Six Colorful Houses: A Felt Board Color and Counting Rhyme

Wait, MORE colors and counting?!

(click the photo for all the details)

Yep, I'm on a roll with colors and counting this month!  It's back to school time, so I suppose those are good concepts to be focusing on as the older preschoolers head back to school :)  

This felt board set is absolutely one of my favorites.  I've used it a zillion times, and I've written about it here.

But it's time to add more--I need this to be a multi-use set.  Saves storage space, and planning time, and stress!  So here we go with a new rhyme.  Fans of building, construction, counting and colors are going to love this Six Colorful Houses finger play and felt board rhyme!

This fun Six Colorful house finger play and rhyme is so fun for kids (and teachers) at circle time or story time. House and construction vocabulary words are introduced or re-enforced; color naming and counting are sneakily tucked inside, too! Let’s play to learn!

Hickory Dickory Dock--Ocean Style!

Hickory Dickory Dock, the fish swam up the clock!  Here's a fun way to combine an old classic nursery rhyme with ocean critters.  

You can see my Hickory Dickory post here, set for sale here, and original video here.  My Ocean Set post is here, the felt set for sale is here, and there are a bunch of Ocean videos here.

Ramadan Storytime Set

Next month is Ramadan, and I don't have a Ramadan set!  Strike that--I DIDN'T have a Ramadan set.  But now I do :)

Like my Kwanzaa and Diwali sets, I had to do quite a bit of research for this set--because I don't personally celebrate Ramadan. Here's what I wrote about those holidays, and it applies here, too:

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.

Here's one of the rhymes I've written to go along with this set:

Ramadan is Here ©Wendy Gerbi

Place your felt pieces on the board s you sing about them and use the pieces to act out the words as you sing them.

 

Ramadan is here, Ramadan is here,

The moon is a crescent in the sky,

Ramadan is here!

 

Ramadan is here, Ramadan is here

"Ramadan Mubarak" to everyone,

Ramadan is here!

 

Ramadan is here, Ramadan is here,

Eat only when it is dark outside,

Ramadan is here!

 

Ramadan is here, Ramadan is here,

Decorate with lanterns and stars,

Ramadan is here!

 

Ramadan is here, Ramadan is here,

Be kind to everyone we see,

Ramadan is here.

 

Ramadan is here, Ramadan is here,

Put money in the Zakat jar,

Ramadan is here.

 

Now…

Ramadan is over, Ramadan is over,

“Eid Mubarek” to everyone!

Ramadan is over.

 

Now it’s time for Eid, now it’s time for Eid,

Gifts and candy to celebrate,

Now it’s time for Eid!

Five Presents Wrapped with Bows

 

Weee!  I'm loving this set for celebrating any number of gift-giving occasions.  

The video below is just one example of how to use these presents.

Five Colorful Elephants!

Ahh, elephants!  They are incredible animals, and there are lots of little facts about them included in this fun counting rhyme :)  Click below to watch the video.

You can also have your very own set of adorable elephants:

or you can even make your own set with this pattern!

And if you like that, I bet you'd like a free pattern!

Dragons with tired wings :)

 Yay--new felt sets!  These dragons are friendly, although of course they can be fierce, too...  

You can buy the set, already made for you...

Or you can make your own set with the simple pattern!

Anyway, I have several rhymes and songs to go along with them.  Below is the first one in the lineup:  Five Dragons Up So High.  (It's a good one to re-enforce position words and simple math skills like counting and color naming :) )

For more felt sets and video samples of each one, 

 visit FlannelBoardFun.com

Friends with Masks :)

Well, it's a different world we live in right now, so I thought I'd make a little set of friends and write a little song about masks.  Because we all need friends, and we all need masks, right?  Right.

You can see them putting on their masks and getting ready to go outside right here:

I have some other songs that go along with them, too, which I'll post soon!

Five Little Teddy Bears

I love this little counting rhyme! I've posted it before along with a Five in the Bed rhyme, but I only now got around to creating a video for it :)  Important PS--this rhyme is by Susan Pflug, 1998.

My sweet little bears:

Starring in their new video:

Oh and yep--now you can make your own set!  Click below for the pattern:

Can't wait to come up with more videos and rhymes for these cute friends!

Want notifications of new videos, along with preschool activity ideas and shop updates?

Three Green Frogs on a Log!

