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!
🍎📚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!
I used to have a laminated cardstock set for this rhyme. I wrote about it here, many moons ago.
I like this set much better, because with each chick/egg loose, there are so many more rhymes and songs you can use the set for.
I've got those written, and all the videos will be out soon! In the meantime, here's the first one, for the original Ten Fluffy Chicks rhyme and finger play. Which I love and hope you do too :)
🍎📚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!
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!
I've often referred to this collection of cuties as jungle animals, but I've seen the error of my ways and will henceforth be referring to them as Wild :) Upcoming videos will even mention their various habitats, like the savannah, plains, rainforests, etc....
In this counting rhyme I've included some related vocabulary like roar, swing, stomp, snap and dive. Let's keep things simple, right? We name our animals, we count, we name our numbers... Of course you can make this longer by pointing out various features of the animals, like colors, body parts, habitats, etc.
But sometimes you just need something short and sweet, and I think this short counting rhyme fits the bill. I hope you and the kids enjoy it!
I've written about this Halloween game before, right here.
You've seen these fine fellows in other posts, like this one, too. Remember? They look like this:
But I've only just gotten around to publishing the Little Broom Hide and Seek video, and I thought it deserved it's very own post. So that's why we're here :)
If you need to know more about Little Mouse and all the fun to be had with this game, please check out all these fun versions of the classic preschool game!
And now, for Little Broom in all it's not-very-scary action.... (Please take note of my blunder at the end, as well as all the vocabulary, position words, color naming and more early learning that goes on in this one!)
This Halloween felt board rhyme is simple and sweet. It exposes the kids to Halloween vocabulary words and concepts in a way that is sweet instead of scary. Using this type of felt board rhyme, with visuals to go along with the words, helps those little brains absorb all that early learning goodness 😊
Here are the felt pieces I used in the video:
Here are the lyrics:
Lots of Halloween friends,
some are spooky some are sweet…
A friendly witch
and some candy--that’s a yummy treat.
Here come some black ones
now—bubbling cauldron… prowling cat.
And now two spooky fliers—white
ghost and brown bat.
We need a jack-o-lantern,
to shine on Halloween night.
And here’s a wiggly spider--it
might give you a fright!
This little house is
haunted—I won’t go inside those rooms!
This witch’s hat is
pointy and it makes a great costume.
So many Halloween friends
we have, some spooky, some sweet…
And don’t forget on
Halloween Night to say “Trick or Treat!”
I don't like to scare kids. But I do like Halloween :) So let's put not-scary Halloween fun into the mix this year with this simple Halloween felt board rhyme!
I like this one because it has fun Halloween vocabulary words like "swooping" and "costume" mixed with colors and rhyming... A witch's brew of Halloween early learning delight, if you will :)
You can learn all the words and join in on the rhyme--here's the video demo for you:
Ah, colors, counting and construction. What could be better?
No time for a big intro on this one, but you can see these colorful trucks in this post, and this one too. Those two are great for early literacy skills like rhyming and naming letters, to name just a few.
But this new rhyme has the bonus of early math packed into it! Of course with all the rhyming involved there's early literacy in there, too. And it's just all around fun, especially for those kids who really love trucks, and construction, and all things road-related :)
Here's are the trucks (click the picture for all the details)
And here's the video of the rhyme:
(Ohh, and now there's also a pattern for these cuties! Just click below :) )
And if you're like me, you're also very familiar with the following three things:
1. Hey Diddle Diddle the Cat & the Fiddle
2. Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See
3. Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star
And if you're like me in one last way, you like to mix things up.
If you fit the bill, you're going to love this one. I've combined all three of those fabulous simple things into one fabulous simple felt board activity.
Let's keep this simple--here's the video :) Enjoy!
But now you can add this one to your squirrel repertoire! This sweet squirrel rhyme gets your kids engaged as they do the fingerplay movements, and reinforces early math concepts in a playful way.
It's another felt board activity in which we get to count UP, similar to this pig one, which I think you'll also like!
But anyway, let the acorn hiding begin! Come count and rhyme with me!
Once again, I'm figuring out ways to use existing felt board sets in new, engaging, fun ways. Multi-use felt board sets for the big win, right?!
This time, I'm using my Over in the Meadow animal felt board set. I've written about these cuties here, and now I have another new video for you!
This is a song I've used a million times with kids during circle time. You can use your fingers to be the animals. You can use big puppets. Or finger puppets. And hey, if you've got this felt board set, you can use the same adorable critters I use in the video!
This song is wonderful for rhyming, naming and demonstrating opposites, using position words, etc. etc. It's just full of early literacy benefits. And a tiny bit of math, even. Oh--and it's cute. And fun. I love it. Let's sing!
And look, now you can get the pattern for these cuties, too!
I wrote this song to go along with my Five Ocean Critters set last year, but only now got around to making a video for it! I had a lot of fun with this one!
This ocean song is just a wee bit tricky in the math department, probably most understandable to older preschool kids. You'll see what I mean when you watch the video.
But it's SO fun for all the little ones: we get to do diving and splashing and all kinds of fishy movements!
