Winter Friends Dress Up Set

I have officially mailed in my fee for an upcoming November Craft Fair!  I did take part in a vendor fair at my preschool last spring, which inspired me to start my shop, but this is the first time I'm venturing out of my comfort zone to sell my sets in person, to strangers. I'm nervous, excited, and busy!  I put together five of these sets last weekend, and hope some lovely families think they'll be perfect for their young children :)  I will definitely be making a set for my classroom!  

I think this would be a great table activity in a library following a story time on winter, penguins, owls, or any of the occupations/themes represented by the outfits...Some other ways to use this set:
Have the kids help you dress the critters!  Pass out only one item from each outfit, and keep the coordinating items in your hand.  Put the snowman on the board and put the hammer in his hand.  "Uh oh, this worker has lost her hat!  She only has a hammer!  Does anyone have the hat for this construction worker?"  You could also put all the accessories on one side of the board, and all the hats on the other side, and the kids can come up and make a match...  Really, there are tons of ways to use a set like this--I hope you find some that work for you!

I've got lots of fun felt sets at my shop--come take a peek!

I'm hosting Flannel Friday this week!  You can find the roundup here.  Need more information about Flannel Friday?  Visit the Blog and Facebook!  Want a zillion more ideas?  Check out Flannel Friday on Pinterest!

Flannel Friday October 28 Roundup!

*Welcome to the Flannel Friday Roundup for  October 28th * 

This little owl is ready for Halloween!  I hope you're ready for the Flannel Friday Roundup!

Happy Flannel Friday everyone!  We've got lots of flannel board sets to share this week--check them all out... (Since I'm posting early on Friday night, you can add links in the comments section through Saturday morning, and I'll add them as they come in!)

Kathryn (and her cohort Margaret) at Fun with Friends at Storytime collaborated to make a great rhyme and felt treasure chest that will be a sure hit at any Pirate themed story time!  Love the interactive nature of this one...

Kathryn also shares a Little Mouse variation--a lovely moon and clouds set (which would pair well with a bedtime story time, or a sky theme, or a space theme....)

Feel like counting to five?  Kate at Felt Board Magic has got you covered from Halloween to Christmas, from the jungle to the tropics, with Five Little Birds, Lions, Bats, and Christmas Trees!

I'm definitely making a copy of Shawn's Color Squirrels set at Read, Rhyme Sing!  My kids this year LOVE squirrels, and they're going to go nuts over matching their acorns to these colorful guys :)

Feeling a little sorry for the Itsy Bitsy Spider?  You're in good company with Keith at Felt-tastic Flannelboard Funtime, who shares what looks to be a not-so-itsy-bitsy kawaii felt spider--and a surprise guest appearance at the end of his post!

Finally, I made a set that could be used with a clothing/costume/winter story time; as an interactive set; or for independent use:  Winter Friends Dress Up.

Thanks for all the contributions everyone--I love seeing everyone's ideas each week!

Next week  Mollie from What Happens in Storytime is hosting!

Need more information about Flannel Friday?  Visit the Blog and Facebook!  Want a zillion more ideas?  Check out Flannel Friday on Pinterest!

Ghosts

I wanted to add a few Halloween sets to my stash, and I don't have a ghost set.  But I was just sort of uninspired by the clipart ghost selection I found...  Enter Inky, Blinky, Pinky and Clyde (and their un-named friend)!  Perhaps you recognize them from an old video game...

I've got other ghosts too:  right here :)  and here!

I found the following poem at One Little Librarian (thanks Amy!)

This Little Ghost

This little ghost went trick or treating!

This little ghost stayed home.

This little ghost ate candy.

And this little ghost had none.

And this little ghost cried BOO! BOO! BOO! all the way home!

And I'll also use two of the ghosts for this one:

Two Little Ghosts

There were two little ghosts looking at you

One named Wheee and the other named BOO!

Fly away Wheee, Fly away Booo!

Come back Wheee, Come back Booo!

If you're a Halloween fan, I bet you'll love 

my Halloween Playlist over on my YouTube channel!

Kathryn at Fun with Friends at Storytime is hosting the Flannel Friday Roundup this week, and you can find so many other flannel board ideas on Facebook, Pinterest, and the Flannel Friday blog! 

Two Little Hoot Owls

I actually didn't intend to make these for my classroom.  I was experimenting with combining fabric and felt, and trying to learn the blanket stitch (several mistakes!), and came up with these owls. I love them, and thought they'd work well in a variation of Two Little Blackbirds.  I put a little velcro onto some craft sticks to turn them into puppets, and will be debuting these guys next week with my two-year-old class :)

These guys aren't currently for sale in my shop, but many of my other sets are!

Flannel Friday is being hosted this week by Amy at Catch the Possibilities, and you can find so many other flannel board ideas on Facebook, Pinterest, and the Flannel Friday blog!

One, Two, Buckle My Shoe

Here we go again with a Judy Sierra nursery rhyme pattern, this time for One, Two, Buckle My Shoe.  These simple rhymes combined with simple pieces are perfect for the beginning of the school year with my tiny two-year-olds--but I also can use them with my older kids.  We love mixing the rhymes up, or changing the words--they have a great time correcting us :)  

(One, two, buckle my...door??  NOOOOO!!!)