So we all know Three Green and Speckled Frogs.  It's a classic preschool song, and I love using it at circle time.  In fact, I've posted about it here. 

But I like to mix things up, so I'm using these froggies for a few new songs, to be posted here over the next several months.

Here's the first installment of my mini frog series :)

Three Green Frogs on a Log 

Here are the felt pieces I use:

...and here are the lyrics.  

(For the tune and a demo, click here or on the lyrics picture below :) )

Like all this cute stuff?  Get weekly preschool-based ideas, video announcements and shop updates:

50% off Holiday Sets!

I'm clearing out a couple of my winter holiday sets to make room for new designs coming this year :)  These two are perfect for the fine motor area of your classroom or library--ages 3-7 really love these!  Each set comes with a list of related book titles to check out at the library, as well as the lyrics to a few rhymes and songs that go along with the theme.

This is a quick sale--just today and tomorrow, 

12/30 and 12/31/18--

and there are only a few of each set left!

(Although these cuties are no longer available, I've got lots of fun holiday sets in my shop!)

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!

You can click below to get shop updates and sale announcements, 

as well as fun preschooler-related tidbits :)

The Three Billy Goats Gruff

How many times have I started making this set?  Oh, about a million.  Finally, I've come up with a pattern I like!  I'm adding this to my tiny collection of good old fashioned stories, which currently includes Goldilocks and The Three Pigs.  I plan to come up with some more over the next few months--stay tuned!

                                  

Click here to buy this set!

Flannel Friday is being hosted this week by Jen at Adventures in Storytime! 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 :)

Valentine Cookies

It has been so fun watching the kids in my classroom play with my felts sets over the past year.  I love hearing them sing songs and repeat rhymes we've used during our group times. And I also love letting them just play creatively to their hearts' content.

I saw a whole lot of that creative play in December as they used my Christmas Cookies and Gingerbread sets, so I decided to make a Valentines Cookie set as well.  I think this one will be especially fun for them, as they love sorting by size and color as they play, and all these different sizes and colors of hearts lend themselves perfectly to that.  Plus:  sprinkles!

These lovelies are sold out, but I've got lots of other holiday fun for sale right here!

Set these up on a table after a storytime about cookies, love, or Valentines Day!  Here are some books and songs that go along nicely with this set...

Mouse’s First Valentine by Lauren Thompson
Plant a Kiss by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
Sweethearts by Jan Carr

The Biggest Kiss by Joanna Walsh and Judi Abbot

Will You Be My Friend by Nancy Tafuri

Mr. Cookie Baker by Monica Wellington

My Heart is Like a Zoo by Michael Hall

How about a Kiss for Me? By Todd Tarpley

           

Heart

I put my hands together,

This is how I start

I curve my fingers right around,

And I can make a heart!

Down Around the Corner

Down around the corner in the bakery shop
Are five Valentine cookies with sprinkles on top
Along comes ______ with a dollar to pay
S/he buys a cookie and takes it away!
(Continue with four, three, two, and one!)

Making Cookies

I am making cookie dough.

Round and round the beaters go.

Add some flour from a cup,

Stir and stir the batter up!

Roll them, cut them, nice and neat.

Put them on a cookie sheet.

Bake them, count them, 1-2-3--

Serve them to my friends for tea!

Flannel Friday is being hosted this week by Kathryn at Fun with Friends at Storytime.  You can find lots of other great stuff at Flannel Friday's Facebook and Pinterest pages, too!

Mermaid

So, I don't know if or how I might use this little lady in my classroom, but I am so proud of her that I have to post a photo :)  I made this set for a friend of a friend's nursery wall, and I love the way it turned out.  The mermaid is the only new thing--I've already posted my Ocean Set (more than once!)

Here she is in all her tail-flipping glory:

I'll be off looking for some mermaid rhymes, songs or poems so that I can use her in my classroom.  If nothing else, I will add her to my classroom's Ocean Set so the kids can play with her.  If you have any suggestions for rhymes or songs, please let me know!

I've got more mermaids and ocean sets available in my shop--come visit me there!

Ocean Set Update

I posted my original Ocean Set here several months ago, but decided to add a shark and a tuna fish so that it could also be used to perform Slippery Fish.

