Very Hungry Caterpillar Headband

As a children's librarian, I love Pinterest.  When I have a program to plan and need some ideas, it is my "go-to" place to start.  We are doing a special story time next Wednesday to celebrate The Very Hungry Caterpillar's birthday, but needed some craft ideas for preschoolers.  After searching Pinterest, I found this picture, but there was no pattern.  This morning I designed a pattern from the picture and cut out pieces for our program.  Here's what I came up with:

 

We started with a 4-inch wide headband.  I like to use a paper clip to close it up, because young kids tend to take them frequently off and on.  The paperclip gives the headband some give.

 

 

Then I added yellow and green circles for his eyes and purple antennae.  I think that it ended up looking cute and can't wait to see all of our little "caterpillars".  Stop by next week for more info from the program.



What Flannel Friday Means to Me

As we prepare for Flannel Friday's 2nd birthday, we are doing something a little different this week.  This week we are all participating in "What Flannel Friday Means to Me".  As I am totally not a sappy person, here are some of the tangibles for me that have happened since I joined:

• After being a lurker for a couple of months, I created my own blog on 2/14/12.  Since then, I have participated in 51 Flannel Friday posts.  (Personally, I am kind of impressed with that since there are only 52 weeks in a year.  I must have doubled up a couple of times.)
• While I wasn't too sure about this whole blog thing, I have kept with it.  While I started it for Flannel Friday posts, I have expanded into early literacy, collection development, and other programs.  I have found that I have lots of ideas and opinions and this is a good format for them.  :)
• In addition to regular posts, I have hosted 5 round-ups over the past 13 months.  If you haven't tried it, it is a lot of fun!
• By following other posters, I have a gigantic TBD (to be done) pile, in addition to random ideas pinned in Pinterest.  This fall I realized that I was coming away from Flannel Friday with a lot of new flannels and ideas so I started pinning them to a "Completed Flannelboards" folder on Pinterest so I can cite them in the future.  There are a lot more that I still have to add.
• Through blogging and discussions with the Flannel Friday Facebook group, I have gotten better at explaining what I do and why I do it (definitely an important thing when working with early literacy).  I have learned new techniques and ideas that have been successfully put into practice.  I am a better advocate for myself and my library.
• While it started as a flannel group, that is not all it is.  Now, whenever I have a children's question, I ask the Flannel Friday Facebook group first.  I have learned that many of us are always online and I get near instant results.  My questions have ranged from using iPads in the library to best books to use for a reading night.

I could keep going with this all day now that I have gotten started.  If you work with children, whether in a library, a preschool, at home, etc., this is a great group to be a part of.  There are many levels of participation so you can find the best level for yourself.

This week's round-up is hosted by Sharon at Rain Makes Applesauce.

Flannel Friday-Little Cloud

We are on a break from story time this month, which is when I can make a dent on my TBD pile.  In preparation for our story time theme of "Clouds and Rainbows" in April, I created Little Cloud by Eric Carle using a pattern from Kidzclub.  If you aren't familiar with the story, the clouds make shapes, similar to It Looked Like Spilt Milk by Charles Shaw.  To make your own, you will need at least 8 pieces of white felt.

 

Little Cloud

 

 

The first half of the shapes

 

 

The last shapes

 

This story works well for my 2-3 year olds because they like to guess the shapes.  It is kind of like an I Spy book for younger ages.

 

This week's round-up is hosted by Sharon at Rain Makes Applesauce.  It will also include special posts about "What Flannel Friday Means to Me". 

 

 

Flannel Friday-Dinosaurs!

With this year's Dig into Reading theme, I am excited to pull out a lot of dinosaur-related activities, programs, and rhymes.  This rhyme and pattern came from Finger Folk by Marilyn Lohnes.  I love any book that includes patterns!  The pieces are made out of fun foam so they are sturdy enough for a glove puppet, but will still work on a flannelboard.

Five little dinosaurs, trying hard to roar,

One went away, and then there were four.

(This continues down to 0.)

My two-year old groups really like counting rhymes.  We will start off by counting all of the dinosaurs on the board.  Then, as we count down, I let them fill in the blanks, such as "One went away, and then there were _______.  Plus, if you are in a state adopting the Common Core Standards, it is always fun to point out that we are doing math!

I recently got these great new dinosaur puppets for the library, which are perfect for this year's summer reading theme.  They would also work for this rhyme, but you would want to use volunteers.  Even though they are finger puppets, they are larger than traditional finger puppets (kind of like the size of your hand).  The puppets are made by The Puppet Company and I bought ours through Book Farm, Inc.  There is a brontosaurus, pteradactyl, stegosaurus, t-rex, triceratops, and velociraptor.

This week's Dig into Summer Reading Extravaganza round-up will be hosted at Libraryland (or here on this blog).

Mark your calendar for these upcoming dates:

On March 8 Sharon at Rain Makes Applesauce is hosting "What Flannel Friday Means to Me".  If you don't have your own blog and want to participate, Sharon will hook you up with as a guest poster on someone else's blog.

