Hey Diddle Diddle Felt Board Set

 It's time for another nursery rhyme.  Because they're classic.  Because they're fun.  Because I love the simplicity of a good nursery rhyme, and the absolute lack of making any sense.  It's fun!

I do have another version of Hey Diddle Diddle.  But I copied those pieces from images online, and I wanted to make my own adorable set!  So...I did :)  And here it is:

I will of course use my Hey Diddle Diddle Re-mix with this set, as well.  It's tooooo fun!  The kids love getting things all mixed up!

Hey diddle diddle, the COW and the SPOON, 

The CAT jumped over the DISH!
The little MOON laughed to see such sport, 

and the DOG ran away with the FIDDLE!

Whaaat?  That's not right... Let's try again!

(over.and.over.and.over.)

June 2022, editing to add the video:

And I needed a cute nursery rhyme character to hide under those cuties, so I drew a Little Bo Peep, printed her out, and laminated her.  

She's going to love hiding, and the kids are going to love trying to find her!

Bo Peep, Bo Peep, playing hide and seek...

Are you behind the orange cat?

Let's take a peek!

OR 

Bo Peep has lost her sheep, and we've lost HER somewhere!

Is she behind the brown fiddle?  Let's look under there!

These guys will also perfect for a Hey Diddle Diddle version of the Brown Bear concept.

Here's to nursery rhymes!  

Oh hey, by the way...  If you like rhymes for kids, check out a ton of them 

right here on my YouTube channel!

Hickory Dickory Dock Felt Board Set

 

Oh, I love a classic nursery rhyme!  (I think I might be an old fashioned, low-tech kind of girl.)

I had an older version of Hickory Dickory Dock, with a mouse.  And a clock.  But a one use set wasn't cutting it.  It was just a little too simple (although I do think simple is a good, good thing!)

So how to mix it up, but keep it simple, right?

Enter the mouse, the clock...and some friends!

Now, going up the clock isn't just for mice!  

Let's JUMP up the clock!  

Let's CRAWL slooowwwwly up the clock!  

Let's RUN up the clock!  

And hey--we can give clues to the kids and have them guess which animal is going next...

"I'm thinking of a tiny critter who has a shell and moves very slowly..." 

"Lets find an animal that jumps AND has a pouch for their baby..."

"This animal moves quickly, and can be a pet at your house..."

Here's a video of one way to use these friends:

Now, I also printed out a little clock, because why not have a Hickory Dickory version of the Little Mouse game?  It's always a winner, right?!

Tick tock, tick tock, the clock is hiding somewhere..

Is it beneath the green frog?  Let's check under there!

Counting Kittens

 Oh, why not?  Let's add one more way to use these adorable kittens to the circle time mix!  With numbers, this time... (You can find the KITTY bingo song here, and the Ball of Yarn game is right here!

Sometimes it's fun to count up, and sometimes its fun to count down... This time, we're starting with five, and counting down to none--how sad to see them go!

I like to sprinkle vocabulary words into my rhymes, so we're not only counting, we're building knowledge about the subject at hand.  This time it's cat knowledge :)

Five Little Kittens ©Wendy Gerbi

Five little kittens, stretching by the door, 

One pounces away, and that leaves four. 

Four little kittens, scratching on a tree, 

One pounces away, and that leaves three. 

Three little kittens, hissing at you! 

One pounces away, and that leaves two. 

Two little kittens, purring in the sun, 

One pounces away, and that leaves one. 

One little kitten, looking for some fun 

She pounces off to join her friends, and that leaves none! 

Oh, by the way--since you're here, I know you like fun circle time stuff...  

So feel free to go check out my YouTube channel for tons more ideas!

Annndddd....  Here's a video of the Five Little Kittens:

Diwali Flannel Board Fun!

I thought it would be fun to create some holiday sets for holidays that I don't personally celebrate. (I was right--it WAS fun, and wow, I learned a lot while doing research for these sets.)  I'm so happy to be able to share these, as I think it's so important to expose kids to various cultures, and to share in celebrations with the kids who DO celebrate holidays outside of my own experience :)  

I focus holiday sets on the parts of holidays that kids understand, so the concepts are about simple traditions vs. religious themes.  

I also want them to be usable both as storytime sets-- where the adult is using the set pieces as props to support a rhyme, song or story--and as play sets for the kids--where the kids are re-enacting traditions, songs, and stories that they've learned about.

So up first is Diwali.  I made up some super simple songs to go with the set--Diwali vocabulary and concepts are sprinkled within, and the tunes are familiar so everyone will have an easy time joining in.

It’s Diwali! ©Wendy Gerbi

to the tune of Frere Jacques

It’s Diwali, it’s Diwali,

The Festival of Lights, the Festival of Lights!

Light the paper lanterns, light the paper lanterns,

They shine so bright, they shine so bright!

It’s Diwali, it’s Diwali,

The Festival of Lights, the Festival of Lights!

Decorate with flowers, decorate with flowers, 

Colorful and bright, colorful and bright!

It’s Diwali, it’s Diwali,

The Festival of Lights, the Festival of Lights!

Make rangoli patterns, make rangoli patterns, 

Such a lovely sight, such a lovely sight!

It’s Diwali, it’s Diwali,

The Festival of Lights, the Festival of Lights!

Watch the pretty fireworks, watch the pretty fireworks, 

So bright at night, so bright at night!

And then there's Diwali is Here!.  You can read all about that and see the video right here.

I (of course) wanted a hide and seek/Little Mouse game for this set.  I drew a rangoli, printed it out, and laminated it:

Rangoli, rangoli, where can you be?

Are you behind the paper lantern, let's peek and see!

Happy Diwali!

KITTY Bingo Felt Board Set

 I love cats.  I've got two of them snuggled up and snoring/drooling next to me right now.  The poor things aren't spoiled at all.  But I digress.  Let's move on to felt cats, shall we?

Ah, there we go.  And as you can see, we've got a cat version of BINGO going on here.  You can see more BINGO ideas here, by the way.

I don't think there's much explanation needed here, but when you flip those letters over, you've got a cat face, which lets the kids know it's time to say "meow" instead of the letter name.  

You'll soon have a story time full of adorable meowing children, which should make everyone purrfectly happy.  (Sorry, had to.)

Oh, and look!  Here's a video just in case you need to sing along and practice a few times:

Need some cat books to go along with this set?  Here's my Pinterest board on cat books.