Five Juicy Berries Felt Board rhyme!

 

Berries!

Who knew felt berries could be so delicious?  

Just kidding--don't eat these cuties!  

But if you want a rhyme that's fun, involves some movement and directional words, AND pretending...and even some early math...  Oh, and don't forget juicy sweet berries... Then this one's for you!  

Here they are in action!

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: 

  

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

 

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Pie Count Up: A Circle Time Counting Song!

 

It's Pi Day!  (Well, for me, any day is pie day ;) )

And I have a video just right for this mini celebration:

I love this one, because it gets the kids' imaginations working, along with their arms and fingers!  When the kids are engaged and having fun like this, they're much more likely to retain all the information they're being fed (hee hee).

Apple Tree Felt Board: Farmer Brown's Apples!

I never get tired of apples, and I never get tired of apple felt boards!  And I never get tired of making up (or piggy backing) apple songs and rhymes to use at circle time...

You can see past apple felt board fun right here.

But onward we must go!  Or backwards, in this case--to a song from way back in my early days of teaching.  

Now there are LOTS of ways to mix this song up.  

🍏I've done it by inviting children up to pick an apple of the tree and pretend to eat it.  

🍎I've been the farmer and eaten all the apples myself!

🍏I've had a puppet eat the apples, too.

🍎And in this version, I use felt characters from my dragon, elephant, Over in the Meadow, unicorn, and Kwanzaa sets to munch up those sweet, crispy apples!  

I kind of love this song, and I hope you will, too!  Let's sing!

Apple Tree Felt Board: Wiggly Worm Hide & Seek!

Apples + circle time.  They go together like peanut butter and jelly.  In fact, they're so popular that I have written about them before: here, and here, and even here!

🐁 💗And combined with my love of the classic circle time game Little Mouse, I love apple felt board sets even more :)  (Rhyming.  Early literacy.  Color recognition.  Fun.  💗)

Throw in a cute, wiggly worm, and my heart is all aflutter ;) 

If you need a little more info on why and how the Little Mouse game is so fabulous, please take a look here and definitely here.  

And if you need no introduction, let's just skip right to the video!

Apple Tree Felt Board: Apple Count Up!

It's been a long time, but I've written about this apple felt board set once before, right here.  And in that post, I did include these lyrics, but it's not till now that I've finally got a video for you!

This apple circle time counting song is a great way to get the kids counting UP from 1-5. It’s all done in a playful way, so kids don’t even know they’re doing math 😊 Plus, there’s a little science thrown in, and color recognition to boot… Hello, apple circle time fun!

Here are the lyrics again:

Apple Count Up © Wendy Gerbi

No apples on this tree, growing for you and me, 

No sweet fruit for us to bite and crunch...

One flower starts to bloom, 

An apple will be here soon…

Now there is one sweet juicy fruit—yum, yum! 

And here, without further ado, is the video:

Fruit Song for Kids: Fruit Salad Ballad!

I can't have a felt board set that can only be used one way, now can I??  No, I can't!

My Rainbow Stew set is definitely a favorite with kids and educators.  It's magical, for sure.  I've got a video of that fun song right here.

But of course I needed to write another song for it.  A fruity song.  A song that includes colors and rhyming and pretending...

So I did.  And I called it Fruit Salad Ballad.  Because I think that's so darn cute.

Here's the video--I hope you love it and use it with your kids as soon as possible :) There will be picking, and plucking, and chopping and tossing and eating!  Get ready for fruity fun!

Oh!  And now you can also get a pattern and make your own set!  Click below :)

Apple Tree Felt Board Set

 I love nice, crisp, sweet apples on a nice, crisp, sweet fall day!  I also love soft, adorable felt apples on any kind of day.  That's why I made my APPLE bingo set, and it's never failed me yet.

But how did those apples even grow?  Were apple blossoms involved in some way?? And now that we've got apples, shouldn't we count them?  And wait, wouldn't it be fun to hide a worm behind the apples?  Yes!  Yes!  Let's make a huge apple tree set that we can play with in all kinds of ways!

