Spring Chicks Felt Board Set

Spring has sprung!

And with spring comes...chicks!

Ten of them.  (A clutch!)  

And a mama hen, too.  So sweet.

I used to have a laminated cardstock set for this rhyme.  I wrote about it here, many moons ago.

I like this set much better, because with each chick/egg loose, there are so many more rhymes and songs you can use the set for.

I've got those written, and all the videos will be out soon!  In the meantime, here's the first one, for the original Ten Fluffy Chicks rhyme and finger play.  Which I love and hope you do too :)

Lots more videos are right here!

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🍎📚Flannel Board Fun felt board story sets are multi-use circle time fun!  With each felt set, you get the lyrics for three or more rhymes, songs and/or stories to use with it!  Hello, storytime FUN!

 

✂️You can find felt board patterns right here.  

 

🛒🍎📚Shop all the Storytime felt board songs, rhymes, and story sets: 

  

🛒🎁👦🏽👧🏿👧🏻 Felt board stories and activities for kids are here. 

 

👋 Instagram: http://instagram.com/flannel_board_fun/

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Down in the Farmyard: A Circle Time Farm Song

Calling all farm enthusiasts and little animal lovers ;) In case you can't make the trip to a real farm, I think you'll love this wee little farmyard experience on the felt board!

In this video, I sing one of my favorites--"Down by the Station"--with a farm twist.

I love this one because the kids really love to join in, which increases their farm and animal knowledge and vocabulary. Along with all the other early learning skills like counting and color naming, of course. And most importantly, they have fun and want to come back for more :)

🛒Buy this adorable Farm Animal felt board song and game set: https://www.flannelboardfun.com/product/old-macdonald-felt-song/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 🎵If you like singing with kids, you’ll love these 17 FREE song strips: http://bit.ly/SongStripsFBF

🍎📚FlannelBoardFun felt board story sets are multi-use circle time fun! With each felt set, you get the lyrics for three or more rhymes, songs and/or stories to use with it! Hello, storytime FUN! ✂️You can find felt board patterns right here: https://www.flannelboardfun.com/patterns/ 🛒🍎📚Shop all the Storytime felt board songs, rhymes, and story sets: https://www.flannelboardfun.com/storytime-felt-board-sets-shop/

Three Little Pigs Video

Ah, my cutie pies.  Pigs are one of my favorite animals.  I've written about them before here, but now I've put them on film :)

Here they are in all their cute glory:

And here they are on video:

Oink ;) 

(And if you're feeling a little crafty, you can make your own pig set using the pattern!)

Muddy Pigs Revsited

So, one of my earliest flannel board sets after discovering Flannel Friday was a muddy pig set, 

inspired by multiple fabulous librarians.  

You can see the original version here.  

But I wanted to update my set to make it more of my own design, and I couldn't bear to rub brown fabric paint on these new cuties.  So I switched my mud spots to be made of felt, and I love them so much more.

I also decided those muddy pigs might like to get clean, too!  So I made my mud puddle reversible to a water puddle (or a lake, as I call it in my new little song...)

 Here are a couple of songs you could use with this set when you want to clean off the pigs:

Five Muddy Hog and Sows

Five muddy hogs and sows

(They’re pigs they are not cows)

Wanted to take a little swim.

One jumped into a lake

Got clean for goodness sake

That leaves four muddy hogs and sows

Continue, counting down to zero :)

Five Muddy Pigs

Down at the farm by the big blue lake

Were five muddy pigs for goodness sake

One jumped in and the mud washed away,

Now that pig is ready to play!

Keep counting down...

Go check out all the Flannel Friday goodness at the 

Flannel Friday Pinterest Pages!

Little Pig

Welcome to piggy, felty fun :)

Editing:  The original pancake version of this set has been updated!  It's now a multi-use peach and pig set full of early literacy, math and rhyming fun--woohooo!  

I didn't use flannel boards for the first 10 or so years of teaching.  I can barely remember that time of my life!  Thank goodness I was introduced to them--they added so much to my circle times, making them WAY more fun and engaging for both the children and me.

Here's an example of a perfect little flannel board game.

This can be played with toddlers up to five year olds, or even older, I'm sure.  The original version of this game that most people know is called Little Mouse, and it features a mouse and several houses of various colors.  I've got a post on it here and for lots more variations and explanations of how to play, click right here!

But for this version, we're using pigs.  And yes, a fuzzy, sweet little peach!

Here's a video of this game:

**Before I go further, you might be asking "Why should I play this game?  What's the value?  Sure, it's cute, but is it worthwhile?"

