworth.  I love the context of the grandmother and grandson and the knitted mittens; the details of Barbara McClintock's illustrations are stunning (like the knitted mitten exploding onto the snow into a million yarn pieces).  The story is a classic and so adaptable to many types of tellings. In one of my very first storytimes, I got a giant piece of flannel or fleece fabric and cut out a mitten the size of a small child. I then used our storytime puppets to go inside the mitten and I can still (to this day!) remember seeing those kids respond to the animals being tossed out of my giant, hot-glued mitten.

This version is smaller but still cute. We have this Folkmanis Puppet that comes with an array of forest animal finger puppets. I made a felt mitten and embroidered the edge of both mitten halves for some extra detail. I then hot-glued all of it but one side, and, on that side, I glued velcro tabs so that it can "burst open" and the animals can fall out. Honestly, I love making things like this, but this book can easily stand on its own with no help from me.  Still, it is fun to try it different ways and see if it alters the response of the audience.