Cats!

I happen to have two kitties who are in my lap as I type this.  I've been a cat owner for the past 25 years, and yet I've not had a cat flannel board set!  

Thanks to a recent request from a librarian, I was able to make this stinkin' cute set :)  Bonus for you:  you can buy these cuties in my shop!

(Since this post was originally published, I've added another kitty cat felt board set to the mix!  

You can check out the blog post here, and the felt set is right here.)

So many ways to use this set!  You can pass out the cats and ask the kids to bring them up by color, and use position words like over, under, next to, above and below as you ask them to place them on the board.  Doing a color theme or story time?  Ask the kids with a cat the color of a night sky, or a violet, or dirt, (or whatever clever ideas you have) to bring their cat up.  Increase their visual discrimination skills--"If you have a sleeping cat, bring it to the flannel board!"

I've also come up with a rhyme for using five of these:

Five Little Kitty Cats
Five little kitty cats sleeping on the floor
One pounced away, and now there are four!

Four little kitty cats, cute as can be,
One leapt away, and now there are three!

Three little kitty cats, hunters through and through,
One caught a mouse, and now there are two!

Two little kitty cats, basking in the sun,
One slinked away, and now there's only one!

One little kitty cat got up to stretch and yawn,
I looked away...and now he's gone!

Thinking about doing this with puppies too!

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as well as fun preschooler-related tidbits :)

Pot of Gold (a Little Mouse Variation)

Yep, it's that time of year again.  Leprechauns will be coming around to classrooms, clues will be left for scavenger hunts, maps will be used, songs will be sung, rainbows and good luck and clovers and shamrocks will be discussed, green beer will be...oh wait--that's not preschool!  

Okay, on with today's flannel board!

This set was made as a custom request, and of course as with most of those, I thought--why didn't I think of that?  Well actually, I sort of almost did--here's my Leprechaun Hide and Seek set from last year!  In case you don't click, I'll repeat the adorable Mr. Leprechaun song below, because it's worth repeating :)

(Here's a link to my recent Mr. Leprechaun set.)

So, this set is pretty self-explanatory if you're familiar with the Little Mouse game, but I like to assume you're a newcomer, so here's the deal:

You place your pots on the board one at a time, commenting on or asking the children to help you name the color of each pot as it's placed.  Sneakily hide the gold coins behind one of the pots as you're putting it on the board, and then begin...

The chant is as follows, subbing the bold words as appropriate:

Gold coins, gold coins,
Playing hide and seek...
Are you behind the red pot?
Let's take a peek!

And then you use all kinds of dramatic techniques to check behind the pot, act confused/disappointed/stumped/etc. as you seek out those sneaky gold coins! We like to pat our legs as we do the chant, just to get the kids even more involved and aware of the rhythm...  And of course invite them to tell you which color to check under (sometimes just lightly touching the one YOU want to do next will send a subliminal message and they'll 'choose' it for you!)

As with all the Little Mouse variations, this is a great set for increasing color knowledge, exposing the kids to rhymes, building interactive social skills, and just plain having fun!  Do it again and again--you're bored, but the kids aren't ;)

And the Mr. Leprechaun song I mentioned above:

Mr. Leprechaun 
(credit goes to a past co-worker, Angela Lenz)

Mr. Leprechaun, Mr. Leprechaun, Mr. Leprechaun--Hello!
Mr. Leprechaun, Mr. Leprechaun, Mr. Leprechaun--I Know...
...you're a cute little elf,
If I say so myself!
In your suit all of green,
You come on March seventeen!

Discover Flannel Friday--and join in if you like to make flannel boards, too!

Here's the Tumbler Page if you'd like to check it out, and here are the many amazing Pinterest Boards!

Create a Car (or really, a vehicle :)

Another custom order that's turned into something I'll carry regularly in my shop!  This set is along the same lines as many of my other do-it-yourself sets, and this time the theme is vehicles.  If I were still teaching, I would love to see what kind of crazy combinations the kids would come up with by mixing the various vehicle parts together...  

This set is great for color and number naming and recognition, and could easily be used in a group time by handing out the pieces and letting the kids come up and decide where their piece could go!  You could also ask things like "If you have a red piece that is BIG, come put it on the board...or..If you have an orange piece that is small, come put it on the board."  You could play a color sorting game, and just have them bring their pieces to a designated area of the board, not building anything, or you could decide as a group that you want to build four vehicles--you could build the bases and then ask them to come put the wheels, windows, and other accessories on.  What a great team work project that builds vocabulary at the same time.  I love these sets as both a group time activity and for kids to use on their own...

Discover Flannel Friday--and join in if you like to make flannel boards, too!

Here's the Tumbler Page if you'd like to check it out, and here are the many amazing Pinterest Boards!

And hey--feel free to check out my shop right here:  Flannel Board Fun