Tag Archives: Flannelboard

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: Going on a Picnic

22 Nov

I have to credit Melissa for this one as she was super generous in sharing her library system’s storytime training plans with me when my library was revising ours recently. This flannel is a part of that plan. So I’ve only used it as a training tool, but can certainly work in storytime! You’d probably need a few more pieces of food, though…

This is intended to be used with Raffi’s song “Going on a Picnic”, although he mentions different food. But it’s a great call-and-response song that can be easily learned by the whole group.

Put the picnic basket up on the board. Hand out flannel food pieces to the audience (only do this if you have enough for EVERY CHILD). Tell the group, we’re going on a picnic so we need to fill our picnic basket with yummy food!

Going on a picnic, leaving right away.

If it doesn’t rain we’ll stay all day.

Call: Did you bring the …. [strawberries]

Response: Yes, I brought the … [strawberries] (child brings strawberry up and puts it on the picnic basket)

etc….

picnic2

Continue until all the felt foods are in the picnic basket.  Next is your opportunity to really grow those early literacy skills. Talk about how two of the foods have words on them – Juice and Jam – and run your finger under the words. Notice how “juice” and “jam” both start with the letter J, that makes a “juh” sound. Ask the kids what color the strawberry is.  What else on the board is red? What color is the cheese? Why does the cheese have holes? It’s SWISS cheese. Ask the kids about their favorite picnic foods.

picnic

We used this in our storytime training to demonstrate how we extend early literacy skills learning – talking about letter knowledge, background knowledge (colors, cheese words, picnic words), etc. I’m hoping to find the time to make more foods and really use this in my food storytime! What fun! I love picnics!

The roundup today will be hosted by Bridget. To see all past flannels organized for your easy access on pinterest, click the icon on the right side of the screen.

Happy Flanneling!

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Flannel Friday: 5 Bears in the Bed

9 Nov

I do Bear storytime every fall – my bear puppet’s getting ready to hibernate so we read him some bedtime stories.

The song “Ten In the Bed” (or 5, in this case) is a staple for my bedtime stories theme, but also works great for this storytime. I had a flannelboard already made up for this one, but it was looking pretty sad and careworn, so I decided to re-do it.

For anyone not in the know, here’s the song (and you can find the tune here):

5 bears in the bed (hold up 5 fingers) and the little one said:

“roll over! roll over!” (roll hands)

So they all rolled over and one fell out! (1 bear falls out of bed)

4 bears in the bed… etc.

The kids especially enjoy if, when a bear falls out, he actually flies through the air and lands on the floor. Flying felt is ALWAYS a hit.

I got the bed pattern from Making Learning Fun. The bears are a result of a clipart search for a pattern.

Today’s roundup will be hosted by Anna, our Future Librarian Superhero! And click the icon to the right to see all past flannels, organized visually by categories.

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: 5 Spooky Ghosts!

5 Oct

In honor of Flannel Friday’s HALLOWEEN EXTRAVAGANZA (I’m hosting the roundup too!) I made a quick and easy flannel to go with a “5 Little Ghosts” rhyme I found on Preschool Education.  I don’t generally do a Halloween storytime in the preschools, unless the school I’m visiting that day tells me they’re having a special celebration, so I don’t have a large stash of Halloween-related flannels.

BOO!

5 little ghosts dressed all in white

Were scaring each other on halloween night.

“Boo!” said the first one, “I’ll catch you!”

“Boo!” said the second, “I don’t care if you do!”

The third ghost said, “You can’t run away from me!”

And the fourth one said, “I’ll scare everyone I see!”

Then the last one said, “It’s time to disappear!”

“See you at Halloween time next year!”

Here’s a pattern you can use if you’d like to recreate my silly little ghosts.  Check back RIGHT HERE later today for the full roundup EXTRAVAGANZA! And click the icon to the right if you’d like to see ALL past posts, organized neatly for your browsing ease.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN, Y’ALL! And happy flanneling!

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Flannel Friday: Moo! Tweet! Meow! Animal Sounds

19 Aug

One of my go-to storytimes for the new school year is an animal sounds theme. There are a plethora of good books (I’ll post my storytime plan soon – can’t believe I haven’t done it yet!), and it’s a good topic for new preschoolers (who are on the younger, closer-to-3-years-old side). So when planning my storytimes for September, I naturally gravitated toward this tried-and-true theme. For flannelboards, I got out a set of felt animals I made several years ago. Thinking about how I could use them, I decided to incorporate some print awareness and make a “sign” with each animal’s sound on it. The kids could then help me figure out each animal’s sound, and I could show them how that sound is written in print:

This was super easy, obviously, but incorporates an extra element that just adds to the early literacy experience the kids are getting in storytime. I think that perhaps, later in the year, I will show them the words again, ask them about the first letter, make the letter sound, and then have them figure out the sound. It might work really well!

The question mark, by the way, is for the fish.

Visit Tracey at 1234 More Storytimes later today for the full Flannel Friday roundup!

