Summer Reading #5: Curly (Pig) Tails

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 pigs:

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!):

And here are the lyrics:

CurlyTails Count Down ©Wendy Gerbi

To the tune of Over in the Meadow 

Five curly tails on 5 cute pigs

Their tails are little but the pigs are BIG!

They roll in the mud, and they muck about…

Then one big pig just jumps right out!

 

Four curly tails on four cute pigs

The tails are little but the pigs are BIG!

They roll in the mud and they muck about…

Then one big pig just jumps right out!

Continue, until…

No curly tails on no cute pigs

Those tails were little, but the pigs were big!
They rolled in the mud and they mucked about

But now all the pigs have jumped right out!

 

CurlyTail Count Up ©Wendy Gerbi

To the tune of Miss Polly had a Dolly 

One curly tail on one cute pig

Her tail is little, but the pig is big!

She rolls in the mud right up to her chin

Then along comes a friend who jumps right in!

Two curly tails on two cute pigs

Their tails are little, but the pigs are big!

They roll in the mud right up to their chins

Then along comes a friend and he jumps right!

Count up, until…

Five curly tails on five cute pigs,

Their tails are little, but the pigs are big!

They rolled in the mud right up to their chins,

Now there aren’t any pigs left to jump right in!

And hey, if you love these piggies, you can make your own set with this pattern:

 

Three Little Pigs Video

Ah, my cutie pies.  Pigs are one of my favorite animals.  I've written about them before here, but now I've put them on film :)

Here they are in all their cute glory:

And here they are on video:

Oink ;) 

(And if you're feeling a little crafty, you can make your own pig set using the pattern!)

Piggy Pancake Video!

 Why yes indeedy! Pigs and pancakes on film :)  Not much else to say about this pig version of the fabulous Little Mouse game—the video sums it all up pretty nicely, I think.

Muddy Pigs Revsited

So, one of my earliest flannel board sets after discovering Flannel Friday was a muddy pig set, 

inspired by multiple fabulous librarians.  

You can see the original version here.  

But I wanted to update my set to make it more of my own design, and I couldn't bear to rub brown fabric paint on these new cuties.  So I switched my mud spots to be made of felt, and I love them so much more.

I also decided those muddy pigs might like to get clean, too!  So I made my mud puddle reversible to a water puddle (or a lake, as I call it in my new little song...)

 Here are a couple of songs you could use with this set when you want to clean off the pigs:

Five Muddy Hog and Sows

Five muddy hogs and sows

(They’re pigs they are not cows)

Wanted to take a little swim.

One jumped into a lake

Got clean for goodness sake

That leaves four muddy hogs and sows

Continue, counting down to zero :)

Five Muddy Pigs

Down at the farm by the big blue lake

Were five muddy pigs for goodness sake

One jumped in and the mud washed away,

Now that pig is ready to play!

Keep counting down...

Go check out all the Flannel Friday goodness at the 

Flannel Friday Pinterest Pages!

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 :)

 

          

Old MacDonald, Part Three!

What is her obsession with Old MacDonald, you might be asking yourself.  I'm sort of asking myself the same thing!  This set isn't that different than my second set,  This one, though, is just right for Toddlers!  None of the pieces are small enough to be considered choking hazards, so this set is perfect for the little ones to use independently if they are so inclined.

I'm selling these cuties in my shop--come check it out!

As you can see, these pieces are pretty darn huge, so this is a great set to use with a large crowd where visibility might be an issue.  And of course you're not limited to just singing Old MacDonald with these pieces.  Adapt songs like The Wheels on the Bus (The Chicken on the Farm goes cluck, cluck, cluck...)  Make up stories using all or some of the animals...  Play rhyming games (I'm thinking of an animal, and her name rhymes with that thing we wear outside in cold weather...)

Here are some farm themed books that might work well for you, too:

Clip Clop by Nicola Smee

Hurry, Hurry by Eve Bunting

How Kind  and I Kissed the Baby by Mary Murphy

Old MacDonald Had a Farm by Jane Cabrera

Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise Brown

Mrs. Wishy Washy by Joy Cowley

Spots, Feathers and Curly Tails by Nancy Tafuri

Rosie’s Walk by Pat Hutchins

Bridget is hosting the roundup 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.  And come on over to my shop to check out lots more sets for sale:  Flannel Board Fun!

Old MacDonald Part Two

One of my co-teachers wants an Old MacDonald set for her little girl.  I wanted to make her something cuter than my Judy Sierra set (sorry Judy :))  I found these guys through a google search.

Since her daughter is pretty young, I didn't want the backs of the animals to show where the ears, horns, and feet are glued on, since she would probably want to start picking everything apart.  So I layered these guys to cover up those little picky pieces.  Hopefully she won't want to peel off the noses, spots and hooves!

Flannel Friday is being hosted this week by Mary.  For more FF fun and information, please visit the blog, Facebook page, or Pinterest page.  And share these links with your co-librarians or co-teachers. The more we share, the better!

Old MacDonald

This set, like my Hickory Dickory Dock and One, Two, Buckle My Shoe sets is from a Judy Sierra pattern e-book.  I actually didn't already have an Old MacDonald set--though I do often use my farm finger puppets when we sing it.  I also have a pop-up Old McD book.  But it will be nice to finally have a simple felt set to use with this classic little song. 

You can find lots of my sets in my shop-come take a look!

Flannel Friday is being hosted this week by Lisa at Libraryland.  For more FF fun and information, please visit the blog, Facebook page, or Pinterest page.  And share these links with your co-librarians or co-teachers. The more we share, the better!

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 :)

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. 

BINGO Variations Galore!

I recently posted my APPLE variation of BINGO

 

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.)

You can buy these cuties here.

What's that chugging down the track?

I think it is a tra-ain!

T-R-A-I-N, T-R-A-I-N, T-R-A-I-N,

Oh, yes!  It is a tra-ain!

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 :)

     

     

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