Month: September 2011

Flannel Friday: Elephants!

Inspired by Mary, and I know that Mollie did her own, too. Anna posted the second rhyme. The combination of both of these flannels came from Andrea. Basically, these are two flannels that have been around the block!

Rhyme: “One Elephant Went Out to Play”
One elephant went out to play
Upon a spider’s web one day
He had such enormous fun
He called another elephant to come…
(HEY, ELEPHANT!)
Two elephants went out to play
Upon a spider’s web one day
They had such enormous fun,
They called another elephant to come…
(You get the picture.)

Rhyme: “Five Elephants in the Bathtub”
One elephant in the bathtub
Going for a swim.
Knock, Knock, (Clap twice with “Knock, Knock.”)
Splash, Splash, (Slap knees twice with “Splash, Splash.”)
Come on in! (Motion with both hands to come in.)
Two elephants elephants in the bathtub… etc.
(Until…)
Five elephants elephants in the bathtub
Going for a swim.
Knock, Knock,
Splash, Splash,
They all fell in!

And there you go — one flannel set; two flannel rhymes! I haven’t used either of these rhymes with the set yet, but I can’t wait until I do.

Sharon has the round-up this week. Melissa started this. Anne has the archive. And you can also follow the Flannel Friday Pinterest account. (Also, Melissa has a new button if you want to link to Flannel Friday and it’s up at her blog here.)

September 30, 2011 29 Comments Short URLFlannels

Zoo!

July’s afternoon storytime session was “Zoo!”

The Plan

Books

Color Zoo by Lois Ehlert
Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell
From Head to Toe by Eric Carle
My Heart Is Like a Zoo by Michael Hall
Two at the Zoo by Danna Smith

Extension Activities

Action Rhyme: “Big Gray Elephant”
The big gray elephant slowly walks.
She doesn’t make a sound.
She swings her trunk from left to right,
When she puts her feet on the ground.
Swing, swing, left and right,
She doesn’t make a sound.
Credit: Alphabet Soup – Zoo Poems, Songs, and Fingerplays

Puppet Song: “Came to the Zoo” (Tune: My Body Lies Over the Ocean)
I came to the zoo to see lions, elephants, tigers, and bears!
I came to the zoo to see zebras. I love all the animals there!
Lions, tigers, elephants, zebras, and bears, and bears!
Lions, tigers, elephants, zebras, and bears!
Credit: Mel’s Desk

Action Rhyme: “Kangaroo”
Jump, jump, jump (jump)
Goes the kangaroo. (jump)
I thought only one – (hold up one finger)
But now I see two! (hold up two fingers)
Mommy and her baby
With his head popping out (wiggle thumb from fist)
He holds on tight (hug self)
As they jump all about! (jump around)
Credit: Preschool Education — Animals: Zoo

Song: “You Can Hear” (Tune: She’ll Be Coming ‘Round the Mountain)
You can hear the lions roaring at the zoo, ROAR ROAR!
You can hear the lions roaring at the zoo, ROAR ROAR!
You can hear the lions roaring, you can hear the lions roaring,
You can hear the lions roaring at the zoo, ROAR ROAR!
(Snakes hissing, bears growling, wolves howling, frogs croaking, zebras braying)
Perpetual Preschool

Craft

Puppets! The kids glued their foam pieces onto the bags. I got the kit from Oriental Trading, but the bag glue was kind of stinky. (I wound up having to re-glue some of the bags after the ripped at the seems.) They got to choose between zebra, lion, tiger, and giraffe.

How It Went

This was an awesome group of storytime kids. I skewed way older for this session (averaging around a 7-year-old), so I was mildly worried that the books would be too young for them. But I had nothing to fear! Their favorite book was “From Head to Toe” because I always do it in a big book form and let them play along with me. It’s a great book for movement. The kids loved the craft and once I fixed the bags, many of them chased each other around roaring and braying and well, whatever noise a giraffe makes.

September 28, 2011 8 Comments Short URL, , Family Storytime

School!

Every year at the first fall session, we have a few sad moments when I have to explain that to a child that some of their friends won’t be coming today because they go to school now. This year, I decided to try and help that transition by doing a whole storytime theme on school.

The Plan

Books

Llama Llama Misses Mama by Anna Dewdney
Maisy Goes to Preschool by Lucy Cousins
Mouse’s First Day of School by Lauren Thompson
Splat the Cat by Rob Scotton
Wow, School! by Robert Neubecker

Extension Activities

Song: “Come to School” (Tune: Farmer in the Dell)
We like to come to school
We like to come to school
Our school is such a happy place
We like to come to school
Credit: Preschool Education

Flannelboard Rhyme/Story: “Mary Had a Little Lamb”

Flannelboard Song: “Wheels on the Bus”

Fingerplay: “Way Up High”
Way up high in the apple tree
I saw two apples smiling at me
I shook that tree as hard as I could
Down came the apples…
And mmm, they were good!
Credit: Childhood

Craft

How It Went

Thursday Morning
A pretty successful storytime theme! Of course, it was a bit hairy behaviorally because we had been on a storytime break for four whole weeks. I had to use a lot of my filler activities to shake out a lot of sillies. The favorite book of this group was “Mouse’s First Day of School.”

Friday morning
My daycare storytime LOVED this theme! The kids had a great time through all of the books, and one of their teachers stopped to take pictures during the class because the kids were having such a great time. Our craft was the best thing ever for everyone! I had a ton of kids drawing people on their buses, putting animals as passengers, and even one little girl who had her animals eat the people on her bus. This will remain one of my most favorite sessions with this group!

