Flannel Friday-Ten Little Fish

This week's post is a flannelized version of Ten Little Fish by Audrey Wood for one of our summer story times.  You can use this story with a wide variety of ages.

To make the fish, I started off by drawing a pattern.  It helps if you cut out three fish patterns-one for the base, one for the fin and tail, and one for the color in the middle.  I tried to pick out bright colored felt, similar to the fish in the story.  After cutting out the parts, I used Tacky glue to assemble and added a large googly eye to each.  The fish work great on my blue flannelboard, because the blue can be the water in the story.

By choosing a book with numbers and bright colors, it will work great with the toddler set.  Plus, the story is fun for the more engaged listener (a.k.a. preschoolers and kindergartners).

This week's round-up can be found on this blog in a different post.  You can also check out the official Flannel Friday blog to see what we are all about.



Flannel Friday Round-Up for June 2

Welcome to my first Flannel Friday round-up!  There are a lot of great ideas this week, many I want to try myself.

Melissa shows us how to make finger puppets at Mel's Desk and gives us some ideas on how to use them in story times.  Plus, there are patterns (who doesn't love patterns?)!

Anne at So Tomorrow is getting ready for St. Patrick's Day 2013 with her flannelized version of the Irish trickster tale The Field of Boliasuns.

At Welcome to Storytime, Kelly has given us the words and flannel pieces to the Sleeping Bag Chant.  This looks like it will go great with the summer reading theme Dream Big Read!

If you are planning a jungle story time, pull out Sarah's Five Ferocious Lions on Read, Sarah, Read!  Sarah also gives you a lion craft and book options.

I love moose books, but can never find any good rhymes to go with them.  Check out Storytime Sparks this week for Ten Mighty Moose.  Sandy has also attached a cute clip art moose to go with the rhyme.

Here's another great addition for the Dream Big Read! summer reading theme.  Check out In the Children's Room where Lucy has flannelized the song Let's Go Out On a Summer Night.

If you are looking for a great game to play this summer, check out Miss Courtney Meets Bobo where Courtney shows you how to play The Cow Jumped Over the Moon.

Sarah at Read It Again! made herself out of foam.  How cool is that?  Miss Foam Sarah goes with the poem There's a Bug on the Teacher.

I am always intrigued by multilingual ideas as that is one area of children's librarianship that I haven't explored yet.  Katie shows us One Elephant Went Out to Play or Los Elefantes at ¡Es Divertido Hablar Dos Idiomas!

At The Voice Inside My Headphones, there is a cute animal noise craft.

I am jealous of whoever can do this.  Monica at Ram Sam Storytime shows us how to do a StoryWalk.  Her version uses Denise Fleming's In the Small, Small Pond.

Get ready to look for some chicken stories to go with this fun craft.  Linda at Notes from the Story Room shows us how to make her popular squawking chicken craft.

For those summer story times, check out Mollie at What Happens in Storytime with her five ice cream cones with sprinkles!  She uses the rhyme Down Around the Corner at the Ice Cream Shop.

Finally, I have created a flannelized version of Ten Little Fish by Audrey Wood for one of our summertime fish story times.

Thanks everyone for a great week!  To find a schedule of future round-ups or more information about Flannel Friday, check out the official Flannel Friday blog!

Flannel Friday-The Shape Song

I like using music in story time, because it allows you a different way of telling a story or rhyme.  Plus, you are slowing down the language for the ECRR2 skills that we use.  Songs also give you the opportunity to pass out props so all of the kids can participate at the same time.  This song I originally found in one of the Mailbox books many years ago (I just didn't write down which one).

The Shape Song

to the tune of "If You're Happy and You Know It"

Put your square in the air, in the air.

Put your square in the air, in the air.

Put your square in the air

And then wave it way up there.

Put your square in the air, in the air.

I used an AccuCut die machine to cut out various shapes, such as triangles, squares, rectangles, and circles.  I cut all of one shape out of the same color so kids can use colors to help figure out shapes that they don't know.  For example, when I hold up the purple triangle, everyone will hold up a triangle, whether they recognize it by shape or color.

Mel's Desk is hosting this week's round-up.  For more information about Flannel Friday, check out the Flannel Friday blog for more information.





