A year or two ago I had the pleasure of learning all about Ramadan, and I created a felt board set for story time and for independent play. I wrote about it here. Click there for my thoughts, feelings, and some of the lyrics :)
And after having a ton of people ask me if I could pretty please make a pattern for them...
I finally did!
I'm so pleased that the pattern will make the Ramadan set more accessible to more people. I know as a teacher our classroom was sorely lacking in materials that represented children of color and a variety of holidays and cultures. I hope this pattern fills that hole a bit if you're experiencing the same thing!
🍎📚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!
Time is flying! This is the fifth installment of my summer reading ideas for the Tails and Tales theme!
The summer reading program is focusing on animals (tails) and stories (tales) this year. Well, I've got plenty of both types of flannel boards that fit the bill--but I thought it would be fun to add some new songs and movement activities to the mix.
Over the next several weeks, I'll be adding new videos of these new songs to my YouTube channel. I'll also post them right here on the blog.
So, this week we're checking out my pigs. These guys have starred in this Muddy Pigs video, and of course in the Clean version, too! But since the theme is Tails, I decided to sing about their cute curly tails. I love to count, and so do kids, so we're counting up to five, and we're counting down, too! And we're rolling our hands, and sometimes we're jumping, and of course we're rhyming too. Want opposites? They're in there, too :)
And in our imaginations, we're getting nice and muddy and then we're getting nice and clean. And please, invite your kids to jump in and out of the mud, and roll their arms vigorously, so you get those little muscles working along with their spongy brains :)
Here are the videos (they are similar, but different enough from each other that I think it's very worthwhile to include both in your piggy repertoire!):
Woo hoo--I'm so excited to be sharing a new project...
I've just released 11 of my sets as
digital download PATTERNS!!
If you're reading this blog, you are probably a teacher, librarian, or homeschooling parent. And you might even fit into the "crafty" segment of one of those groups :) If so--or even if you are brand new to making your own felt board set--these patterns are for you.
I've started the pattern section of my shop with a few simple, a few more intermediate, and a few of my more complex designs.
No matter which pattern you choose, they are all simple to create and come with written and visual instructions.
I've even included video tips and tutorials to make cutting, assembling and gluing your set as easy as possible.
And of course, they all come with lyrics to songs and/or rhymes, and a list of book titles that go along well with the set.
I think they're totally amazing, and I hope you will too.
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.
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.
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!
Math is an area that can sometimes be a struggle when it comes to including it in a preschool curriculum. Some teachers can feel intimidated or unsure of how to provide opportunities to develop math skills in a developmentally appropriate way.
It's important to realize that math is all over the place--you don't have to do "projects" to help children gain math skills. Your engagement with the kids as they use the simplest materials can help them gain math concepts like one-to-one correspondence, sorting, and patterning. Below are some examples of incredibly simple materials that build math skills naturally through play.
The shape sorting puzzle above is a math bonanza on its own, and combined with teddy bear counters it goes even further. Children can sort both the blocks and bears by color and size; they can line them up and begin to create patterns; they can put all the red things together, or all the small things together, or create a pile of just blue and yellow, a line of alternating blue and green... The list goes on and on. See how they're working with the materials on their own, and enter their play at that level. Then as they're ready, you can begin to make suggestions, or simply model another idea to get them thinking.
Even toddler toys like the linking ducks above provide math opportunities, over and above the obvious fine motor skills involved. "Oh, it looks like you have three blue ducks in your line. Can you help me count them? 1, 2, 3. Yep! You've got three. I wonder how many yellow ducks we can add to your line?"
Adding colored bowls, plates, or even pieces of colored paper to a set of counters adds another element of math. Children might choose to sort by color into the coordinating bowl/plate/paper. They also might not--and that's fine! It's all about providing the opportunity, not doing things the "right" way. Commenting on what you see is a great way to simply make children more aware of things. "Hey, look! You put two purple animals in a purple bowl, and you put one purple animal in a yellow bowl! I wonder where you're going to put that blue animal? We have five bowls to choose from..." Using math language really does occur naturally when you involve yourself. Open-ended questions are the way to go, as it encourages thinking and language development.
What are your favorite math materials? How do you encourage math skills in a developmentally appropriate way? Comment below--I'd love to hear your ideas!
Want more preschool-related stuff?
And if you liked this blog post, you might like my other blog:
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!
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!
Ah, a good old fashioned flannel board story... Goldilocks!
