I've had a foam version of Slippery Fish in my classroom for years. It's been through a lot, and the fabric paint has peeled off of most pieces, and some of the octopus' arms are stapled on. Poor guy. So I finally took the time to re-do this set. Here it is!
I was introduced to Slippery Fish (actually, its real title is Octopus) from a Charlotte Diamond CD I bought many, many years ago. Like, maybe 20? I had no idea it was such a well known and oft-felted song! I use it Every. Single. Year. Frequently. And somehow I'm still not sick of it!
Here's a video of the set being used with that lovely song:
This set is available at my shop :) (But it doesn't include the Slippery Fish lyrics shown above--rather, there's a cute five little ocean creatures rhyme in there. Copyright, you know!)
Here's the Flannel Friday Roundup for this week--thanks everyone for your contributions!
Take a look at these super cool, 3D boxes at Kathryn's Fun With Friends at Storytime. She shares a Little Mouse-type rhyme to go along with the boxes, as well as three book ideas for a box storytime!
Storytime Station has a great laminated clipart set to go along with the fabulous Hooray for Hat. I'm especially enamored with the extra hats she added, and her adorable sign to inspire more crowd cheering!
If you're in need of a good laugh and a Robot themed flannel board, head right on over to Felt-tastic Flannelboard Funtime. Videos, chants and cats also included...
Kate at Felt Board Magic shares her version of The Itsy Bitsy/Eensy Weensy/Incy Wincy spider! Love that rain cloud and water spout!
I have a little friend in my class...perhaps a day has gone by during which he hasn't mentioned diggers, but I don't think so. Let's just say he likes diggers. A lot. A whole lot! And lately he's been spending time in the Book Corner using the flannel board sets we have there. I decided it was about time we had a set of felt construction workers and vehicles, and why not throw in a few cones and piles of dirt? Let the wild rumpus start!
Librarians! These would work nicely to have out for children's independent use after a construction story time. Maybe you'd read Diggers Go by Steve Light, or Demolition by Sally Sutton. And there's always Tip Tip Dig Dig by Emma Garcia... So many good books to read on this topic! I'd probably go ahead and sing TRUCK (or here) and maybe play Little Duck Little Duck, are you in the ________ Truck to round things out :) And here's a link to some construction-themed rhymes and finger plays.
I realized after I finished gluing on the hats that I forgot to make female workers! I'm going to see if I can dismantle one of those guys and stick some braids on...
This set is available at at my shop--please come browse around!
Flannel Friday is being hosted this week by Laura at Library LaLaLand Check out the round up there, and don't forget to find more amazing flannel board ideas at Pinterest and Facebook and the Flannel Friday Blog!
Who says Christmas has to wait till December? The kids in my classroom have been decorating Gingerbread Houses all summer! I have a feeling they'll enjoy decorating these trees just as much. Librarians, don't discount these--I picture them at a table in your children's section after a story time about winter--alongside a felt board of dreidels, menorahs and gelt perhaps! (Coming soon to a blog near you...)
With all the different shapes and colors, there's just so much patterning, counting and sorting to be done!
I put my CuttleBug to good use with the decorations--I've been using wool blend felt, and even the thinnest dies cut right through it with no problem. This was great news--I was so disappointed that the thin dies wouldn't cut acrylic felt. One more reason to switch to wool blend. It is a bit more expensive, but I really love the quality and the colors are amazing.
This set is sold out in my shop, but lots of other holiday sets are available!
Flannel Friday is being hosted this week by Laura at Library LaLaLand Check out the round up there, and don't forget to find more amazing flannel board ideas at Pinterest and Facebook and the Flannel Friday Blog!
I've always loved the Little White Duck song. I especially like this version of the book, but I only have a small board book copy which is hard to use with a large group, and which I believe is missing some of the pages from the larger copy.
Sometimes I'll use my classroom's old, worn out, too-small felt set of Little White Duck, along with Ivan Ulz's version of the song. But that set is so old, worn out, and too-small that I had to DO something about it!! So, I did this:
Here's a video of these cuties in action:
And here are the lyrics:
There's a little white duck, sitting in the water
A little white duck, doing what he oughter
He took a bite of a lily pad
Flapped his wings and he said, "I'm glad
I'm a little white duck sitting in the water
Quack, quack, quack!"
There's a little green frog swimming in the water
A little green frog, doing what he oughter
He jumped right off of the lily pad
That the little duck bit and he said, "I'm glad
I'm a little green frog swimming in the water
Ribbit, ribbit, ribbit!"
There's a little black bug floating on the water
A little black bug doing what he oughter
He tickled the frog on the lily pad
That the little duck bit and he said, "I'm glad
I'm a little black bug floating on the water
Buzz, buzz, buzz!"
There's a little red snake slithering in the water
A little red snake doing what he oughter
He frightened the duck and the frog so bad
He ate the little bug and he said, "I'm glad
I'm a little red snake laying in the water
Hiss, hiss, hiss!"
Now there's nobody left sitting in the water
Nobody left doing what they oughter
There's nothing left but the lily pad
The duck and the frog ran away, I'm sad
'Cause there's nobody left sitting in the water,
Boo, Hoo, Hoo!
These will be making their debut next week with my summer campers! Can't wait to see what they think :)
Oh, and by the way:
Want to buy this set? You can check it out at my shop right here.
Here's another set for the children to use independently--and another one that's inspired by my thoughts of cooler weather... (Here are my other sets.)
Hungry, anyone? Here are some cookies for you!
Hmmm... Those look a little plain. How about we add some frosting?
That's better, but do we have any sprinkles?
YUMMMY!! They look good enough to eat, don't they? (My cat and I highly discourage this.)
Sometimes around the holidays we make real cookies with the children (ah, sweet, sugary fun!) I think this will be a great set to put out for them to extend that activity, as well as get some conversation going about activities they do at home with their families. And of course these pieces provide perfect opportunities to sort, count, name shapes and colors, and otherwise learn as they play.
This set is sold out in my shop, but lots of other felt goodies are waiting for you.
I'm still adding to my collection of sets that children can use independently. Here's a link to my other sets if you're interested :)
I've got holidays on my mind for some reason! I think the heat that's finally arrived has me longing for cool fall days. Halloween, anyone?
In my three year old classroom we sing various Halloween songs and chants, and I think the children will naturally sing them as they play with these pieces. And of course those children who are a little anxious or fearful about some Halloween-related topics can get a sense of control, as well as time to talk about those fears, as they manipulate this set.