September 26, 2011 7 Comments Short URL, , Family Storytime

Flannel Friday: Birthday Cake!

In July, I did a birthday themed storytime and this is the birthday cake I made for it!

Here’s the rhyme I used:

Flannel: Five Candles
Five candles on a birthday cake
Five, and not one more
You may blow one candle out,
And that leaves four!
(There for all to see / three; Standing straight and true / two; Helping us have fun / one; We know its task is done / none)
Credit: Addison Public Library

There’s no template, cause I just free-handed the whole thing. I sewed on the beads as sprinkles so that the cake was a little more special.

Mary has the round-up this week. Melissa started this. Anne has the archive. And you can also follow the Flannel Friday Pinterest account.

September 23, 2011 12 Comments Short URLFlannels

Dance!

Um, oops? This is a left-over from summer that I never wrote up! (And what’s worse is I found more drafts that I never finished saved in WordPress. Prepare yourselves for a blast from the past!)

The Plan

Books

The Animal Bop Won’t Stop by Jan Ormerod
Brontorina by James Howe
Color Dance by Ann Jonas
Dancing Feet by Lindsey Craig
Hilda Must Be Dancing by Karma Wilson

Extension Activities

Flannelboard: “Five Dancing Ballerinas”
Five dancing ballerinas, prancing on their toes
The twirl and spin and jump; then off the stage she goes (count down)
Credit: Storytimes Online

Fingerplay: “Dance Your Fingers Up”
Dance your fingers up, dance your fingers down
Dance your fingers to the side, dance them all around
Dance them on your shoulders, dance them on you head
Dance them on your tummy, and put them all to bed
Credit: Best Kids Book Site

Song, Shakers, and Scarves: “Hokey Pokey” and “If You’re Happy and You Know It”

Action Rhyme: “We Can Jump”
We can jump, jump, jump
We can hop, hop, hop
We can clap, clap, clap
We can stop, stop, stop
We can nod our heads for yes
We can shake our heads for no
We can bend our knees a little bit
And we can sit down really slow
Credit: 1234 More Storytimes

Craft

Because this was the last storytime of the summer session, I went all out and bought these foam star shapes. Then, my sister and I hot-glued them to the wooden dowels and tied the ribbon around them. The kids just put foam shapes on their “dance wands.”

How It Went

Thursday morning
This was a really great way to end the storytime session. The kids had been attending for six weeks now and were pretty comfortable with me and their storytime friends, so participation was not an issue. They hopped and bopped all over the place, but settled down for the stories. I do not think this would be a good theme to open up a storytime session with. This group’s favorite book was “Dancing Feet.”

Friday morning
This storytime was PACKED with kids. I think I had around thirty, which is a lot of kids for our small space. There were a lot of reminders about making sure to have personal space before doing the activities. This group really enjoyed “Hilda Must Be Dancing,” as did I. Also, this group was just AMAZED with the dance wands. Afterwards, we had a brief little dance party on the rug before their teachers rounded them up to go home.

September 21, 2011 12 Comments Short URL, Family Storytime

ALSC: Storytime Resource — Flannel Friday

newalscblog

This month, I’m talking about my favorite new resource — Flannel Friday! Click on over to the ALSC blog and catch up on a brief Flannel Friday mystery.

September 17, 2011 0 Comments Short URLALSC Post

Flannel Friday: Five Little Monkeys!

I made this Flannel Friday using a template from Homemade by Jill, which I found on the ever popular Pinterest.

Here’s your rhyme:

Five little monkeys swinging in the tree
Teasing Mr. Crocodile, “You can’t catch me, No you can’t catch me”
Along comes Mr. Crocodile, as quiet as can be
And SNAPPED that monkey out of the tree!
Repeat with:
Four little monkeys…
Three little monkeys…
Two little monkeys…
One little monkey…

And the best thing is that these are finger puppets as well as felt pieces. Super fun!

Tracey at 1234 More Storytimes has the round-up. Melissa started this. Anne has the archive. And we have our beloved Pinterest account.

September 16, 2011 14 Comments Short URLFlannels

Flannel Friday: Apples!

Inspired by Katie at Storytime Secrets and Anne at So Tomorrow, I took my own turn using this template from PurlBee, which I found on Pinterest.

(Was that enough links for you?)

Here’s the rhyme, courtesy of Katie:

Five little apples
Hung in a tree
The farmer wasn’t looking.
So guess who came to eat?
A caterpillar! Munch munch munch!

Four little apples
Hung in a tree
The farmer wasn’t looking.
So guess who came to eat?
A horse! Munch munch munch!

Three little apples
Hung in a tree
The farmer wasn’t looking.
So guess who came to eat?
A pig! Munch munch munch!

Two little apples
Hung in a tree
The farmer wasn’t looking.
So guess who came to eat?
A bird! Munch munch munch!
One little apple
Hung in a tree
The farmer wasn’t looking.
So guess who came to eat?
A scarecrow! Munch munch munch!

Now the tree is bare
There are no more apples there
But when next fall comes around
Guess who’ll be there!
The caterpillar
The horse
The pig
The bird
And the scarecrow!

I’m planning on using finger puppets to “munch” the apple. Each apple has a plain side and a side with a bite/half missing from it, so I’m going to flip the apples after the puppet takes a bite.

Melissa has the round-up on her blog, Mel’s Desk today. If you participate in Flannel Friday, make sure to leave a comment there to add your post to the list!

September 9, 2011 15 Comments Short URLFlannels