You bet it is!  As you play the game, kids are either learning colors, or their color knowledge is being reinforced. Count how many pigs you have left to guess, and you're adding even more math into the mix!  You're exposing them to rhyme and rhythm.  Critical thinking and observation skills abound!  They're building language skills as they chant along or simply listen.  And very importantly, they are having fun!**

Here are various chants you can use with this game:


*Fuzzy peach, fuzzy peach, playing hide and seek...
Are you under the purple pig?
Let's take a peek!

*Little peach, little peach, not very big...
Are you hiding under the purple pig??

Kids love guessing where that peach is hiding.  You can make this super simple by having  a bit of the peach sticking out from behind whichever pig you've hidden it under.  This is great for toddlers just getting used to the game.  But they catch on quickly!  You can have the kids cover their eyes as you hide the peach, or turn your flannel board around so they can't see your tricky methods...

Have you played this game or another version of Little Mouse/Little Pig?  Drop your ideas in the comments--I'd love to know!

PS

Feeling crafty?  

You can make a Pigs and Pancakes set! 

 Click below for the pattern :)

 

          

Mary Had a Little Lamb

I love nursery rhymes, and they provide so many early literacy skills (singing with kids helps them hear the sounds in words; rhyming helps with phonological awareness; rhythm helps with understanding syllables!)  It's fun to just share them with children while you're playing, talking, and reading--and sometimes during a story or group time they need a visual to hold their attention.  Enter Mary and her little lamb (and everyone else pictured, of course :) )

Here's the rhyme to go with this set:

Mary had a Little Lamb
Mary had a little lamb
Little lamb, little lamb
Mary had a little lamb
Its fleece was white as snow.
And everywhere that Mary went
Mary went, Mary went
Everywhere that Mary went
The lamb was sure to go.

It followed her to school one day
School one day, school one day
It followed her to school one day
Which was against the rule!
It made the children laugh and play
Laugh and play, laugh and play
It made the children laugh and play
To see a lamb at school.

And so the teacher turned him out
Turned him out, turned him out
And so the teacher turned him out
But still he lingered near...
And waited patiently about
Patiently about, patiently about
And waited patiently about
Til Mary did appear.

Mary had a little lamb
Little lamb, little lamb
Mary had a little lamb
Its fleece was white as snow
And everywhere that Mary went
Mary went, Mary went
Everywhere that Mary went
The lamb was sure to go!

How about a few books to go along with this set, in case you're doing a lamb, spring, or farm story time...





And here's my Pinterest board on Farm Books!

And don't forget to check out Flannel Friday's Pinterest Boards and Tumbler Page for a zillion flannel board ideas!

Old MacDonald, Part Three!

What is her obsession with Old MacDonald, you might be asking yourself.  I'm sort of asking myself the same thing!  This set isn't that different than my second set,  This one, though, is just right for Toddlers!  None of the pieces are small enough to be considered choking hazards, so this set is perfect for the little ones to use independently if they are so inclined.

I'm selling these cuties in my shop--come check it out!

As you can see, these pieces are pretty darn huge, so this is a great set to use with a large crowd where visibility might be an issue.  And of course you're not limited to just singing Old MacDonald with these pieces.  Adapt songs like The Wheels on the Bus (The Chicken on the Farm goes cluck, cluck, cluck...)  Make up stories using all or some of the animals...  Play rhyming games (I'm thinking of an animal, and her name rhymes with that thing we wear outside in cold weather...)

Here are some farm themed books that might work well for you, too:

Clip Clop by Nicola Smee

Hurry, Hurry by Eve Bunting

How Kind  and I Kissed the Baby by Mary Murphy

Old MacDonald Had a Farm by Jane Cabrera

Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise Brown

Mrs. Wishy Washy by Joy Cowley

Spots, Feathers and Curly Tails by Nancy Tafuri

Rosie’s Walk by Pat Hutchins

Bridget is hosting the roundup this week.  You can also find tons of ideas at Flannel Friday's Pinterest Pages, the Flannel Friday Blog, and Flannel Friday's Facebook page.  And come on over to my shop to check out lots more sets for sale:  Flannel Board Fun!

Goat prop!

I had a special request to make a couple of goats, and remembered I had bought a pattern from Precious Patterns some time ago.  Finally a chance to use it!  These guys are to be a gift for someone starting a business with goat in the name...

..but when they were all done I decided they would make perfect little props to add to various stories!  I'm going to resize the patterns and use them for The Three Billy Goats Gruff, and I'm going to make the other farm animals that came with the pattern set and use them for various farm-themed songs and stories.

(These aren't currently in my shop, but come on over to see 

what else I've got!)

Flannel Friday is being hosted this week by Laura at One for the Books.  For more FF fun and information, please visit the blog, Facebook page, or Pinterest page.  And share these links with your co-librarians or co-teachers. The more we share, the better!