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Flannel Friday: 5 Hungry Ants

12 Aug

I’ve posted this one before, as part of my food storytime, but that was long before Flannel Friday started so I thought I would share it again! It’s one of my preschoolers’ favorites, especially since after every sneeze I toss the ant over my shoulder.

Mmmm....cake...

We start by counting the ants, and then, one by one, they march into the food:

5 hungry ants,

marching in a line,

came upon a picnic

where they could dine.

They marched into the salad,

they marched into the cake,

they marched into the pepper….

Uh oh, that was a mistake!

AHHHH-CHOOO!

4 hungry ants….etc….

The ants are ready for their close up.

I like to add words to my flannel pieces where possible, and point out the word as I’m saying it. I have asked the kids what words they think are on the cake, and they can usually guess correctly. Also, this is a vocabulary builder – we talk about what the word “dine” means (not to be mistaken for DIE, which the kids often think I’ve said. It’s good to clarify. Dine is a fancy word for eat! Like “dining room!”)

Check out the full Flannel Friday round up later today; hosted by Cate at Storytiming

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Flannel Friday: Matching Mittens

8 Jul

I can’t take credit for this great idea; my co-worker Kim created our first matching mittens set. But I made these, so I CAN take credit for the silly designs on the mittens.

I made 2 mittens of each color; there are 26 mittens in all (a couple of colors have 2 pair – light and dark blue; light and dark brown). They are clipped, by clothespin, on yarn that I braided together to make it thicker. A rope would probably work better. I got the clothespins at Walgreens, I think. A large bag is pretty inexpensive.

Here’s how I use these: I give each child one mitten (one of each pair; I keep the match). Then I hold up one mitten and ask the kids what color it is. After they’ve answered, I ask if anyone has the match. The child who has it brings up the mitten, and I hold the clothespin open as he or she puts the mitten in. I add the match and hold it up so we can admire our work! We continue until all the matches are made.

If I have more than 13 kids I give out both of the pair, and ask, “does anyone have a green mitten?” The two children with green mittens bring them up and add them to the clothesline.

This could be used to learn about patterns, shapes, and, obviously, colors.  I use it with my clothing storytime. You could make matching socks instead of mittens, or even a variety of clothing, if you want.  It would be a great follow up to Mrs. McNosh Hangs Up Her Wash or The Mitten.  It’s always been a big hit with the kids – they love getting to bring the mitten up and match it in front of the whole group.

Visit Storytime Katie later today for the full Flannel Friday round up!

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Flannel Friday: Balloons for a Party

24 Jun

Here’s a flannel good for birthdays, parties, or color storytime. I free-handed the balloons, then attached a piece of yarn with a hot glue gun (I wrapped it around once before gluing so it would look like it was tied on). Once again, I put the color words on my flannels to help with word recognition.

Here are balloons for a party
Because it’s my birthday today.
I have balloons for all of my friends
Who are coming over to play.

Here is a pretty round blue balloon,

As blue as a baby’s eyes.

And here is a bright round red balloon,

Just about your size!

Blue, Red and Yellow balloons!

Here is a happy round yellow balloon,

As yellow as bright sunshine,

And here is a lovely round purple balloon,

Like purple grapes on a vine.

Pardon the blindingly white one. I blame flourescent lighting.

Here is a little round orange balloon,

Like oranges from the store.

And here is a light round white balloon,

And now there are no more!

Since the kids will invariably ask “where’s the green one? Where’s the pink one?” I ask the kids what colors we still need. So we add a green, pink, brown and black balloon.

Ballon bouquet!

Check with Anne later today for the full Flannel Friday roundup!

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Flannel Friday: There’s a Bug on the Teacher

17 Jun

I can’t remember exactly where I found this poem, but I think it’s from The Goof Who Invented Homework: and Other School Poems. At any rate, the poem, and the book, is by Kalli Dakos.

Great for bug or school storytime. Or body parts!  You could also give each child a small plastic bug and have them move it to different parts of their bodies. The bugs could fly in the air during the AHChoo!

Like the bellbottoms?

Here’s the text of the poem. Move the bug around to each body part as it’s mentioned. Mine buzzes as it flies.:

There’s a Bug on the Teacher

by Kalli Dakos

There’s a bug on the teacher,

and it’s crawling on her shoe.

What will she do?

It’s crawling on her shoe!

There’s a bug on the teacher,

And it’s crawling on her pants.

Has us in a trance,

That bug on her pants.

There’s a bug on the teacher,

And it’s crawling on her shirt,

I hope it doesn’t hurt,

That bug on her shirt.

There’s a bug on the teacher,

And it’s crawling on her neck,

Everyone check,

It’s crawling on her neck!

There’s a bug on the teacher,

And it’s crawling on her nose,

Why do you suppose

It’s crawling on her nose?

Oh no! It's on her nose!

AhhhhhCHOOOOOO!!

There’s a bug on the floor,

And it’s crawling out the door!

Check with Melissa later today for the full Flannel Friday Round-Up!

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