Spring Chicks Felt Board Set

Spring has sprung!

And with spring comes...chicks!

Ten of them.  (A clutch!)  

And a mama hen, too.  So sweet.

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 :)

Lots more videos are right here!

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🍎📚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!

 

✂️You can find felt board patterns right here.  

 

🛒🍎📚Shop all the Storytime felt board songs, rhymes, and story sets: 

  

🛒🎁👦🏽👧🏿👧🏻 Felt board stories and activities for kids are here. 

 

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Circle Time Weather Bear: Dress for Winter!

As a teacher, I had a requirement to talk with the kids about the weather each day.  (I know--seems like a strange requirement to me, too!)  But anyway...Weather conversations occurred naturally, since weather is something that typically affects all of us in some way or another.  Raining?  The kids had rain gear on and likely got wet on the way to school.  Snowing?  Maybe we'll go outside and we'll have to put on some snow gear!  Hot and sunny?  We'll be sure we've all got sunscreen on for playground time...

But just in case it didn't come up in natural conversation, Weather Bear is a great workaround :)  

Here's a video I made to go along with this set 

(which, by the way, is also perfect for kids to play with independently!)

Apple Tree Felt Board: Wiggly Worm Hide & Seek!

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 ;) 

If you need a little more info on why and how the Little Mouse game is so fabulous, please take a look here and definitely here.  

And if you need no introduction, let's just skip right to the video!

Apple Tree Felt Board: Apple Count Up!

It's been a long time, but I've written about this apple felt board set once before, right here.  And in that post, I did include these lyrics, but it's not till now that I've finally got a video for you!

This apple circle time counting song is a great way to get the kids counting UP from 1-5. It’s all done in a playful way, so kids don’t even know they’re doing math 😊 Plus, there’s a little science thrown in, and color recognition to boot… Hello, apple circle time fun!

Here are the lyrics again:

Apple Count Up © Wendy Gerbi

No apples on this tree, growing for you and me, 

No sweet fruit for us to bite and crunch...

One flower starts to bloom, 

An apple will be here soon…

Now there is one sweet juicy fruit—yum, yum! 

And here, without further ado, is the video:

5 Little Snowmen on a Sled--The Video!

Winter is coming!  Let's get out the sleds, build some snowmen, and do a little counting while we're at it...  You can see my post on this cute set right here, buy those cuties right here, and click below to watch the video!

Want more fun preschooly ideas and shop updates?  Click below!

Bear Sleeps All Winter Long

Here's a set that goes along with this story (or at least a version of this story.) I made this one for a wonderful librarian (aren't they all?!)

Get all kinds of fabulous flannel board ideas at the Flannel Friday Pinterest page.

Check out my YouTube channel to see lots of felt sets in action!

10 in a Cave

You might recognize these sweeties from my Five in the Bed set.  This set was a custom order for a kindergarten teacher.  

10 bears and a cave--what's not to love?!

Get inspired to make up a 10 bear rhyme with my 5 in the Bed ideas.

And of course, you could do something simple like:

Ten Brown Bears in a Cave

(to the tune of 100 bottles of beer on the wall!)

Ten brown bears in a cave,

 Ten brown bears, 

One wakes up,

Gives a quick wave, 

Nine brown bears in a cave!

(and then continue to count down. ) 

Or (to the Tune of Farmer Brown's Apples)

Ten brown bears, take a winter's sleep.

Ten brown bears, take a winter's sleep.

If one of those bears, 

Should wake without a peep...

There'd be nine brown bears

Taking a winter's sleep.

You could also make up a variation using the Jellyfish song

Have fun--and visit me on Instagram to see my sets in action!

The Wind Blew

Pat Hutchins is one of my favorite children's book authors, so I loved making this set to go with her book The Wind Blew.  As with all story sets, if you know the book well enough you could use the set without the book at all.  Or, as you read the book you can add the pieces to your board. 

I would also put the pieces out for the children to use independently.  It's so cool to watch and listen to children re-tell stories.  Sometimes they remember it in a completely different way than I'd predict...so interesting to see how they understand and interpret the world!