And as usual, I've made it easy to learn and join in on by using a familiar tune--this time, it's the Five Little Ducks tune.
Take a look right here:
Hope you like that one! And I hope it makes any ocean, beach, or fishy themed circle time that much easier to plan for :)
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:
It's time for another nursery rhyme. Because they're classic. Because they're fun. Because I love the simplicity of a good nursery rhyme, and the absolute lack of making any sense. It's fun!
I do have another version of Hey Diddle Diddle. But I copied those pieces from images online, and I wanted to make my own adorable set! So...I did :) And here it is:
I will of course use my Hey Diddle Diddle Re-mix with this set, as well. It's tooooo fun! The kids love getting things all mixed up!
Hey diddle diddle, the COW and the SPOON,
The CAT jumped over the DISH! The little MOON laughed to see such sport,
and the DOG ran away with the FIDDLE!
Whaaat? That's not right... Let's try again!
(over.and.over.and.over.)
June 2022, editing to add the video:
And I needed a cute nursery rhyme character to hide under those cuties, so I drew a Little Bo Peep, printed her out, and laminated her.
She's going to love hiding, and the kids are going to love trying to find her!
Bo Peep, Bo Peep, playing hide and seek...
Are you behind the orange cat?
Let's take a peek!
OR
Bo Peep has lost her sheep, and we've lost HER somewhere!
Is she behind the brown fiddle? Let's look under there!
These guys will also perfect for a Hey Diddle Diddle version of the Brown Bear concept.
Here's to nursery rhymes!
Oh hey, by the way... If you like rhymes for kids, check out a ton of them
I love cats. I've got two of them snuggled up and snoring/drooling next to me right now. The poor things aren't spoiled at all. But I digress. Let's move on to felt cats, shall we?
Ah, there we go. And as you can see, we've got a cat version of BINGO going on here. You can see more BINGO ideas here, by the way.
I don't think there's much explanation needed here, but when you flip those letters over, you've got a cat face, which lets the kids know it's time to say "meow" instead of the letter name.
You'll soon have a story time full of adorable meowing children, which should make everyone purrfectly happy. (Sorry, had to.)
Oh, and look! Here's a video just in case you need to sing along and practice a few times:
I think I was feeling nostalgic for my carefree childhood days when I made this huge Halloween felt board set. I loved all the commercialized, candy-filled holidays when I was a kid, LOL. The colors of Halloween decorations--orange, purple, black and green--were always one of my favorite combinations. Covering the windows in our house with witches and ghosts, jack-o-lanterns and cauldrons... It was just plain FUN.
So, those were all on my mind when I made this set. I just wanted it to be full of cute Halloween fun, and of course I wanted it to be super useful, too. There are plenty of felt board sets that go with just one particular song or story. I need my sets to be multi-use--two or three songs or games per set, at least!
This one fits the bill.
Play Little Broom (a Halloween version of Little Mouse) with these cuties, hiding the adorable laminated witch's broom under the pieces.
Little Broom, little broom, we're searching far and near!
Are you under this black cat? Let's look under here!
Or use the pieces for a Halloween version of Brown Bear, but sprinkle in Halloween vocabulary of course!
And maybe my favorite way to play with these is to use the pieces in a Halloween version of The Enormous Turnip, with all the characters working together to get that huge pumpkin off the vine...
Here we go with the seventh 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 remaining couple of 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.
You might already know that I love elephants. They are amazing creatures, which is probably why kids love them as much as I do. Of course, they aren't actually quite as colorful as my set, but I do like to make things rainbow-ish ;) Anyway, you also may have seen these beauties in some of my other elephant videos, but I wanted to add some opposite words to the mix.
So here we've got opposites (short and long), a little math and rhyming, and friendship bundled up together. You know: all the good preschooly stuff we love :)
Here we go with the sixth 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 remaining couple of 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, let's sing about squirrels and acorns, shall we? We'll do a little counting, a little rhyming, a little tail-swishing and pretending. Might as well tuck a bunch of early learning into one short song, right? Right. Off we go!
(to
the tune of Five Little Ducks or Over in the Meadow)
Spread
out your acorns on the board, and tell the kids we are pretending that they are
hidden underground.Have the squirrel dig and
search to find each acorn, and then she can either pile them somewhere else, or
munch them up happily 😊
Five
little acorns hidden in the ground
Along
comes a squirrel, to see what can be found.
She
swishes her tail, and she sniffs the air
And
look, she finds an acorn—right over there!
Four
little acorns hidden in the ground
Along
comes a squirrel, to see what can be found.
She
swishes her tail, and she sniffs the air
And
look, she finds an acorn—right over there!
Continue,
until….
No
little acorns hidden in the ground
Along
comes a squirrel, to see what can be found.
She
swishes her tail, and she sniffs the air
She
found all five acorns so she takes a nap right there!
Oh and hey--if you'd like to make your own squirrel set, the pattern is now available:
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!):
Wheee--it's the fourth 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.
But those tails.... We need to sing about the tails! Of course fishy vocabulary (gills, fins, swim, dive...) abounds in this one, and so do color words and motions and rhyming. Ah, kids' songs--I love 'em :)
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