First, let's make them grow.  We'll start off with a bare tree, with no little apples growing on it.  And then an apple blossom starts to grow...and soon, it turns right into an apple!  

Apple Count Up © Wendy Gerbi

No apples on this tree, growing for you and me, 

No sweet fruit for us to bite and crunch...

One flower starts to bloom, 

An apple will be here soon…

Now there is one sweet juicy fruit—yum, yum! 

After a while, we'll have five apples just waiting for us!  How will we get them down??

Apple Tree © Wendy Gerbi

Down in the orchard, way up in a tree 

Were five crisp apples looking so juicy. 

________ shook the tree as hard as they could! 

And down dropped an apple—it tasted so good! 

Here's a video of that one:

And that wiggly worm is perfect to play an apple version of Little Mouse.  Ah, apples for days :)

Happy Fall!

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 :)

 

          

Five Little Gingerbread Men

I have a gingerbread man die cut, and it's been sitting around collecting a bit of dust lately.  So rather than bake actual cookies last night, I made some felt gingerbread.  Yummy :)

These guys are no longer available for sale, but I've got lots more right here!

There are millions of gingerbread poems, songs, and stories available online!  Here's the one I plan to use (stolen mostly from One Little Librarian) with these sticky fellows:

Five Little Gingerbread Men

Five little gingerbread men in a row (Hold up five fingers, waving back & forth)

__________ wants to eat one!

No, no, no! (shake finger at________ puppet))

But they look so sweet from head to toe (touch head then toes)

Crunch, munch...uh oh! (slap thighs on crunch, clap hands on munch, then puppet eats a gingerbread man right off the flannel board!!)

Flannel Friday's Roundup is being hosted by Kate 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.

The Enormous Turnip

I have used the printed out, laminated-card-stock version of this story for many years (here's the pattern from KizClub), and decided to make a felt copy of it last night.  I could have sworn I made the mouse, even remember cutting the dark gray felt, but couldn't find him anywhere today--so a brown laminated version is being featured in these pictures :)

This set isn't available in my shop, but lots of other goodies are.  Please visit me there!

Oh, and hey!  I've made up some stories similar to this one!  You can find videos here!

Flannel Friday is being hosted this week by Anne at So Tomorrow.  You can find lots of other great stuff at Flannel Friday's Facebook and Pinterest pages, too!

Hanukkah Set

We don't really read a lot of Hanukkah or Christmas books in my classroom.  Most of the books I've found that focus on those topics aren't really great in terms of quality literature.  However, we do sing several Hanukkah songs, play with dreidels, and make latkes.  We do similar Christmassy stuff, and I have a few Christmas sets for the children to play with.  But as far as Hanukkah goes, we had nothing in felt.  

So, now we do:

This set could be used on a felt table for individual use after a Hanukkah story time.  

It could also be used just to help aid in having a conversation about Hanukkah.  

You could pass out candles and flames and have the children come up and "light" the candles!  

They can come up and put a latke in the frying pan to cook!

They can frost the sufganyot, and put the cherries on top!  

You can talk about the symbols on the dreidels, pass them out, and see if they can remember what their symbol means (bring me your dreidel if you have the symbol that means "take all").

This set is for sale.  Come visit my shop!.

Flannel Friday is being hosted this week by me!  You'll find the Roundup here.  Please also check out the Flannel Friday Blog, Facebook, and Pinterest pages, which will give you tons of information and gazillions of ideas to spruce up your story times :)

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!

Little Miss Muffet

I've been enjoying going back to the basics with nursery rhymes lately, so this week I made the pieces to go along with Little Miss Muffet.  We do have an older laminated card stock version that looks like it dates back to the 80s, but I like this sweet little girl, her cute spider friend, and her fancy tuffet quite a bit more :)  Her socks are looking pretty scruffy, but they'll do!

This set isn't for sale in my shop, but many of my other sets are!

Little Miss Muffet

Sat on her tuffet

Eating her curds and whey.