I personally didn't use themes for my classroom or my story times, but I know that some people love to! Whether you're using a theme or just throwing ideas into the mix when the mood inspires you, here are some weather related ideas for you:

Books:  If you're looking for other weather related books for preschoolers, Here's my Pinterest board on that subject!

Make Rain:  Fill a clear cup about halfway with water, top with shaving cream, and let the children use eye droppers to drop liquid water color on top of the shaving cream. Once that "cloud" gets too full, it will start to rain!

Stormy paintings:  Provide shades of gray, white and blue paint along with black, white, blue or gray construction paper.  Add foam paint or shaving cream to the paints to inspire a cloud-like effect!

Storm Dancing:  Pass our scarves and play Vivaldi's Storm!

Shadow drawing:  Take the kids outside on a sunny day and trace their shadows with sidewalk chalk.  Go out again later, have them stand at the base of the drawings, and notice how their shadows have changed position!

Sun Art:  On a sunny and not too windy day, take construction paper and a basket of small toys outside.  Spread the sheets of paper on the ground in a sunny spot, and ask the children to decorate the papers with the toys.  Leave them outside for an hour or more.  Have the children remove the toys, and see what amazing artwork the sun has made!

   

Want millions of flannel board ideas?

Check out Flannel Friday!

Anytime Mapleson

  I recently had a request from a lovely librarian in Vermont for this set. It's based on a story I've never read, and it's out of print--Anytime Mapleson and the Hungry Bears by Mordicai Gerstein.  If you can find a copy, I recommend it--it looks pretty adorable!  I don't know the story in detail, but I'm sharing it here anyway in case anyone else knows the story and is also inspired to make their own set.  Or I can make one for you ;)  

Flannel Friday is going through some changes.  It will no longer be hosted each week on a blog--but it's got a new home on Tumbler, and and will still be pinned monthly to the Flannel Friday Pinterest Boards :)

Here's the Tumbler Page if you'd like to check it out, and here are the many amazing Pinterest Boards! 

 And I'd love it if you come visit my shop right here:  Flannel Board Fun.

Build a Snowman

Joining his robot and farm friends in my selection of Toddler Sets, this Build a Robot set is my latest creation.  This is a perfect set to put out at a felt table or wall for kids to use independently, but it can also be used to accompany a snow or snowman story time (see my other snowman post here.)

This frosty fellow is available in my Etsy Shop right here.

Some fun snowman and snow books I like:
One Mitten by Kristine O’Connell George

Red Sled by Lita Judge

Snowballs by Lois Ehlert
Snow by Manya Stojic
Snow Happy! By Patricia Hubbell
Snow! Snow! Snow! By Lee Harper

Under My Hood I Have a Hat by Karla Kuskin
The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats

A Really Good Snowman by Daniel J. Mahoney

If You Were a Penguin by Wendell and Florence Minor.

Amy is hosting the roundup this week!  You can also find lots of great ideas at the FF Pinterest Boards!

Build a Bug Set

Bugs gross me out.  So, I needed to neutralize them for this set.  In other words, make them pretty and rather unrealistic.  I guess I'm doing a disservice to the children in my classroom by doing this, but I see it done in a lot of books too, so I'm just going with the flow :) 

Click here to buy this set!

In my classroom, I have individual flannel boards for the children to use on their laps, on the floor, or at a table.  That's where I'll have these buggies available.  I might also incorporate them into a small group time and let the children help me build some bugs on the big board.  Lots of great opportunities for vocabulary and imagination building with this set!

If you're a librarian, you could make these available at a felt table after a bug, spring, or garden story time.

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

Flannel Friday Holiday/Winter Extravaganza Roundup!

Here's this year's Winter/Holiday Extravaganza Roundup!  

We have several fabulous contributions this week--check them all out:

Kate adorns a Christmas Tree with beautiful ornaments, stars, lights and more--and includes poems, rhymes and chants to go along with each!

Mollie shares a lovely, cozy set of winter wear in the gorgeous collage method--with two songs that will work perfectly with the pieces!

