Tag Archives: colors

Flannel Friday: B-U-N-N-Y

7 Feb

Like most of the country, it’s been really freakin’ cold here in Colorado this week. What that means for me, the preschool outreach librarian, is that the kids I see in storytime have not been able to play outside. THIS IS A BAD THING. Kids need recess. They need to run around. Young children, especially, get super squirrelly when they have to be inside too long.

So, when I was planning my rabbit-themed storytime (centered primarily around Bob Shea’s Don’t Play With Your Food, because he sent me a copy!), I knew I had to include some movement. Now, I know, I’m a big fan of the Sleeping Bunnies song that involves some wild and crazy hopping. But we did that last month. So.

This is a very long way of saying I stole Mollie Kay’s B-U-N-N-Y song and added hopping.

bunny

We talk about each letter and its sound, and then we sound out the word. BUNNY!

(Sung to the tune of B-I-N-G-O)

There was a rabbit I once knew

And Bunny was his name-o

B-U-N-N-Y

B-U-N-N-Y

B-U-N-N-Y

And bunny was his name-o

Next, we turn over the first letter. What’s on the back? A bunny! And the word HOP.

bunny4

So, we sing again, this time substituting a hop for the letter B.

Continue turning each letter and singing, until you’re left with nothing but hops. HOP! HOP! HOPHOPHOP!

bunny3This was a great movement activity that incorporated letter knowledge, letter sounds, phonological awareness, and just plain FUN.  It’s also very similar to the version of B-I-N-G-O that I use!

Thanks, Mollie, for the idea!

The Roundup today will be hosted by Christine. Go check out all the awesomeness later! To see all past flannels, click the “flannel friday” icon to the right.

Happy flanneling!

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Flannel Friday: Sorting Socks Game

7 Dec

socks

I have to start with a shout-out to my friend Becky who runs Denver Craft Ninjas (and who has just started an awesome new crafting party business, Kunoichi Craft Events): after several felt-related craft projects, she found herself left with far more felt than she could ever hope to use up. So she very kindly donated a chunk of it to the library for flannelboard making! That’s how I was able to create the clothes dryer below: with a large piece of cream-colored felt courtesy of Becky and the Denver Craft Ninjas.

socks1

I told the kids that I did my laundry before I came, and now I needed their help to sort the socks into pairs. If you’ve got a small enough group you can invite children up to pull out a sock and add it to the flannelboard. If its mate is already up there, they can put them together to make a pair. We identify the colors, too. If it’s a larger group like I had today, I do the sock pulling and putting. But the kids help me figure out what color we’ve got and if its mate is already on the board.

SOCK MONSTER!

SOCK MONSTER!

The kids had a great time with this game – the yelled out the colors and quickly noted a match. It’s a great addition to my clothing-themed storytime!

socks3

The clothes dryer is a box with a hole cut in (a kleenex box would work, although mine is a bit larger and sturdier), covered in cream-colored felt wrapped like a gift. I glued two pieces of felt over the hole but there’s plenty of room for me (or a kid) to stick my hand in and remove socks. I added black circles with paint for a little flair.

I’m really proud of this project and so far, the kids have LOVED it!

Today’s roundup will be hosted by Cate at Storytiming. And to see all past flannels, click on the icon to the right to visit our Pinterest page!

Happy flanneling!

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Flannel Friday: 5 Little Cookies

30 Nov

A quick-and-easy flannel Friday for y’all today, because that’s all I had time for. I made cookies for this same rhyme a while ago, but decided I don’t like them anymore. These took me about 15 minutes yesterday – just 5 circles of tan felt, with puffy paint “icing” (I like the way it looks more like icing than felt, but you can certainly do that too).

cookies

And here’s the rhyme:

5 little cookies, with frosting galore,

Mother ate the white one, and then there were 4.

4 little cookies, 2 and 2 you see,

Father ate the green one, and then there were 3.

3 little cookies, but before I knew,

Sister ate the yellow one, and then there were 2.

2 little cookies, oh what fun!