There are actually SO many songs you can use with this set. Circle time fun for all your fish loving friends :)  ( Click here to see some videos of them! )

If you buy this set, I include a list of ocean-themed book titles to go along with it, and the lyrics to several ocean rhymes and songs that work with these cuties.

 I have switched to using wool-blend felt, so I re-did the whole set last weekend, and I'll be bringing it in and using it in my classroom this coming week.  The kids have been playing with my Construction Set for the past few weeks, and I'm looking forward to seeing how they use this set...

Want fun tidbits for preschool teachers, librarians, 

or anyone with young kids in their life?

Flannel Friday is being hosted by your's truly this week--the roundup is here.

You can find many more ideas on Pinterest, and learn more about Flannel Friday on Facebook or the FF blog!

This Little Jungle Critter...

Okay, so really some of these are sub-Saharan critters.  Lions, zebras and giraffes don't live in jungles, right?  Monkeys do...and crocodiles, and jungle elephants.  But anyway, on with the rhyme!

 I realize my giraffe is missing some important parts!  They're going on tomorrow :)

You can read the background story below if you're interested, but if not, let's just cut to the chase!

Choose five of your animals and line 'em up.  Put your sub-Saharan scene a bit away from your animals, and commence your chant:

This little monkey went to market.

This little lion stayed home.

This little zebra ate grass.

And this little elephant ate none.

And this little crocodile went 

"snap snap snap snap!" 

all the way home!

Move the crocodile to the picture as you're saying the last few lines, then move him back to the front of the line of animals and start over.  Always put your returning animal at the front of the line, so that the next time you do the rhyme you'll have a new animal at the end of the line--that's the one that goes "all the way home".  

You can really use this rhyme with any set of five animals--farm, zoo, jungle, pets, etc.  You could do it with bugs, even.  And sea creatures! Just make sure you know what everyone eats and what noise or movement they make before you get started :)

A new version of this set is available in my shop!

The Flannel Friday roundup is being hosted this week by Kate at Felt Board Magic!  You'll also find other Flannel Friday goodies at Pinterest, Facebook, and the FF blog--check them out!

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Background Story: A few weeks ago I was playing with one of my two year olds with these sorting farm animals:

  

We were lining them up, building homes for them, making them slide down ramps, and just generally having a good old time with them.  (They are great, and most sorting toys are too small for below age three, so I especially love these guys!) At one point I started doing the This Little Piggy rhyme, but the row of animals I was pointing at had only one piggy, so I substituted the other animals names and sounds, and did the rhyme that way.  It was a hit--I had to do it at least 17 times before I was allowed to play anywhere else!

Yesterday when I pulled out my Herman the Worm flannel board story, I recalled the hacked version of This Little Piggy rhyme and tried it with the Herman and his friends.  It worked, and I decided I wanted a set to devote to it.  I went for jungle animals because there are already so many farm songs and poems swimming around in my head, and I wanted to change things up a bit.  

Five Pigs So Squeaky Clean

When I first discovered Flannel Friday, Five Clean and Dirty Pigs was one of the first sets I made for my classroom.  I made the little porkers below, which were clearly copied from these guys at Storytime Katie.  We use them all the time in my classroom now, but for some reason I hadn't posted about them...

One of the teachers at my school wanted a set for her classroom, and I decided to change them up a little for her.  I made my own piggies:

And then another year and more ideas rolled around, and I created these guys:

You can buy this reversible set of adorable porkers at my shop.

I loved them so much, I made a video.  

No, TWO videos, with new lyrics created!

(Actually, even more than that!  Here are some curly tail songs for you :) )

 

You can check them out below.

And then I thought--hey, other people might like to make these, too!  

So I made a pattern for you:

Here are the words--sing 'em to the tune of Three Green and Speckled Frogs!

Five pigs so squeaky clean,

Cleanest  you’ve ever seen,

Wanted to go outside and play (in the mud!  or Oink! Oink! or Snort, snort!)

One jumped into the mud,

Landed with a  big THUD! (stomp your foot!! And flip that piggy over as you jump her into the mud--but fast, so the kids don't see it!)

Now there are four pigs squeaky clean (oink, oink!)

Continue counting down until they're all a big dirty, muddy, sloppy mess!  You can hose them off with imaginary hoses, and flip them over again so fast the kids just can't figure out where the mud went!

Flannel Friday is being hosted this week by Jen at Adventures in Storytime.