Five Little Ducks on YouTube

Perhaps you already know the tune and movements to Five Little Ducks.  But it's always fun to watch someone else perform, isn't it?  Come join me over on my YouTube channel for my little rendition!  And bring your kids with you for a few minutes of fun, with learning secretly tucked inside...

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!

Little White Duck

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.

Flannel Friday is being hosted this week by Bridget at What is Bridget Reading.  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!

Halloween Scene

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.

This set is sold out, but lots of other holiday sets await you in my shop. I hope you'll visit me there!

Flannel Friday is being hosted this week by Kathryn at Fun With Friends at Storytime.  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!

Monster Set

Building on my collection of sets for children to use independently, here are some monsters!  (See my other post on Monsters for reasons I like to use them in the classroom.)

  These pieces are all interchangeable!  Mix and match and make your very own scary, silly, friendly, sad, mad, worried, three-, or one-, or two-eyed monster!

Flannel Friday is being hosted this week by our Fine Flannel Friday Founder Melissa!  You would be remiss not to check out Flannel Friday on Pinterest, and can find more FF info on the Flannel Friday Blog!

Titch

This has been on my To Do List for at least ten years...  No time like the present!  Pat Hutchins was one of the first authors I was introduced to as a preschool teacher, and I've continued to use her books in my classroom over the past twenty years.

 Titch, his sister Mary, and his brother Pete.  Those bigs--they always get the big stuff!

 Hmph!  Tiny little pinwheel....

 Silly little trike...

 Puny little whistle...

 Nails?  Really?

 Miniscule little seed.  Pfff.

WOW!!  Look what I grew!!

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

Flannel Board Fun Shop

I'm hosting Flannel Friday this week!  Check out the Roundup HERE.  And of course you can find a huge assortment of ideas at Flannel Friday's Pinterest Board, and other goodies at the Flannel Friday Facebook Page and  FF blog.  Check them all out!

Night Animals

One of my co-workers (hi Amy!) is especially supportive of my flanneling endeavors, and when I mentioned that I could make sets to go with any particular books she might like, she suggested Night Animals.  I quickly got to work, and here are the results:

 There's the whole crew, all together, unafraid of each other :)  The large gray piece on the left is the bat's shadow--below you can see that it's see-through.  It didn't photograph very well, but I think it will seem like a shadow when brought out during the story.  It's made of Lutradur that I painted with black watercolor.

The piece I love the most is the tent with the silhouettes of the children inside.  I used the same technique as with the bat's shadow.  I love the effect!

I did the same to make a light coming from the flashlight:

And here are some close ups of a few more pieces.  

This was a challenge! I had only read the book once before, so I wasn't that familiar with the story and needed to figure out which pieces were needed, which I could do without, etc.  I am so glad I had the Lutradur and thought of using it--I think it really helps translate the story to the felt board.

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

Flannel Board Fun

I'm hosting Flannel Friday this week!  Check out the Roundup HERE.  And of course you can find a huge assortment of ideas at Flannel Friday's Pinterest Board, and other goodies at the Flannel Friday Facebook Page and  FF blog.  Check them all out!