Sadly, I can't claim this amazing set as my own. I don't actually know who made it--one of my past co-workers (Rebekah? Sarah?) left it a few years ago, and she was clearly a talented lady! I work with a lot of graduate students, and usually they take a class in which they have to make a flannel board story. I think this was the result of that course. I'm so happy to have this set, because I actually don't care for Jules Feiffer's illustrations, especially in Bark George. These pieces are more appealing to me, and I use this set rather than the book--because the kids do love the story.
I will take credit for adding the black felt background for more stability, and I also used black fabric paint to make the lines drawn on the animals stand out more. I decided not to do that with the vet, because I was afraid I'd end up ruining him. He's pretty awesome :)
This particular set isn't for sale, but please check out my shop with many of my other sets:
These are stolen! I saw them at Falling Flannelboards and had to have them! Their eyeballs are so cute, and we love to talk about 'eyeballs' in my three-year-old class...
This particular set isn't for sale, but please check out my shop with many of my other sets:
We use these (little, friendly, or silly) guys as either monsters or aliens. We've had them jump on a bed or in a crib as monsters, and they've also bounced on planets when we call them aliens. When you first say "monster" to young children, you might get some fearful looks--but by calling them friendly or silly, and by giggling at their adorable eyeballs, and by having them bounce around in a baby's crib, for goodness sake, the fears can be dispelled a bit. I also have a laminated set of these so the children can handle them often, giving them a little more control over something that might be a scary concept.
When I first discovered Flannel Friday, Five Clean and Dirty Pigs was one of the first sets I made for my classroom. I made the little porkers below, which were clearly copied from these guys at Storytime Katie. We use them all the time in my classroom now, but for some reason I hadn't posted about them...
One of the teachers at my school wanted a set for her classroom, and I decided to change them up a little for her. I made my own piggies:
And then another year and more ideas rolled around, and I created these guys:
And then I thought--hey, other people might like to make these, too!
So I made a pattern for you:
Here are the words--sing 'em to the tune of Three Green and Speckled Frogs!
Five pigs so squeaky clean,
Cleanest you’ve ever seen,
Wanted to go outside and play (in the mud! or Oink! Oink! or Snort, snort!)
One jumped into the mud,
Landed with a big THUD! (stomp your foot!! And flip that piggy over as you jump her into the mud--but fast, so the kids don't see it!)
Now there are four pigs squeaky clean (oink, oink!)
Continue counting down until they're all a big dirty, muddy, sloppy mess! You can hose them off with imaginary hoses, and flip them over again so fast the kids just can't figure out where the mud went!
I haven't had any new sets to share lately, because of the vendor fair in April. I came up with flexible "travel flannel mats" to sell to go along with the sets I created and posted about. You can see the mats hanging over the backs of my chairs, and stacked up on top of each other. The trains were all spread out to dry. The other sets were bagged and waiting to go to their new homes :)
I've been busy. Thank goodness for spring loaded scissors...
So, after the vendor fair in April, I've been overwhelmingly busy making flannel board stories to fulfill all my orders. I've been happily cutting away, but I miss producing new stories for my own use. I have nothing new to post!
I do have a few sets I made long ago that I haven't posted yet, and one of those is this week's installment. Completely irrelevant at this time of year, but pretty adorable nonetheless. Here are my Five Fat Turkeys:
And here's a video of how I use the set:
Those guys are too labor intensive to make, so I came up with a simpler set, which is available at my shop!
We used to do this only as a finger play, but I find the addition of these cute turkeys and adorable chef makes it even better...
Five Fat Turkeys
Five fat turkeys are we.
(hold up five fingers)
We slept all night in a
tree. (make fingers into fist)
When the cook came around
we couldn’t be found. (thumb of other hand looks around the fist)
Hmmmm….Where did all my
turkeys go?! (thumb wiggles as it talks)
And that’s why we’re here
you see, yippee! (open fist so turkeys can cheer!)
You could also start with
only one turkey in the tree and sing the song for that one turkey, and then add
the other turkeys one by one.
One fat turkey that’s me
I slept all night in a
tree
When the cook came around
I couldn’t be found
Hmmm…Where did all my
turkeys go?
Hmph, hmph, hmph, hmph, hmph, hmph, hmph!
And that’s why I’m here
you see, yippee!
Then have that little guy
call for another turkey friend to join him in the tree, and so on until all
five are in the tree.
We also act this out, with "lots of fat turkeys" hiding in one corner of the room all curled up, and lots of chefs coming to look for them and then stomping away, and then all the turkeys jump up and cheer. It's awesome. Especially if you're a pescatarian like me :)
Like what you see? Click below to get free song strips and lyrics to go with them--perfect to use during circle time and story time, or anytime you need a quick song or game!
