Big, Bigger, Biggest

 

Hmmm...  Where did I originally see this?  I can't remember!  But it's super simple, and can be adapted many different ways:

• A big bug, a bigger bug, the biggest bug I see--now help me count them!  One...two...three!
• A small bug, a medium bug, a big bug I see--now help me count them... One, two, three!
• A yellow star, a blue star, an orange star I see--now help me count them...one, two, three!

See how you can change it up?!  And this is SO simple to make--especially with clip art if you want to go that route.  You could do animals, shapes, same colors, different colors, seasonal items, foods--this one really is endless in it's possibilities.

Flannel Friday is being hosted this week by Kate at Felt Board Magic.  You can also find tons of ideas at Flannel Friday's Pinterest Pages, the Flannel Friday Blog, and Flannel Friday's Facebook page.

A House for Birdie

I saw this set while perusing Flannel Friday's Pinterest pages--it was originally posted here.  I love the simplicity of the birds, though when I used this set today for the first time, one of my little girls couldn't stop asking me where the birds' feathers and wings were...

(This particular set isn't for sale, but please check out my shop with many of my other sets:

Shop Flannel Board Fun

So, I have never read the book this set is based on, but it seems that Birdie (the turquoise bird in the red house above) doesn't have a house, so he and his friends go house hunting together.  I named the friends Bluey, Orangie, Yellowey, and Greenie.  Of course.  Anyway, as they come across each house they discover that although the house is too narrow, short or tall for Birdie, it is just the right size for one of his pals.  They all celebrate each new house for their friend, and in the end, Birdie finds the house that is a perfect fit for him.  

This is such a simple, simple story, but I cannot tell you how completely enthralled my little two-year-olds were.  They fell in love with Birdie and his friends, feather-less and wing-less though they may be.

Flannel Friday is being hosted by Melissa at Mel's Desk!  You can also find tons of ideas at Flannel Friday's Pinterest Pages, the Flannel Friday Blog, and Flannel Friday's Facebook page.

Five Little Ducks

Five Little Ducks is a classic, and a song I've shared with every group of kids I've taught for the past 20+ years.  I started out just doing it as a finger play, and I still share the hand motions with the kids as we sing about the ducks.  I made a foam set for the flannelboard about 5 or 10 years ago, and we've been using that. But I felt like it needed to be freshened up, so I scanned my foam ducks and printed them out to use as templates for this felt version.  I also changed my old mama duck from yellow to white--because, um, mama ducks aren't yellow! 

I've made a video with this set so you can see all the moves and hear the tune!

Click here for yet another song to sing with these cuties!

Five Little Ducks

Five little ducks went out one day (hold up five fingers)
Over the hills and far away 

(move hand like it's going over hills, then hand to forehead as if you're looking far away)

The mama duck said"Quack, quack, quack, quack." (other hand quacks like the bill of a duck)But only four little ducks came back. (fold one finger down)

(count down till all the ducks are gone)

Sad Mama duck went out one day

Over the hills and far away

Mama duck said

Quack, quack, quack, quack

And all of the five little ducks came back!

Click here to buy this set at my shop!

Flannel Friday is being hosted by Melissa at Mel's Desk!  You can also find tons of ideas at Flannel Friday's Pinterest Pages, the Flannel Friday Blog, and Flannel Friday's Facebook page.

Freight Train

Freight Train by Donald Crews has long been a favorite in my classroom. We've had a laminated paper version in my classroom for many years.  It is wonderful, but it's a little too large to work well on our flannel board.  We have it out for the children to use on their own, and they love it.  But I still wanted a felt version for the teacher to use, too.

So, I took those pieces and shrunk them down to use as my pattern.  When the train moves in daylight, we put up the sun; in darkness, we put up the moon.  There's the tunnel, and a city.  I skipped the trestle, because it would take 150 hours to make it...  I used a little fabric paint to put some of the details on the train cars, but tried to keep these pretty simple.  The city is the most detailed piece, and I love it :)

You can no longer buy this set but I've got lots of other goodies here.

Flannel Friday is being hosted this week by Cate at Storytiming.  You can also find tons of ideas at Flannel Friday's Pinterest Pages, the Flannel Friday Blog, and Flannel Friday's Facebook page.

Dessert Set

This is the last in a series of sets I'm making for my preschool's vendor fair next week.  Everything in this set comes apart, other than the stems from the cherries.  So great for building fine motor skills, with the added bonus of imaginative play, early math like color naming and counting scoops....  

Here's a super simple way to use this set to build all kinds of early math language, too.

Here's a video of one of the rhymes included with this set:

Flannel Friday is being hosted this week by Cate at Storytiming.  You can also find tons of ideas at Flannel Friday's Pinterest Pages, the Flannel Friday Blog, and Flannel Friday's Facebook page.