🍎📚FlannelBoardFun 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!
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:
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!
Apples + circle time. They go together like peanut butter and jelly. In fact, they're so popular that I have written about them before: here, and here, and even here!
🐁 💗And combined with my love of the classic circle time game Little Mouse, I love apple felt board sets even more :) (Rhyming. Early literacy. Color recognition. Fun. 💗)
Throw in a cute, wiggly worm, and my heart is all aflutter ;)
Nursery rhymes are wonderful ways to build early literacy skills like rhyming and vocabulary. Plus, they're comforting in their familiarity and they're often a little bit silly. Silly means fun, and fun means kids are engaged. Winning.
In that post, I mentioned my little laminated Bo Peep.
Hiding her behind one of the felt characters and trying to find her while chanting a wee rhyme is such a fun way to get the kids involved.
And now I've got a video of this activity!
So much easier to just show you how it works instead of trying to explain it! But in case you need to copy and print the chant, here it is:
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!
So, yep. It's two of my favorite things, all bundled up together: Cats, and Little Mouse. I mean, can you go wrong with this? No. No, you can't. (Plus, these cats are the stars of Kitty Bingo, too, so--muti-use sets for the big win!)
Kids just love surprises, and it's always a surprise where that ball of yarn might be hiding...And sometimes, just to be super sneaky, I don't hide it behind ANY of the cats--I hide it behind the flannel board!! Gasp! The children are furious! I'm delighted!
Anyway..
Ball of yarn, ball of yarn, where can you be?
Are you behind the gray kitten? Let...me...see!
or
Ball of yarn, ball of yarn, playing hide and seek...
Are you behind the orange cat? Let's take a peek!
Fun cat books to go along with these sweeties are right here.
Why yessirree, I do like vehicles :) And, I love counting--counting up, counting down. It's all early math, and I love to do it in a playful way. So today, I've got my BIG Transportation set (which you may have seen here), and I'm using it to count UP.
Oh, I love a classic nursery rhyme! (I think I might be an old fashioned, low-tech kind of girl.)
I had an older version of Hickory Dickory Dock, with a mouse. And a clock. But a one use set wasn't cutting it. It was just a little too simple (although I do think simple is a good, good thing!)
So how to mix it up, but keep it simple, right?
Enter the mouse, the clock...and some friends!
Now, going up the clock isn't just for mice!
Let's JUMP up the clock!
Let's CRAWL slooowwwwly up the clock!
Let's RUN up the clock!
And hey--we can give clues to the kids and have them guess which animal is going next...
"I'm thinking of a tiny critter who has a shell and moves very slowly..."
"Lets find an animal that jumps AND has a pouch for their baby..."
"This animal moves quickly, and can be a pet at your house..."
Here's a video of one way to use these friends:
Now, I also printed out a little clock, because why not have a Hickory Dickory version of the Little Mouse game? It's always a winner, right?!
Tick tock, tick tock, the clock is hiding somewhere..
Is it beneath the green frog? Let's check under there!
Sometimes it's fun to count up, and sometimes its fun to count down... This time, we're starting with five, and counting down to none--how sad to see them go!
I like to sprinkle vocabulary words into my rhymes, so we're not only counting, we're building knowledge about the subject at hand. This time it's cat knowledge :)
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.
So up first is Diwali. I made up some super simple songs to go with the set--Diwali vocabulary and concepts are sprinkled within, and the tunes are familiar so everyone will have an easy time joining in.
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...
Yep, ghosts are perfect for BINGO variations. But that's not all those cuties are good for. How about a little hide and seek? Oh, with color naming, rhyming and rhythm, and FUN thrown in for good measure. I've got you! Sounds like we need a candy corn and ghost version of Little Mouse, yes?
Yes.
Here they are on video!
Candy corn, candy corn, playing hide and seek,
are you behind the purple ghost?? Let's take a peek!
Or...
Candy corn, candy corn, I'm looking everywhere!
Are you behind the green ghost? Let's check under there!
Oh, hello vehicles! Aren't you just the most colorful things...
I WISH driving down the freeway was this exciting in real life!
But hey, that's what felt boards are for, right?
So, kids do tend to love vehicles. Trains? Check. Trucks? Check. Rockets? Oh, yep.
So let's put them all together in one big set, and have some good old transportation fun, shall we?
I made up a rhyme to go along with them. Sprinkled transportation vocab and concepts in there. You just pile your vehicles up in the right order before you start, and then place them on the board as you name them. Or--pass out the pieces and have the kids bring them up as you name them.
But wait, there’s more—let’s not forget the boats!
Ship, submarine, and sailboat, they all know how to float.
And finally, our rail friends: train, subway and streetcar.
Look at all these vehicles—they take us near and
far!
And you know how much I love the Little Mouse game, so this set has a laminated steering wheel so we can play that game, too! So many colors and vehicle types to name! So much learning through play to be done!
Steering wheel, steering wheel, playing hide and seek,
Are you behind the ___________?
Let’s take a peek!
OR
Steering wheel, steering wheel, you steer us everywhere.
Are you behind the _____? Let’s check under there!
Okay, that's probably enough transportation to digest for the day. I'll be back with more! I've got sorting cards and more fun ways to use this set...
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