Space: The Final Frontier

Thanks to Mel at Mel's Desk for the inspiration for this one!  I made my space set felt pieces by adapting cute images I've seen in our universe ;) (PS--I've updated my set, which is available in my shop, so the pictures here are the updated version...)

                                 

What a great addition to any space theme--although I like to use all my sets randomly when the mood strikes me :)  

This set is so fun to use with songs like Zoom, Zoom, Zoom.  In my set for sale, I include other rhymes to go with it, as well as a list of fun space-themed picture books that are tried and true winners in my classroom.

And here's a glimpse of how it all started:

We like to sing Zoom Zoom Zoom all the time, but it's especially fun when we pull out and talk about all of these fun space pieces.  

We play the "What's Missing?" game with this set, talk about colors and shapes, count and compare--this is the first themed set I've made, and I would never have thought it could be so versatile.  I love it!

We have a set of Five Little Monsters which we sometimes call 'aliens', and they like to come out and jump on the planets sometimes:

Five little aliens jumping in the sky, 

One fell off and bumped his eye, 

The astronaut called the doctor 

Who said with a sigh

No more aliens jumping in the sky!

Flannel Friday is being hosted by Lauren at The Dilley Dally, and of course you'll find lots of other ideas at Flannel Friday's blog or Pinterest page.

Finger Puppet Duos!

A quick peek at Flannel Friday's Finger Puppet page sent me off to the store for embroidery floss and needles!  Two Little Blackbirds is a song that we do all the time during our Small and Large Group times (the adorable JBrary version linked is a chant--I'll try to find the tune I use and post it here).  I don't think I'd ever thought to use finger puppets for it--we just use our thumbs...  But these little guys really engage the children, and keep our fingers warm too!  

I maybe sewed last when I was in 8th grade, but haven't since then.  I will stick to basic stuff--my eyesight is definitely not what it once was!

These were made in the fall, and used a lot in the fall this year, but of course they can be used anytime!

The bats and blue birds above are from Mel's Desk.  I love her stuff!  My kids had to keep reminding me to say "bats" instead of "birds" when I used the bats.  Twenty years of saying "birds" is a hard habit to break!

This is a cute poem to go with these adorable penguins!

I did a google image search for bear finger puppets, and free handed my guys based on the results.

Can't remember where I found this:

To the tune of Where is Thumbkin:

Where is bear, where is bear?

Here I am, Here I am!

How are you today bear?

Very sleepy thank you!

Hibernate...hibernate...

 

The owls, turkeys,and elephants were all inspired by, you guessed it, Storytime Katie.  

These finger puppets aren't available to purchase, but please come visit my Etsy shop!  https://www.etsy.com/shop/FlannelBoardFun

Flannel Friday is being hosted by Lauren at The Dilley Dally, and of course you'll find lots of other ideas at Flannel Friday's blog or Pinterest page.

Veggies

Most years we make real veggie soup with the kids in the fall.  We've been singing and dancing to the Soup Song by Laurie Berkner for a few years, and I thought it might be fun to add some visuals to go with that activity.  We also have a chant that we do a lot:  Chop, Chop, Chippity, Chop.  (When we do the chant, we use our big voice and our big knives to do some veggies, and our tiny knives and our tiny voices for others...)  We do this song, too:

Vegetable Soup Song (here's the tune performed by the Jbrary girls)

The soup is boiling up
The soup is boiling up
Stir slow-around we go
The soup is boiling up.

First we add the broth
First we add the broth
Stir slow-around we go
The soup is boiling up.

Now we add some carrots(tomatoes, radishes, etc.)
Now we add some carrots
Stir slow-around we go
The soup is boiling up.

So, this year we used the veggies below, and I also found lots of other ideas at Flannel Friday's Food Page!  I used clipart as my templates, and did the collage method to make everything really stand out :)

(Though I originally posted this in late December, I'm including it in the January 8th Flannel Friday Roundup.  This week's Flannel Friday is being hosted by Mollie at What Happens in Storytime.  You can also check out all things Flannel Friday related on Pinterest or the Flannel Friday Blog.)

Pete the Cat's 4 Groovy Buttons

Well, I love belly buttons, so I couldn't resist making this story in flannel!  I used the Pete pattern from Make Learning Fun, but made his eyes more like the ones from the book.  "Owl eyes", some of my kids call them :) 

The numbers were based on a google image search for cartoon numbers, which I then printed out and used as a template.  Pete is made of stiff blue felt, and everything else is made of the regular stuff.  I wasn't sure how to make the shirt open only part way. I just glued the top portion and not the bottom, so I can scootch it away to see Pete's belly button.  (It's not perfect--I think I'll have to re-glue occasionally, but it's fine). And then the kids all want to see their own belly button, too, and we have a belly button party!