Have you added your location to the Flannel Friday map?  In honor of our 2nd birthday, we are trying to see how far we reach.  It would be really cool if we could hit all 50 states!  You don't have to be exact, but if you follow us, we would love for you to add your locale.



On March 15 Flannel Friday will be 2 year's old.  Melissa at Mel's Desk will be hosting the Flannel Friday Birthday Extravaganza.  Wouldn't it be great if we got the most posts ever to celebrate?

Dig into Summer Reading Extravaganza

 

Welcome to the 2013 Dig into Summer Reading Extravaganza!  In true extravaganza style, there are a lot of great posts and ideas that have been contributed.  Because there are many ways that you can take this theme, the posts are broken up by subcategories.

Drum roll, please...

Dig into Reading-Animals
Anne at So Tomorrow brings us another edition of Shadow Puppet Theater.  In this week's installment, the Ant and the Grasshopper tell their tale on overhead transparencies.  She also provides a link to her Dig into Reading ideas that she has been collecting.

Sharon at Rain Makes Applesauce pulled out a past favorite of hers that will fit this year's theme-10 Hungry Rabbits by Anita Lobel.  Plus, if you are planning any Easter, bunny, color, food, or spring story times, you will want to check this out.

Sarah at Read It Again! brings us worms three different ways this week. There are two great props and a craft.  You will love her flannelboard with sliding worms.

I love that Linda at Notes from the Story Room writes her own stories that will work well in story times.  This week she brings us Mole's New Hole, inspired by "The Big Turnip" and Elephant in a Well by Marie Hall Ets.

Dig into Reading-Construction
Jane at Piper Loves the Library brings us an action-paced retelling of Tip Tip Dig Dig by Emma Garcia.  From colorful flannel pieces to whirling scarves, you will really dig what she has created.

We've acquired a new blogger!  Welcome to Kristine at Dewey or Don't We (another great blog name!) as she brings us her foam parts for Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site by Sherry Duskey Rinker.

Dig into Reading-Digging
Lucy at In the Children's Room shows us how to dig through the Earth's crust on a flannelboard.  I am always looking for ways to pull nonfiction into story time and this is a great explanation.  Plus, you can keep it for 2014 when the theme is Fizz, Boom, Read.

Dig into Reading-Dinosaurs
In a new take on Duck! Rabbit! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, Thrive After Three brings you Anteater! Brachiosaurus!  Both the story and the parts are awesome. 

Kay at Storytime ABC's brings us Little Stegosaurus and the various ways you can retell it (I am a big fan of the puppet version).  In addition, she provides links to her previous posts that will fit the Dig into Reading theme.

I bring you Five Little Dinosaurs at Libraryland, plus show off some nifty new dino finger puppets that I bought for work.

Dig into Reading-Gardening
Andrea at Librarian vs. Storytime shows off Jack's Garden by Henry Cole.  If you have missed this story (like I have), it is cumulative like The House that Jack Built.

Andrea has a 2nd post this week at Librarian vs. Storytime using Tops and Bottoms by Janet Stevens.  What is really neat is that her felt pieces are double-sided.

This post is one of those story time themes that I never would have thought of, but it works.  Kathryn at Fun with Friends at Storytime created her own rhyme called Digging Potatoes to go with a story time all about potatoes. Plus, if you are looking for some March story time ideas, potatoes are a great idea (St. Patty's Day-Irish-potatoes).

Have you ever noticed how many pizza toppings come from the garden?  Amy at Catch the Possibilities shows us how to build a pizza in her programs.  I can see this working well with books like Pete's a Pizza. 

Have Book-Will Travel
Storytiming shows us how to make paper cities.  This would be great for decor, a paper city program, or put out on tables for kids to design their own cities.

Other Flannel Fun
Sarah at Read Rabbit Read has two counting nursery rhymes for us that she is planning to use tomorrow in her Family Early Literacy Time.  Nursery rhymes are always great to add to your bag of tricks.

Melissa at Mel's Desk is trying to tie her Waiting for Winter flannelboard game into Dig into Reading.  The best I have is that there is a dinosaur and a bone included in her parts.  Anyone have anything better?

Bridget at What is Bridget Reading? celebrated Tell a Fairy Tale Day by creating felt guessing pieces from a variety of tales.  I can also see this working well as a contest for older kids during Children's Book Week or Summer Reading.

Andrea at Roving Fiddlehead KidLit created a cool new flannelboard from a thrift store find.  It is another of those things that I had never thought of doing, but it turned out great!

Just in time for spring, The Voices Inside My Headphones shows us how to make a nifty kite perfect for your preschool crowds.  For those of us who have tried to make kites in story time before, you will definitely want this pattern.

If you want to know more about Flannel Friday:

-Check out the Flannel Friday blog.  Features include host schedules, how to participate, and links to past round-ups.

-For a visual look at Flannel Friday posts, check out the Flannel Friday Pinterest page.  This is a great "go to" resource when planning story times.

