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!

The Three Little Pigs

Okay, it's time for a good old fashioned felt board story.  Not a rhyme.  Not a song.  Not a game.  A story!  And for that, simple is best:

I decided not to go for many details on the houses.  No fabric paint at all!  I didn't want to have any pieces other than the main characters and their humble abodes.  Easy peasy.  My only problem is that my wolf is not a baddy--he borders on cuter than the piggies! 

When we tell stories in my classroom, we usually start out by telling it pretty much "by the book".  Once the children become familiar with it, we retell it and mix it up a little.  Sometimes we ask the children to name the characters...  Sometimes we change the story line a little--maybe one of the pigs has a broken arm like one of the kids in the class, and needs help from his brother-- or bring a character from another story into the mix. Goldilocks has made an appearance in this story, for example.  She was just passing through the woods...  We might change the ending depending on the mood of the kids (or teachers).  There are lots of ways to use these simple pieces to encourage imagination, build vocabulary, and just generally have fun and inspire a love of reading!

Or click below to get the pattern for these cuties!

Flannel Friday is being hosted this week by Kate at Felt Board Magic! 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 :)

A House for Birdie

I saw this set while perusing Flannel Friday's Pinterest pages--it was originally posted here.  I love the simplicity of the birds, though when I used this set today for the first time, one of my little girls couldn't stop asking me where the birds' feathers and wings were...

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

Shop Flannel Board Fun

So, I have never read the book this set is based on, but it seems that Birdie (the turquoise bird in the red house above) doesn't have a house, so he and his friends go house hunting together.  I named the friends Bluey, Orangie, Yellowey, and Greenie.  Of course.  Anyway, as they come across each house they discover that although the house is too narrow, short or tall for Birdie, it is just the right size for one of his pals.  They all celebrate each new house for their friend, and in the end, Birdie finds the house that is a perfect fit for him.  

This is such a simple, simple story, but I cannot tell you how completely enthralled my little two-year-olds were.  They fell in love with Birdie and his friends, feather-less and wing-less though they may be.

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.

Six Houses

I wanted to spruce up our Little Mouse houses, which were laminated construction paper from over ten years ago. Out popped these little cuties.

You can buy this set right here.

Or make it yourself with this pattern! 

This is an endlessly fun game for children of all ages!  Patting their knees as they chant it is a great way to help children become aware of a beat and of syllables in words:

Little Mouse, Little Mouse

Are you in the Purple House?

or   

Little Mouse, little mouse, 

Playing hide and seek...

Are you in the green house?

Let's take a peek!

You can see my video of this set right here:

Click here to buy this set!

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