Flannel Board Fun

Wild Animal Count Up

Counting Animals

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!

Looking for more circle time and storytime fun? More videos are right here!

Elephant in a Hole

Many moons ago I made a printed, laminated version of this story. But I recently realized that my Wild Animal set would work perfectly with this tale, too. AND, with the upcoming Summer Reading Program theme of All Together Now, I thought friends helping friends would be quite fitting as well :) So, off we go!

As you'll see in the video, size doesn't matter. Often these cumulative stories have the smallest animal/character come last to help, and lo and behold, that's the one that saves the day. But if you know me, you know I like to mix things up. So in my version, it really doesn't matter who comes first, last, or in between. It's all about working together to help each other.

Enjoy!

Lots more videos are right here!

Cumulative Story: Kite Stuck in a Tree

A little bird told me that the summer reading program this year is All Together Now. I thought it would be nice to have a group of sweet felt friends all work together to solve a problem. And that's how this little felt set was born :)

Here they are:

And rather than write out the whole kite story here, I'll just show it to you on video :)

Just click those cuties below to watch.

I've not got the videos up yet, but I'll also use these friends in a few more circle time activities, coming soon:

Kind Friend Count Up
Five Little Friends Went Out Today
Little Kite Hide and Seek

By the way, if you liked this video story, I've also got a Halloween version of the Enormous Turnip!

Diwali: Rangoli Hide and Seek!

Okay, here we go again!

I love a good reason to come up with another version of Little Mouse, and Diwali is as good a reason as any!

This Diwali set has lots of songs and games that go along with it, which you can read about here. I even briefly mentioned this game in one of those posts, but now I've got a video for it, so wanted to share it again :)

Click the image below to see this simple game in action. It's a great way to introduce Diwali concepts and vocabulary to even your littlest story time friends!

Little Broom Hide and Seek

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!)

Trick or Treat Ghost Count Down!

Let's count some colorful ghosts, shall we?

This fun ghost felt board counting rhyme is all about not-so-spooky Halloween fun 😊 Get the kids counting down and having Halloween fun with this sweet little rhyme. The video shows simple ways to introduce Halloween concepts in a non-scary way.

Here are the ghosts (you can see lots more about them here and here, too!):

And here's the video:

Another Halloween Rhyme!

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!”

And here's video:

I Went Trick or Treating!

Ah, another not-scary-at-all Halloween rhyme!

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:

Diwali Is Here!

I've written about my Diwali set before.

You can find that post right here. But I just this minute added a video of this song! I love making up new words to familiar tunes, because it's simple for adults and kids to learn them and join in :)

Here are the lyrics:

Diwali is Here

to the tune of Farmer in the Dell

As you sing about each felt piece, place it on the board.

Diwali is here, Diwali is here

Light the paper lanterns now,

Diwali is here!