Cool Stuff-Magnet Tape

I was shopping in Lakeshore Learning last year and found the coolest thing!  Have you seen Magnet Tape by Dowling Magnets?  This magnet tape is thin, similar to Scotch tape, and is great for just about anything in the library.  I put it on the back of magnet board pieces, signs, and decorations.  I never used to like magnets as mine always fell off and seemed thick.  Magnet Tape has become a part of my "must have" supplies.

Flannel Friday-The Deep Blue Sea

The Deep Blue Sea by Audrey Wood is a great cumulative color story, which makes it ideal to transfer into flannel.  It helps if you tell this one with a blue flannelboard so the flannelboard can represent the sea.  While I am not going to tell the whole story, there are some excerpts under my pictures.

There's a nut, a brown nut

on a green tree

on a red rock

in the middle of the deep blue sea.

Until a little white cloud

turns dark and gray...

Which makes the fishies come up to play.

For the cloud, I used a piece of white felt and a piece of gray and glued them together in a cloud shape.  When the little white cloud turns dark and gray, I can just flip it over.

To create a complete story time, add this title to Ten Little Fish by Audrey Wood for an "under the sea" theme or Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin, Jr. for a color story time.

Visit Notes from the Story Room for this week's round-up.  For more information about Flannel Friday, check out the great new blog.

Flannel Friday-Are You a Cow?

I am a big fan of using Sandra Boynton books in story times.  They have great rhymes, great pictures, and many kids are familiar with her work.  When you work with toddlers, they love the familiar-it makes them feel like they know what is going on.

Sandra Boynton's newest book, Are You a Cow, is a great new addition to story time circles.  There is still a rhyme, but it isn't as complicated as Barnyard Dance.  Boyton relies on toddler humor to make this book work.  If you ask a toddler if they are a cow, you will most likely get a resounding "NO".  Plus, when you do this, you are working on that ECRR2 skill of talking.  This is a title that is great for interaction and the kids will be giggling right through.

Are you a cow???

How about a dog?  A duck?  A frog?

A lamb? A pig? A hippo that is big?

A bear that doesn't frown?

A chicken hanging upside down?

A penguin?

(There's one more, but I won't spoil it.)

The flannelboard pieces are all AccuCut die cut paper pieces.  I used markers to embellish.

The Flannel Friday roundup this week is at Rain Makes Applesauce.  Check out the other great creations there or on the Flannel Friday Pinterest board.  For a complete description of Flannel Friday, the hosting schedule, and more, check out the new Flannel Friday blog.



Bug ABC's Blog Hop

My contributions to the Bug ABC's Blog Hop are both storytelling ideas.  Click on the button to the right to find more bug ideas from other blogs!

Old Black Fly Clothesline Story
I love to find new and different ways to use props in my story times.  I had never done a clothesline story before, but had heard about them, so I decided to create one.  If you are making a clothesline story, they work really well with cumulative stories.  That way you can add the pictures as you go.  You will also need a way to hang the clothesline.  I have used 2 parents, 2 chairs that I can tie the clothesline around, and the handles on cupboards.  It all depends on your group and how high the clothesline needs to be so you can tell the story and everyone can see.

For my first attempt at a clothesline story, I picked Old Black Fly by Jim Aylesworth.  I used blank index cards and on each I would glue a piece of clip art and add a sticker letter.

What also helped was to write out the story on the back of the cards (so I didn't have to memorize the book-it just looks like I did!)



With 26+ pieces to this story, I attached all of them to the clothesline ahead of time.  Then I went along behind it with the black fly and told the story.  The kids really liked it as it was something different.

Little Red Bug Flannelboard
I love how this flannelboard turned out.  To make the ladybug, you need 2 circles.  Cut the larger circle out of red felt and the smaller circle out of black felt.  Glue them together.  I added large googly eyes to his head.  Then, you will need 5 smaller black circles.  For mine, I used 1 inch black circles.



Little Red Bug

Little red bug, oh so cute, here's a black spot for your suit.

Now you go and have some fun with your spot, your very first one.

It's so nice to own a few, so enjoy these lovely two.

We are very pleased to see, how you look with all three.

You might feel that you need more, so we proudly give you four.

Heaven, heaven sakes alive, look at you, you're wearing five!

(As you say the numbers, add a spot to the ladybug.)

Many thanks to Storytime ABC's for starting this blog hop!