Brother ate the brown one, and then there was 1.

1 little cookie. Watch me run!

I ate the red one, and then there were NONE!

So – we have colors, we have counting, and we have cookies. 3 of my favorite things. I’ll be breaking out the cookie-related stories this month, as well as using one of my favorite chants, “Who Stole the Cookies from the Cookie Jar!” for a good sweet-tooth storytime.

The roundup today will be hosted by Linda at Notes from the Story Room. It’s a holiday EXTRAVAGANZA so get all your winter holiday flannels planned in one fell swoop!

Now there’s a phrase we don’t use often enough: ONE FELL SWOOP.

Happy flanneling.

 

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Flannel Friday: Counting Sheep

12 Oct

In the fall I always do a bedtime-themed storytime. It just feels like the right time of year to be thinking about long winter naps, so I break out the cozy (and silly and crazy and chaotic) stories about going to sleep. One book that I think is particularly gorgeous (and works great with my bilingual crew) is Sarah Weeks’ Counting Ovejas, illustrated by David Diaz. Bilingual text plus gorgeous, multi-colored sheep is a win in my book.

I decided to make a flannel board of it. However, I realized that as each sheep comes and goes on the same page, it would be like “drive-by flanneling.” None of the sheep stay on the page very long. Also, for the higher numbers, I’d be making multiples: 10, TEN! yellow sheep. So, the flannelboard very quickly morphed into something like my monster guessing game flannel.

The kids count with me as we put each one on the board. Then, I ask them “what color is sheep number 6?” So they’ve got to recognize the number, and then put the color with it. The teachers actually really liked this idea and I gave my pattern to a couple so they could recreate the activity.

After identifying all the colors, I turn the board around and take one off (no peeking!). The kids then have to tell me which color, or number, or both, is missing. They had fun!

Also: when I asked the kids what animal some people count when they can’t fall asleep, one young lady said: “I want to count zebras!” Hmmm…

This is an original pattern of mine, and I’m sharing it with you here. Feel free to make your own sheep! However, if you post the pattern on your site, be sure and give me credit.

Today’s roundup is hosted by Sarah at Read, Sarah, Read! And if you’d like to see all past flannels, click on the icon to the right.

Happy flanneling!

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Flannel Friday: A Blanket for the Princess

13 Jul

Today’s flannelboard comes from the wonderful book Storytime Magic – a great resource for any storytime provider. Here are the basics of the story (I have modified it a bit to include the colors I wanted):

The king and queen have a beautiful baby girl, whom they name Princess Marigold. They decide she must have a blanket as beautiful as she is. The king looks out the window at the blue sky and declares, “she must have a blanket as blue as the sky.” The queen also looks out and sees the bright sun, and declares, “the blanket must be as blue as the sky and as yellow as the sun.” This continues…

As white as the fluffy clouds… As orange as the flowers in my garden…

As green as the grass… As red as the cherries in the trees… As purple as the grapes on the vine… As brown as the earth from which they grow…

I like how it makes a nice little vignette

And, finally, as pink as our baby’s cheeks.

The servants look everywhere for just such a blanket but can’t find one. They bring in tailors and weavers from all over the kingdom and each can create a blanket with one of the colors, but not all. Finally, an old woman comes forward and offers her faded quilt that she wrapped her children in as babies. She made it from scraps of yarn, blankets, a dress, apron, curtains, and ribbons.

The King and Queen state that they are honored to have it, as it is “as beautiful as our daughter but also as warm as a mother’s embrace and as light as a father’s kiss.” They wrap Princess Marigold in the blanket and they all live happily ever after.

I wanted the quilt to have a bit of a “crazy quilt” look so I glued different-sized squares to a backing piece of felt and then used my very-beginning sewing skills to sew over them so it looks pieced together.

Here are the King, Queen and Princess; they’re a set of finger puppets someone in the office received as a freebie from Muzzy. The princess is clearly not a baby, but she’s the only princess I’ve got! If I can find a small baby doll I’ll use that instead, with my folkmanis prince and princess puppets.