-Join the Flannel Friday Facebook community for great discussions and up-to-date information. 

Mark your calendar for these upcoming dates:

On Wednesday, March 5, Anne Clark will be participating in the Pennsylvania Library Association's webinar on summer reading.  Anyone can register! 

On March 8 Sharon at Rain Makes Applesauce is hosting "What Flannel Friday Means to Me". If you don't have your own blog and want to participate, Sharon will hook you up with as a guest poster on someone else's blog.  Plus, she made a cool button (it's like bling, it makes my eyes go all shiny!).

Have you added your location to the Flannel Friday map? In honor of our 2nd birthday, we are trying to see how far we reach. It would be really cool if we could hit all 50 states! You don't have to be exact, but if you follow us, we would love for you to add your locale.



On March 15 Flannel Friday will be 2 year's old. Melissa at Mel's Desk will be hosting the Flannel Friday Birthday Extravaganza. Wouldn't it be great if we got the most posts ever to celebrate?

Make a Valentine

This is one of those programs where I got the idea from someone else when we were trading ideas (I gave her Life-Sized Candy Land and she gave me this).  Then it sat in my head for a couple of years until our schedule allowed me to pull it out.  I liked it because it had a couple of components so you can grow or shrink it to fit your schedule and clientele.


Here's what we did:
1.  I started off by contacting a hospital in our service area in September to see if they would like Valentine's if we collected or made them.  They loved the idea and gave us a couple of guidelines to follow, such as not including messages like "get better" as some patients will not recuperate.  They also gave us a deadline a couple of days before Valentine's Day, which was helpful in planning our programs and collection.

2.  In October we planned how we would collect the Valentine's.  We decided to run our program with 2 components:

• We wanted to collect Valentine's from the public at each of our locations.  The staff at each location designed a Valentine's mailbox for people to put their Valentine's in.
• We planned programs where people could make Valentine's that would go to the hospital (there were 2 children's and 1 teen).

3.  In November-January, I searched the Internet for ideas for our program.  If you are not on Pinterest, it is a great resource for programs like this.  I found a lot of great pictures, but not a lot of actual directions and patterns.  I whittled down the selections to 3 Valentine's, created patterns, and had our volunteers cut out the pieces.

4.  For some extra fun, I added glue sticks, crayons, stickers, and colored paper to each location's breakroom to encourage staff to participate too.  While that response wasn't as big as I hoped, the people who participated had a great time.

5.  In February we held our "Make a Valentine" program for 30 kids at our location.  While not everyone showed up for the program, those that did used up all of the precut pieces to create Valentine's.  These were all kids who like to do crafts.  It made me think that next year, we can precut extra parts and have them sorted into piles on tables and the kids will love doing them.

6.  The following Monday I dropped off 2 large boxes of Valentine's at our local hospital.  It was fun seeing what everyone created (1 mom dropped off 60+ Valentine's that she and her children created!).

Our Valentine's:
1.  Alligator-we used the idea from here, but made a new pattern where we flattened out the alligator and made him out of construction paper. Our alligator ended up 7 pieces plus stickers (4 legs, body, top of the head, and inside of the mouth message).

2.  Owl-we used the idea from here, but had to come up with our own teardrop pattern.  The eyes are 1-inch white circles punched with a hole punch.  We added the message as a sticker so everybody's would fit.  We also left off the candy.  The inside of the eyes are glittery heart stickers.

3.  Elephant-we used the idea from here, but had to come up with our own heart patterns.  We used large googly eyes and a sticker message.  The hearts are a 1-inch heart punch.

How it went:
I think that this went great for our first year with this program.  We collected 400 Valentine's across 3 locations, which I think that we can definitely increase for next year.  We made a positive community connection with our local hospital and can continue that relationship in the future.  This is definitely a program that we will do again next year!

Flannel Friday-The Shape of My Heart

This week's flannelboard is another one that has been sitting on my TBM (to be made) pile since the book came out in late 2012.  The Shape of My Heart by Mark Sperring is a great addition to shape story times that uses shapes that toddlers are familiar with other than the traditional square, circle, and triangle.  This is also a great title to share one-on-one because there is a lot to the illustrations, similar to an I Spy book.

All of the pieces for this are made out of felt.  The sun, car, are AccuCut dies.  Everything else is handcut with puffy paint details.

 

This is the shape of you and me.

 

The shape of your eye and the sun.

 

 

The shape of your mouth, shoes, and feet.

 

 

The shape of cars, your hand, your ear, and your house.

 

 

All of our shapes, including the birds, your pillow,

the toy, the moon, the star, and your heart.

 







This week's round-up is hosted by Kay at Storytime ABC's.

 

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Upcoming Flannel Friday dates include:

-3/1 (next Friday!)-Dig Into Summer Reading Extravaganza hosted here.

-3/8 -Flannel Friday Special Edition:What Flannel Friday Means to Me at Rain Makes Applesauce

-3/15-Flannel Friday Birthday Extravaganza hosted at Mel's Desk