I love Byron Barton's version of this one, and was inspired by the simplicity in his illustrations. The bears and their "stuff" are color coordinated, so this can work as a matching set as well as a story-telling set.
Just as with my Three Piggies set, I start off by telling this story as originally intended. Later, as the children are more familiar with the characters and story line, I might change things up a bit. I also leave the pieces out for the children so they can use their own imagination and story-telling abilities!
Click below to see a video of Goldi and the bears in action:
Flannel Friday is being hosted this week by me! You'll find the Roundup here.
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:
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!
This is a set that I won't use in front of a group, but I think the children will really love playing with it independently. This will be great for color sorting, counting, and patterning--and I expect there will be some imaginative play going on as well as they use these.
I simply drew these sweeties. Easy as pie. Or, cupcakes...
This particular cupcake set is no longer for sale, but here's a fun one for lots of fine motor fun and imaginative play:
and thought it would be fun to include some other variations since the kids love them so much! Such a great early literacy tool. The children really love talking about the letters and letter sounds, and saying the new words that we create each time we take away a letter. Once they've got the hang of it, we sometimes mix it up and remove letters out of order rather than always from left to right... Oh, the hilarity! When we're singing about vehicles, we pretend to drive, when we're singing about animals, we pretend to be those animals. I sometimes put a visual on the back side of the piece, so when we flip it over the letter is gone and a new symbol indicates the new sound to make ("crunch" for apples, "beep" for trucks, "snort" for pigs...)
This apple set is available pre-made, or as a pattern so you can make it yourself :)
Let's start with T-R-U-C-K!
(You may recognize the trucks below from my previous post on Little Mouse Variations. It's great to be able to re-use pieces in different flannel stories and songs.)
I learned this song from a co-worker many years ago. I'm not sure where she got it--she was extremely creative, so no doubt she just whipped it up on her very own... It goes like this:
I've got a great big shiny truck, I'm driving it today-o!
T-R-U-C-K, T-R-U-C-K,T-R-U-C-K,
I'm driving it today-o!
Once the letter is flipped to show just the red circle, we say "beep!"
Next up--P-I-Z-Z-A!
I stole this from Storytime Katie!. For this one, I just remove the letter from the piece of pizza rather than flipping it over--I couldn't come up with something to represent the "YUM" and the tummy rub we do. (Feel free to share if you have an idea!) So, for this one it's:
There is a treat I like to eat and pizza is its name-oh!
P-I-Z-Z-A, P-I-Z-Z-A, P-I-Z-Z-A,
And pizza is its name-oh!
We are all seriously hungry after this one... Don't forget to get out your napkin and wipe your saucy face off at the end!
Moving right along, let's get snorting with some pigs!
I found my idea for the song here, and was greatly inspired by these cute little swine as well. Here's the song:
There was a hungry little hog, and Piggy was his name-o!
(or: There was a hog who loved the mud, etc.)
P-I-G-G-Y, P-I-G-G-Y, P-I-G-G-Y
And Piggy was his name-o!
When we flip over the letter, the little pigs and their big snouts tell us to say "oink" (or snort!) in place of the letter name!
And now...T-R-A-I-N!
(Which my husband and I made up during a recent car ride together... my husband drew the oncoming train image that is on the reverse side of each car.)
When we flip the car, the oncoming train tells us to say "choo!"
Next up: HEART
I've had a plain laminated version of this for a few years, but I loved making these fancy felt valentines. When we flip over the hearts we make a kissing noise or hug ourselves (or both!), so I used the universal symbol for hugs and kisses. xoxoxo! Here are the lyrics (which I thought I got at Perpetual Preschool years ago, but now I can't find them there):
I made a valentine for you, the heart shape means "I love you!"
H-E-A-R-T, H-E-A-R-T, H-E-A-R-T,
The heart shape means "I love you!"
And finally, we have B-U-N-N-Y!
These bunnies star in various other stories and songs, so the letters are not permanently attached. I made them out of regular felt, but decided to spray them with stiffener so they wouldn't get so squashed in the storage bag. We take the letter off and make our bunny-ear-fingers hop as we say "hop", or we even do this standing up and actually HOP when we say it! Here's the song (which I pulled out of my magic hat):
I know a cute white cottontail and Bunny is her name-oh.
B-U-N-N-Y, B-U-N-N-Y,B-U-N-N-Y,
and Bunny is her name-oh!
That's my collection for now! I'm sure I'll add to it, as I've seen versions for ROBOT, MOMMY, DADDY and more at the Flannel Friday Pinterest Song page. Take a look for more inspiration :)