I like this story because it’s a cumulative tale (we have to recite all of the colors each time, adding each new color) with lots of opportunity for the kids to participate and practice their color names. It’s also just a sweet story! Storytime Magic has patterns but I made my own; if you’d like to recreate mine, it’s here. Please, though, if you use it, give me credit, and do not re-publish.

Today’s roundup is being hosted by Storytime Katie!   For more information about Flannel Friday (and to learn how to participate) visit our blog. To see all past flannels, organized visually by category, click on the “flannel friday” icon to the right.

Happy flanneling!

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Flannel Friday: Mixed-Up Chameleon by Eric Carle

3 Feb

While there are a lot of parts to make for this one, I think the kids will enjoy it! I think you know the story of Eric Carle’s Mixed-Up Chameleon, about the color-changing lizard who wishes to be like the other animals. He takes on characteristics of the other animals until he realizes he can’t catch flies with all the other animal parts, and wishes to be himself.

The patterns for this flannel come from Storytime Magic, which the lovely Anne at So Tomorrow told me about. It’s a wonderful resource!

Here’s chameleon in his original form:

And while the different animals parts are added one by one, I thought I would spare you  that many pictures in this post. Here’s chameleon with the addition of flamingo wings and legs, fish fins, and a fox tail:

(I think I painted the fox tail backwards and it’s supposed to fit over and cover the chameleon’s tail. Oops. Oh well.)

Here he is with the addition of a giraffe neck, turtle shell, and antlers:

And finally, with elephant head, “people” hat and umbrella, and seal flippers:

Not only does he look silly, but he realizes if he was like all these other animals he wouldn’t be able to catch flies, so he returns to this:

Much better to be yourself than to wish to be something else, don’t you think?

Check out the roundup later today at Andrea’s Roving Fiddlehead Kidlit. And click the “Flannel Friday” icon to the right if you want to see all past flannels -organized, categorized, and sanitized (okay maybe not that last one)- in a visual format on Pinterest. Enjoy!

 

 

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(Not) Flannel Friday: “Mrs. Mark’s Favorite Color” File Folder Story

6 Jan

The lovely Anne over at So Tomorrow has many times mentioned the book Storytime Magic by Kathy MacMillan and Christine Kirker as a source for many of her great flannelboards.  And when I finally got my grubby little paws on it, I found myself marking practically every other page as something I wanted to do for my storytimes.  This book is a gold mine!

SO. MANY. IDEAS!

Today’s (not flannel) story is on page 54. Mrs. Mark has a living room painted white, because that’s her favorite color. But when she sees the trunks of the trees outside, she decides that brown is her favorite color and so she paints her living room that color. This continues for a while – Mrs. Mark seeing something and deciding to paint her room that color.

We use a file folder, taped shut on all but one side, with a paint can image glued on front and the “paint” cut out to reveal the color. The color sheets are in order in the file folder, and every time she changes her mind, you pull the top sheet out to reveal the new color. I, of course, put labels on the colors.

Finally, Mrs. Mark decides she loves all the colors equally and can’t choose just one, so she decides to paint the room…

…like a rainbow!

I laminated the file folder so that it would be sturdier. Patterns for all the stories in Storytime Magic are provided online (at the link above), so I didn’t have to draw this great paint can myself. What a great resource this book is! Thanks, Anne, for the recommendation!

The full Flannel Friday roundup today will be hosted by Mollie, and you can click the link to the right to see all past flannels organized in a visual fashion. Enjoy!

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Flannel Friday: Mary Wore Her Red Dress

7 Oct

No, this flannel isn’t all about me.  I don’t actually happen to have a red dress. But maybe I need to get one, for when I sing this song? Because what we’re talking about here is the kids’ song, “Mary Wore Her Red Dress” (<—– listen here). I made this flannel years ago:

Mary wore her red dress,

Red dress, red dress,

Mary wore her red dress,

All day long.