Jessica's Five Little Aliens will make you snort with laughter at some of the lyrics she's included--and she even shares her pattern!

I have three to share this week:

My first ever Hanukkah set, my most recent take on Five in the Bed, and finally Goldilocks and the Three Bears.

Thanks to everyone for contributing!  Next week Kate at Felt Board Magic will be hosting the roundup.  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 :)

Little Snail

I completely stole this idea from Rachel the Librarian, the local librarian who comes to our classroom on the first Wednesday of every month.  Though she used a little clip art worm under her leaves (rather than the felt snail I'm using), it was her genius use of real leaves that grabbed my attention.  Now granted, I will most likely make felt versions so this will be easy to do at any time (since the real leaves will dry out and crumble).  But I just love the idea of using the real leaves so the kids are exposed to them (in more ways than just trudging through them on their sidewalks :) )  

I used the baby snail from my Animal Pairs set.  

You can do this rhyme using colors, shapes, and real leaf names:

Little snail, little snail, playing hide and seek

Are you under the __________ leaf?

Let's take a peek!

Here are more Little Mouse variations.

PS:  Stick a little velcro dot to the back of the leaves to make them stick to the board.  Or a little loop of tape will work, too...

My shop has a TON of other hide and seek felt sets!

Flannel Friday is being hosted this week by Mollie at What Happens in Storytime.

Find all kinds of info at Flannel Friday's Blog, Facebook, or Pinterest!

Fall is Not Easy

It's almost summer, and that means fall is just around the corner, so....I'll just link Flannel Friday's Fall Pinterest Page--I was inspired by several Fall is Not Easy posts there to create this one!   I have one tough little cookie in my group this year who always says "I don't wanna hear that story" about pretty much everything. But when I suggest Fall is Not Easy, she says "Oh!  That's my favorite one!"  

Click below to see a video of how I use this set:

I highly recommend scrunching up your face and being very theatrical with each attempt to change the leaves--guffaws are sure to follow!

Everything can be random except the spring, summer and fall leaves.  I always make sure they are in the right order when I put them away for next time. I have 'spring' and 'summer' written on the back of those pieces, so everyone using the set knows what's what!

I printed out the Pittsburgh Pirates and Penguins emblems on Pellon Lutradur.  They aren't very vibrant, and the glue dots show through, so I am not totally happy with them.  But the kids LOVE their teams, so those are a big hit.  I don't particularly like the NFL (shhhhh!), so I skipped the Steelers!

Click here to shop:

The Flannel Friday roundup is being hosted this week by Melissa at Mel's Desk!  You'll also find other Flannel Friday goodies at Pinterest, Facebook, and the FF blog--check them out!

Flower Set

For my school's upcoming Vendor Fair, I made this little flower set.  Almost everything comes apart--the children can build flowers and butterflies, and can tell little stories with the tiny bugs...

Though I wouldn't use these myself in front of a group, I think having sets like this on hand so children can do their own, completely open-ended storytelling would be wonderful in the classroom or library setting.  You could of course use a set that corresponds with your storytime theme if you use them, but having random sets available allows the child to lead, which is always a benefit in my opinion.

Click here to buy this set!

Flannel Friday is being hosted this week by Kim at Literary Commentary!  You can also find tons of ideas at Flannel Friday's Pinterest Pages, the Flannel Friday Blog, and Flannel Friday's Facebook page.

Mouse's First Fall

I love the simplicity of Mouse's First Fall.  It's the first flannel board story I created without copying someone else's idea, so I'm making it my first post on this blog.

I scanned a page from the board book and traced Mouse and Minka.  I used clipart for inspiration for the leaves.

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

Shop Flannel Boards!

The picture below shows how I store most of my flannel board stories:  a zip lock bag, the words to the story, and a labeled piece of card stock cut down to fit in the bag.  Sometimes if there aren't a lot of words, I just write them out onto the card stock.  Sometimes a story or felt set will have various ways to be used, so all the different songs/words/chants/etc. are printed out and stored in the bag too.