Old MacDonald Part Two

One of my co-teachers wants an Old MacDonald set for her little girl.  I wanted to make her something cuter than my Judy Sierra set (sorry Judy :))  I found these guys through a google search.

Since her daughter is pretty young, I didn't want the backs of the animals to show where the ears, horns, and feet are glued on, since she would probably want to start picking everything apart.  So I layered these guys to cover up those little picky pieces.  Hopefully she won't want to peel off the noses, spots and hooves!

Flannel Friday is being hosted this week by Mary.  For more FF fun and information, please visit the blog, Facebook page, or Pinterest page.  And share these links with your co-librarians or co-teachers. The more we share, the better!

Lamb Finger Puppets

These cuties are not for sale, but a lot of other cuties are!

It's been a little while since I've posted finger puppets.  Here are some lambs I made recently, inspired by a pattern at Precious Patterns on Etsy.

Some ideas to use these:

• Sing Baa Baa Black Sheep, subbing "black" with other color names based on the color of the sheep's face.  And throw out the "3 bags full" and make it as many as the kids you have--"...yes sir, yes sir, 6 bags full!  One for Tyler, and one for Wells, one for Vivian and one for Abby, one for Flora and one for Parker!"
• Green sheep, green sheep, who do you see?  I see a pink sheep looking at me!  Pink sheep, pink sheep, who do you see?  I see  a blue sheep looking at me!  Etc...
•  Two little white sheep sitting on a hill, one named Jack, the other named Jill.  Trot a away Jack, trot away Jill.  Come back Jack, come back Jill.

I'm hosting Flannel Friday this week!  You can find the roundup here.

Old MacDonald

This set, like my Hickory Dickory Dock and One, Two, Buckle My Shoe sets is from a Judy Sierra pattern e-book.  I actually didn't already have an Old MacDonald set--though I do often use my farm finger puppets when we sing it.  I also have a pop-up Old McD book.  But it will be nice to finally have a simple felt set to use with this classic little song. 

You can find lots of my sets in my shop-come take a look!

Flannel Friday is being hosted this week by Lisa at Libraryland.  For more FF fun and information, please visit the blog, Facebook page, or Pinterest page.  And share these links with your co-librarians or co-teachers. The more we share, the better!

Munch, Munch, Munch

I found this idea last fall over at StoryTime Secrets.  I had never heard the poem before, and that's kind of rare for me after so many years teaching, so I snatched it right up!  Rather than a laminated version, I decided to do a felt set using the collage method, because as you might know by now, that's my favorite as far as aesthetics go!  The barn isn't collaged--it's from DLTK.  I think I had started to make the whole farm set from that site, but in the end I just included it with this set to give a little farm ambiance :)  If I get back around to doing the whole farm set, I'll store the barn there and pull it out to use with this, as well as other farm themed stories and rhymes.

(This particular set isn't for sale, but please check out my shop with many of my other sets:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/FlannelBoardFun)

Here are the words:

5 Little Apples (but I call it Munch, Munch, Munch)

Five little apples hung on a tree
The farmer wasn't looking

So guess who came to eat?
A CATERPILLAR.......MUNCH, MUNCH

Four little apples hung on a tree

The farmer wasn't looking
So guess who came to eat?
A BIRD.........MUNCH, MUNCH

Three little apples hung on a treeThe farmer wasn't looking
So guess who came to eat?
A PIG..........MUNCH,MUNCH

Two little apples hung on a treeThe farmer wasn't looking
So guess who came to eat?
A HORSE.......MUNCH,MUNCH

One little apple hung on a treeThe farmer wasn't looking
So guess who came to eat?
A SCARECROW......MUNCH,MUNCH

Now the tree is bare
There are no more apples there
But when next fall comes around
Guess who'll be there?
THE CATERPILLAR
THE BIRD
THE PIG
THE HORSE
and the SCARECROW
YUM! YUM!

The Flannel Friday roundup is being hosted this week by Melissa at Mel's Desk!  You'll also find other Flannel Friday goodies at Pinterest, Facebook, and the FF blog--check them out!

Five Little Ducks

Five Little Ducks is a classic, and a song I've shared with every group of kids I've taught for the past 20+ years.  I started out just doing it as a finger play, and I still share the hand motions with the kids as we sing about the ducks.  I made a foam set for the flannelboard about 5 or 10 years ago, and we've been using that. But I felt like it needed to be freshened up, so I scanned my foam ducks and printed them out to use as templates for this felt version.  I also changed my old mama duck from yellow to white--because, um, mama ducks aren't yellow! 

I've made a video with this set so you can see all the moves and hear the tune!

Click here for yet another song to sing with these cuties!