It usually continues with more red clothes, but instead I made clothes of various colors for us to sing about. Pink hat, green shoes, blue pants, etc.:

Red dress, green shoes (I love my clown shoes), purple mittens

After singing the song with the flannel pieces, I ask each child to tell me one article of clothing they are wearing and what color it is, as well as their name. We then sing the verse for them: “David wore his spiderman shoes, spiderman shoes, spiderman shoes, David wore his spiderman shoes, all day long.” Everyone who wants to participate can! Obviously, this isn’t feasible if you’ve got a really large group, but if it’s 15 or fewer, it can work. And be fun!

Pink hat, yellow shirt, blue pants, brown (sparkley) socks

Combine this with a singing of Hap Palmer’s “What Are You Wearing” and books like Margaret Chodos-Irvine’s Ella Sarah Gets Dressed, Jan Brett’s The Mitten and Jonathan London’s Froggy Gets Dressed and you’ve got yourself a mighty fine clothing-themed storytime!

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Flannel Friday: A House for Birdie

2 Sep

I got this flannel idea from Cate at Storytiming. It’s based on the book A House for Birdie by Stuart J. Murphy, and the story, in its simplified flannel version, goes like this:

Here’s Birdie (with fuschia feathers) and her friends Spike (tall and narrow), Queenie (tall and wide), Goldie (short and wide) and Fidget (short and narrow).

Birdie’s tired of her birdhouse, so she decides to go look for another one. Her friends offer to help her. These are the first two houses they encounter:

Will either of these work for Birdie? One is tall and wide, and one is short and narrow. They’re not the right size for Birdie, but…

…they’re perfect for Queenie and Fidget, who decide to move in!

How about these houses? Will they work for Birdie?

One is tall and narrow, while the other is short and wide. They won’t work for Birdie, but…

They’re perfect for Spike and Goldie! They finally find this house; will it work for Birdie?

It’s perfect!

The kids can help tell you which houses work for which birds, by naming their colors. They will also learn the words wide, tall, narrow, and short. You might also throw some synonyms at them, like big, large, tiny, small, etc.

I found a pattern for the house by searching “house template” in google images.  There were a lot of tiny parts to this flannel to put together, but the finished product (including googly eyes) makes me happy! I’m very excited to use this cute story with my preschoolers.

Visit Anne later today for the full Flannel Friday roundup.

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Flannel Friday: Flannelboards Inspired by Others

5 Aug

Hi all! No new flannels for you today; I wanted, instead, to share my excitement with all the wonderful bloggers/librarians who have joined in Mel’s Flannel Friday endeavor and have inspired me greatly! Here are MY version of some of their friday flannels:

Both Anne and Sharon have a version of Flip Flap Jack, and it’s a great fun song! I really liked how Sharon’s co-worker used pictures of real food, so I replicated that:

My clerk and I decided he needed a nose, so he has a cherry nose. Each item is covered in clear contact paper, with a piece of double-stick tape on the back, and we covered a piece of construction paper with contact paper. The food sticks very nicely to that – and can be easily removed!

I got “Little Mouse” from Anne also. I had heard the rhyme before, but Anne’s post is what finally motivated me to make it! My kids LOVE these kinds of guessing games. It also inspired me to create this color spinner for big crowds.

Ahhh...flourescent lighting gives it such a lovely glow, doesn't it?

The mouse pattern is here.

I have loved these owls from the moment Katie posted them and have been itching to make them! The original idea, though, comes from Leah at Sunflower Storytime (where the template lives!) Although I wont be doing my bird-themed storytime for a few months, I finally made them last week and have them ready to go.

Hooo!

I lucked out in that a co-worker who plans our teen programs happened to have a bag of colored feathers, so mine got a little addition. They’re so cute, and I love how colorful they are!  Storytime Moxie also created a version.

What has Flannel Friday inspired you to make?

Visit Anna later today for the full Flannel Friday roundup! And if you’re on Pinterest, look for Flannel Friday there too! You’ll find all of the past flannels organized into categories! It’s a great visual way to find the flannel you want (and get some new inspiration!).

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