Along came a spider 

And sat down beside her

And frightened Miss Muffet away!

It's always fun to make Miss M run away and hide!  This is also a good one to act out if you have a small group of kids.

Flannel Friday is being hosted by Laura at Library Lalaland! and of course you'll find lots of other ideas at Flannel Friday's blog or Pinterest page.

Slippery Fish

I've had a foam version of Slippery Fish in my classroom for years.  It's been through a lot, and the fabric paint has peeled off of most pieces, and some of the octopus' arms are stapled on.  Poor guy. So I finally took the time to re-do this set.  Here it is!

I was introduced to Slippery Fish (actually, its real title is Octopus) from a Charlotte Diamond CD I bought many, many years ago.  Like, maybe 20?  I had no idea it was such a well known and oft-felted song!  I use it Every. Single. Year.  Frequently.  And somehow I'm still not sick of it!

Here's a video of the set being used with that lovely song:

                              

This set is available at my shop :)  (But it doesn't include the Slippery Fish lyrics shown above--rather, there's a cute five little ocean creatures rhyme in there.  Copyright, you know!)

You can find the Flannel Friday Roundup Here.

For more info about Flannel Friday, check out these links:
Pinterest and Facebook and the Flannel Friday Blog!

Cookies!

Here's another set for the children to use independently--and another one that's inspired by my thoughts of cooler weather... (Here are my other sets.)

Hungry, anyone?  Here are some cookies for you!

Hmmm...  Those look a little plain.  How about we add some frosting?

That's better, but do we have any sprinkles?

YUMMMY!!  They look good enough to eat, don't they?  (My cat and I highly discourage this.)

Sometimes around the holidays we make real cookies with the children (ah, sweet, sugary fun!)  I think this will be a great set to put out for them to extend that activity, as well as get some conversation going about activities they do at home with their families.  And of course these pieces provide perfect opportunities to sort, count, name shapes and colors, and otherwise learn as they play.

This set is sold out in my shop, but lots of other felt goodies are waiting for you.

  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!

Gingerbread House Set

Nothing like gingerbread in the middle of June!  

These are not for storytelling necessarily, although it would be fun to give each child a piece and have them come up to the board to help build a gingerbread house--and then go into a rousing rendition of The Gingerbread Man.  I made these for the kids to use in the classroom--everything comes apart other than the candy canes and window panes--they are glued on.

These guys are a work in progress.  I bought clip art for the patterns, but the sizing is off for various roof toppings that aren't shown, and I want to adjust them.  I also made all the candy canes facing the same way (there are four but I only have two pictured), and the gumdrops and peppermints should be much smaller!

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

Flannel Board Fun Shop

The Flannel Friday roundup is being hosted this week by Mollie at What Happens in Storytime!  You'll also find other Flannel Friday goodies at Pinterest, Facebook, and the FF blog--check them out!

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!

Rainbow Stew

I've had this pinned on my Flannels to Make Pinterest board for a while now, but yippee--I've finally made it!  I was inspired by this post at Roving Fiddlehead. Below the picture you'll find the words to the chant and a video that goes along with the pieces.  

        

Take an apple

Put it in the pot

Stir it, stir it, stir it a lot.

Take it out. What will it be?

The prettiest red you ever did see.

And I have a video of this set in action right here: 

(I've updated the tune and sing it to Over in the Meadow, as I've discovered that the original tune (Jimmy Crack Corn) has questionable roots.)

Have your rainbow strips already set up in a bowl or cooking pot, and have a spoon at the ready.  Don't let the kids see those strips hiding in the pot--after you add each piece of fruit and stir it up, you can magically pull out the rainbow strip the fruit has turned into!  (You can buy this set right here.)

With the success I've had with my veggies and The Soup is Boiling up, I'm sure this Rainbow Stew is going to be a hit!

Oh, and good news!  You can find a pattern for this set right here:

                                      

The original set looked like this, but I've simplified the blueberries and grapes to save on creation time:

Flannel Friday is being hosted this week by Laura at Literacious!