Five Little Ducks

Five little ducks went out one day (hold up five fingers)
Over the hills and far away 

(move hand like it's going over hills, then hand to forehead as if you're looking far away)

The mama duck said"Quack, quack, quack, quack." (other hand quacks like the bill of a duck)But only four little ducks came back. (fold one finger down)

(count down till all the ducks are gone)

Sad Mama duck went out one day

Over the hills and far away

Mama duck said

Quack, quack, quack, quack

And all of the five little ducks came back!

Click here to buy this set at my shop!

Flannel Friday is being hosted by Melissa at Mel's Desk!  You can also find tons of ideas at Flannel Friday's Pinterest Pages, the Flannel Friday Blog, and Flannel Friday's Facebook page.

Chickens and Chicks

Okay, spring has sprung!  And with spring come chicks, and eggs, and other stuff not featured in this post.  Such as the Cadbury mini eggs I'm eating by the handful.

These happy chicks are felt versions from this post from Mel's Desk.  Here's the poem:

One Little Chick

One little chick was yellow

One little chick was brown

One little chick was blue

And one was upside down!

I cannot WAIT to share this with my Two Year Olds.  They were so excited about Silly Sally when I read it to them today, and I know they're going to flip when I put that gray chick on the board upside down!  Oh the giggles!!

This particular set isn't for sale, but please check out my shop with many of my other sets:

Flannel Board Fun Shop

The pieces below come from the same post at Mel's Desk.  I didn't do this one in felt--just found some clip art and printed it out.  I took the pictures before the set was laminated--yay for no glare!

Ten Fluffy Chickens

Five eggs and five eggs  (Add a clutch of eggs each time you say “five eggs”)

And that makes ten

Sitting on top (Add the hen)

Is Mother Hen

Cackle cackle cackle (Clap hands as you say Cackle!)

What do I see?

Ten fluffy chickens (Flip over each clutch of eggs)

Yellow as can be.

I need to do more of these super simple sets--I love them, and I know my littlest ones will too.

Flannel Friday is being hosted this week by Miss Kelly at the Library!  You can also find tons of ideas at Flannel Friday's Pinterest Pages, the Flannel Friday Blog, and Flannel Friday's Facebook page.

Jungle and Farm Finger Puppets

I really like to use finger puppets to add a little visual to songs.  These little guys are so great, because they also stick to the flannel board.  Just today I used the farm animals with a felt bus, and they hung on like champs!  I will sometimes put one puppet on while we move like that animal, or I'll just put them up on the board to watch us move.  It's also always fun to hide one behind a book and then have it peek up over the top, and then have that little puppet help us read the story, or point things out in the pictures, or whatever!

I bought the patterns for both sets at Precious Patterns.  It's been months since I made them, but I remember that it was super easy, the instructions were great, and I think they are pretty darn adorable.

This particular set isn't for sale, but please check out my shop with many of my other sets:

Flannel Board Fun shop

Some songs to go along with these include Old MacDonald, The Animals on the Bus, Down by the Ocean, Down on Grandma's Farm, and I'm sure there are a million more.  

Flannel Friday is being hosted this week by Laura at Literacious!  You can also find more fantastic ideas at Flannel Friday's Pinterest pages, or Flannel Friday's Facebook Page --check them out!

The Elephant in a Well

Here's another set I made several years ago.  The Elephant in a Well was posted on a list of stories that work well as flannels.  I had never heard the story before, so I googled it and found this summary.  Based on that, I printed out and laminated clip art animals, threw in a string, stuck on some velcro, and I was done!  The children love this sort of cumulative story, especially if you make each animal's sound as they pull on the rope:  the sheep pulled (baaa!), the dog pulled (rufff!), the horse pulled (neeiiigghhhh!!!), etc.  We like to give the animals names, too.  Sometimes the children use people names, sometimes pet names, and sometimes random odd words, like "toe".  Or "box". Yep.  Just go with it.

(By the way, the photo below doesn't represent the story very well.  I place the elephant at the left hand bottom of the board looking up, the string extends down to him, and the animals line up one after another with the mouse last.)

This particular set isn't for sale, but please check out my shop with many of my other sets:

Flannel Board Fun Shop

Five White and Fluffy Sheep

These guys have been sitting waiting for me to apply their "wool" for several weeks!  I finally got around to getting them all cozified today, so here they are in all their toasty glory :)

This particular set isn't for sale, but please check out my shop with many of my other sets:

Flannel Board Fun Shop 

I got this idea from Kathryn, and I'm looking forward to using it soon.  I should probably add a little more fleece to cover their little eyes when they are "fast asleep" in the pasture, or maybe just move the little fuzzy head piece lower...