These guys aren't currently for sale at My Shop, but many of my other sets are!

Flannel Friday is being hosted this week by Amy at Catch the Possibilities, and you can find so many other flannel board ideas on Facebook, Pinterest, and the Flannel Friday blog!

Old Mother Hubbard

This is another nursery rhyme using a pattern from Judy Sierra.  So, so simple.  I'm happy I'm building up a supply of simple sets to use with my younger kids...

These guys aren't currently for sale at my shop but many of my other sets are!

Flannel Friday is being hosted this week by Amy at Catch the Possibilities, and you can find so many other flannel board ideas on Facebook, Pinterest, and the Flannel Friday blog!

Five Little Pumpkins

These things have been a life saver this year in my Two Year Old class!  One of my little girls has been having a hard time with coming to school and being away from home for the first time.  One morning when she was having a particularly tear-filled morning, I remembered her mom mentioning that she loved the book Five Little Pumpkins.  I quickly pulled the book from it's spot in our musical books basket, and ran to the drawer full of finger puppets to nab these fellows.  The minute she saw them, all was well!  She carried at least one of the jack-o-lantern finger puppets around with her the rest of the morning, and we did the chant at least ten times that day!

Of course there are also the more traditional ways to use these :)  I put them on when we're reading the book or just saying the chant.  Sometimes we invite the children up and each child puts on a finger puppet (or holds a laminated, large pumpkin) and speaks their part of the chant.  This one just never gets old :)

You can find lots of felt songs and stories like this in my shop!

Flannel Friday's Halloween Extravaganza is being hosted by Lisa at Thrive After Three!

You can find many more ideas on Pinterest, and learn more about Flannel Friday on Facebook or the FF blog!

It's a Costume!

I've been holding off on posting this till the Flannel Friday Halloween Extravaganza, so now's the time!  I made this over a year ago, and if I were doing it now I would have copied the idea but not the exact pieces.  It is adorable, but I wish I had made it my own instead of just plagiarizing...Oh, well!

This flannel board poem is definitely one of the most popular chants I've done with children!  I love it because it addresses that "I'm a little worried about this whole costume thing" issue that some kids have at Halloween, and also because it is adorable.  Sue at Library Village is responsible for both redeeming qualities!  I copied and pasted her images, printed them out, and used them as my templates.  

That's a Costume - by Miss Sue (with a few changes by me)

Over there I see a ghost!  My, oh my, a scary ghost!!

Mom (or Dad, or The Grown Ups) says "Oh, it's all okay--it's just a costume! Take it away-

And you’ll see it’s your friend sheep, out on Halloween night!"

The children picked up on the poem immediately.  They love it so much that I scanned my pieces, printed them out on card stock, laminated them and applied velcro to the animals.  I showed the kids how to use them on table top flannel boards (since the costumes won't stick to the animals, the kid version doesn't work on the vertical flannel board they often like to use), and they use these constantly whenever we have them available. 

Flannel Friday's Halloween Extravaganza is being hosted by Lisa at Thrive After Three!

You can find many more ideas on Pinterest, and learn more about Flannel Friday on Facebook or the FF blog!

Find more holiday felt goodies in my shop!

Halloween Finger Puppets

These adorable guys are based on patterns from PreciousPatterns on Etsy.  Like my Christmas Finger Puppet Set, these Halloween creatures are not actually finger puppets--but they certainly can be made as puppets if that's what you want to do.  I chose to save time and just glued them together instead. Children can use these to tell stories on a small felt board, or adults can use them to accompany songs or stories.  I like the fact that they're all pretty cute, which can take away some of the spooky aspect of Halloween that isn't much fun for some of our littlest kids.  (There was a skull pattern, and I chose not to use it.)

These Halloween cuties are sold out, but you can find lots of other holiday felt goodies right here!

Flannel Friday's Halloween Extravaganza is being hosted by Lisa at Thrive After Three!

You can find many more ideas on Pinterest, and learn more about Flannel Friday on Facebook or the FF blog!

Make a Jack-O-Lantern

This is a super simple idea that can be used on a table at home, in a classroom or library; with individual flannel boards; or as a group participation activity to go along with Halloween themed stories.  Cute, fun, and sugar free Halloween fun!

For a group time, or at home with your own kids, you could pass out the various pieces and ask children to come up and help you build the faces.  Think about all the shape and color naming and recognition that will happen as you say "If you have a yellow circle, bring it up to the board!"  "If you have a shape that has three sides, bring it on up!"  

Build even more math skills with this set by having the children help you sort all the black shapes onto one section of the board; all the yellow onto another...  Count how many round shapes you have.  Count how many corners there are...  The possibilities are pretty endless!

Here are some possible Halloween stories to go along with this set:

If You’re a Monster and You Know It by Ed Emberly

Where’s My Mummy by Carolyn Crimi

Pumpkin Eye by Denise Fleming

Big Pumpkin by Erica Silverman 

Frankenstein by Rick Walton       

One, Two…Boo! By Kristen Dempken

Pumpkin Trouble by Jan Thomas

These cuties are sold out, but you can find lots of other holiday felt goodies right here!

Flannel Friday's Halloween Extravaganza is being hosted by Lisa at Thrive After Three!

You can find many more ideas on Pinterest, and learn more about Flannel Friday on Facebook or the FF blog!