(I keep Pete's head and body separate because they are too big for my storage bag if I glue them together.  The kids think it is hilarious when I remove his body from the board when it's time to clean it up!  Wait a minute--what happened???!  Pete's head came off!!  Are you okay Pete??  Yeah, it's all good...)

This week's Flannel Friday is being hosted by Mollie at What Happens in Storytime.  You can also check out all things Flannel Friday related on Pinterest or the Flannel Friday Blog.

Cowboy!

My kids love Froggy Gets Dressed and How Do I Put it On so much, I wanted another similar flannel board to share with them.  I found this one at Library Village and adapted it using the images I saw at this site..

I do think it's pretty cute, but I am annoyed with myself for making it so small.  This one will only really work with a small group of kids--from head to toe my little cowboy is only about as tall as my hand.  Just wasn't thinking last night when I made him...

This week's Flannel Friday is being hosted by Mollie at What Happens in Storytime.  You can also check out all things Flannel Friday related on Pinterest or the Flannel Friday Blog.

There Was a Little Polar Bear

I fell in love with this little polar bear when I saw him on Storytime ABCs, so I copied him and his cute friends exactly :) It's finally getting cold, so maybe I'll be bringing this set out soon to celebrate snow!

Move Over, Rover!

This was another new story for me.  I checked it out from the library (probably after seeing it suggested on one of the blogs listed on the right), and then checked Pinterest for a flannel board version.  Of course there was one-- Here's Rachel's version, complete with patterns! 

I just noticed I forgot to put Rover's name on his doghouse...  I also noticed cat hair and random fuzz on that raccoon photo that I couldn't see until I enlarged the picture.  Age is getting my mind and my eyes!

A-P-P-L-E

My three-year-olds like B-I-N-G-O, but I think they love A-P-P-L-E even more.  The visual of the bites taken out of the apples helps them remember to say "crunch" instead of the letter.  It just seems easier than replacing the letter with a clap.

We have a lot of fun talking about letters and letter sounds when we do this (and various other Bingo variations we have in the room).  The children find it hilarious when we say "Oh!  We took away the A, so now it says "p-ple"!

It's also fun to take away the letters in the wrong order:  A-P-Crunch-L-E, instead of always going from left to right.

Click here to buy this set!

I used a combination of ideas from Storytime Katie and Storytime ABCs.  We sing:

There is a fruit I like to eat and apple is it's name-o!

A-P-P-L-E, A-P-P-L-E, A-P-P-L-E,

and apple is it's name-o!

Then as we turn over each letter to see the bite taken out of the apple, we replace the letter name with "crunch!"

Pie!

**There seems to be a popular Ocean pin circulating on Pinterest that is mis-directing people to this post!  If that's why you're here, this is the link to the Cape May County Library that you should be landing on!  If not, enjoy the pie flannel board set below :)

Yum :)  I saw some pie ideas on Jen in the Library and made my own version.  Thought it would also be cute to have an owl hide under some of that sweet deliciousness--the result is below:

Here are the poems/songs we used with these.  The Four Pieces of Yummy Pie I made up based on the famous 3 Green and Speckled Frogs, though I may have been inspired by others that I've forgotten.  If so, let me know and I'll credit you!  Anyway, it can be used with the cream-topped pies above, or the pumpkin pies below.

Five Pumpkin Pies in the Bakery Shop

Chant or sing to the tune of Five Little Ducks

Credit: Melissa Depper
Five pumpkin pies in the bakery shop.
Looking pretty yummy with that whipped cream on top!
Along comes ___ with a dollar to pay.
S/he buys a sweet one and takes it away. (gobble gobble slobber yum etc.)

Four Pumpkin Pies 

Chant or sing to the tune of 3 green speckled frogs tune.

Four pans of pumpkin pie

Sat on a shelf so high

Looking so sweet with cream on top (oh, yeah)

_______ came and ate one pie (use a puppet, or with a small group and gentle kids, kids can come take one)

Yum yum and my oh my!

Now there are three more pumpkin pies (yum, yum).

Continue till there are none left!

I try not to get trapped by themes--so these will be used throughout the year.  But pumpkin pie does hold a special place in my childhood holiday memories, so I'm sure I'll use it even more at that time of year :)

Though I posted this early, I'm including it in the January 8th Flannel Friday Roundup.  This week's Flannel Friday is being hosted by Mollie at What Happens in Storytime.

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How Do I Put it On?

One of the first books I ever used as a preschool teacher was How Do I Put it On by Shigeo Watanabe.  Sadly, it's out of print now.  I searched around and found that someone else had already made a flannel board out of this--I copied her set!  After using it for the past couple of weeks with my two-year-olds during a season when we wear jackets, I've decided that I'm going to add a coat, mittens, long pants and a sweater to the set.  The children keep telling me that he's not ready to go outside without his coat!

Let's help bear get dressed--he doesn't know how!

Uh-ho!  Somethings not quite right here...

That's better!

I've got a similarly adorable dress up bear set right here!