I have a little friend in my class...perhaps a day has gone by during which he hasn't mentioned diggers, but I don't think so. Let's just say he likes diggers. A lot. A whole lot! And lately he's been spending time in the Book Corner using the flannel board sets we have there. I decided it was about time we had a set of felt construction workers and vehicles, and why not throw in a few cones and piles of dirt? Let the wild rumpus start!
Librarians! These would work nicely to have out for children's independent use after a construction story time. Maybe you'd read Diggers Go by Steve Light, or Demolition by Sally Sutton. And there's always Tip Tip Dig Dig by Emma Garcia... So many good books to read on this topic! I'd probably go ahead and sing TRUCK (or here) and maybe play Little Duck Little Duck, are you in the ________ Truck to round things out :) And here's a link to some construction-themed rhymes and finger plays.
I realized after I finished gluing on the hats that I forgot to make female workers! I'm going to see if I can dismantle one of those guys and stick some braids on...
This set is available at at my shop--please come browse around!
Flannel Friday is being hosted this week by Laura at Library LaLaLand Check out the round up there, and don't forget to find more amazing flannel board ideas at Pinterest and Facebook and the Flannel Friday Blog!
Who says Christmas has to wait till December? The kids in my classroom have been decorating Gingerbread Houses all summer! I have a feeling they'll enjoy decorating these trees just as much. Librarians, don't discount these--I picture them at a table in your children's section after a story time about winter--alongside a felt board of dreidels, menorahs and gelt perhaps! (Coming soon to a blog near you...)
With all the different shapes and colors, there's just so much patterning, counting and sorting to be done!
I put my CuttleBug to good use with the decorations--I've been using wool blend felt, and even the thinnest dies cut right through it with no problem. This was great news--I was so disappointed that the thin dies wouldn't cut acrylic felt. One more reason to switch to wool blend. It is a bit more expensive, but I really love the quality and the colors are amazing.
This set is sold out in my shop, but lots of other holiday sets are available!
Flannel Friday is being hosted this week by Laura at Library LaLaLand Check out the round up there, and don't forget to find more amazing flannel board ideas at Pinterest and Facebook and the Flannel Friday Blog!
I've always loved the Little White Duck song. I especially like this version of the book, but I only have a small board book copy which is hard to use with a large group, and which I believe is missing some of the pages from the larger copy.
Sometimes I'll use my classroom's old, worn out, too-small felt set of Little White Duck, along with Ivan Ulz's version of the song. But that set is so old, worn out, and too-small that I had to DO something about it!! So, I did this:
Here's a video of these cuties in action:
And here are the lyrics:
There's a little white duck, sitting in the water
A little white duck, doing what he oughter
He took a bite of a lily pad
Flapped his wings and he said, "I'm glad
I'm a little white duck sitting in the water
Quack, quack, quack!"
There's a little green frog swimming in the water
A little green frog, doing what he oughter
He jumped right off of the lily pad
That the little duck bit and he said, "I'm glad
I'm a little green frog swimming in the water
Ribbit, ribbit, ribbit!"
There's a little black bug floating on the water
A little black bug doing what he oughter
He tickled the frog on the lily pad
That the little duck bit and he said, "I'm glad
I'm a little black bug floating on the water
Buzz, buzz, buzz!"
There's a little red snake slithering in the water
A little red snake doing what he oughter
He frightened the duck and the frog so bad
He ate the little bug and he said, "I'm glad
I'm a little red snake laying in the water
Hiss, hiss, hiss!"
Now there's nobody left sitting in the water
Nobody left doing what they oughter
There's nothing left but the lily pad
The duck and the frog ran away, I'm sad
'Cause there's nobody left sitting in the water,
Boo, Hoo, Hoo!
These will be making their debut next week with my summer campers! Can't wait to see what they think :)
Oh, and by the way:
Want to buy this set? You can check it out at my shop right here.
Here's another set for the children to use independently--and another one that's inspired by my thoughts of cooler weather... (Here are my other sets.)
Hungry, anyone? Here are some cookies for you!
Hmmm... Those look a little plain. How about we add some frosting?
That's better, but do we have any sprinkles?
YUMMMY!! They look good enough to eat, don't they? (My cat and I highly discourage this.)
Sometimes around the holidays we make real cookies with the children (ah, sweet, sugary fun!) I think this will be a great set to put out for them to extend that activity, as well as get some conversation going about activities they do at home with their families. And of course these pieces provide perfect opportunities to sort, count, name shapes and colors, and otherwise learn as they play.
This set is sold out in my shop, but lots of other felt goodies are waiting for you.
I'm still adding to my collection of sets that children can use independently. Here's a link to my other sets if you're interested :)
I've got holidays on my mind for some reason! I think the heat that's finally arrived has me longing for cool fall days. Halloween, anyone?
In my three year old classroom we sing various Halloween songs and chants, and I think the children will naturally sing them as they play with these pieces. And of course those children who are a little anxious or fearful about some Halloween-related topics can get a sense of control, as well as time to talk about those fears, as they manipulate this set.
Building on my collection of sets for children to use independently, here are some monsters! (See my other post on Monsters for reasons I like to use them in the classroom.)
These pieces are all interchangeable! Mix and match and make your very own scary, silly, friendly, sad, mad, worried, three-, or one-, or two-eyed monster!
Flannel Friday is being hosted this week by our Fine Flannel Friday Founder Melissa! You would be remiss not to check out Flannel Friday on Pinterest, and can find more FF info on the Flannel Friday Blog!
Well, I looked up the meaning behind the lyrics to this one, and I just won't share that with the kids :) No need to terrorize two- and three-year-olds, I always say... I'll just pretend it's about a little girl growing some lovely flowers.
I'm enjoying making these simple nursery rhymes into flannel sets. I tend to have more sets that work with my older group, but these can be used with all ages.
I'm very disappointed in my cockleshells--the fabric paint is just a mess, and doesn't give the look I was going for at all. But, the kids won't care so I'll deal with it. From far away it's not terrible, and I think Mary and the Pretty Maids make up for it :)
This particular set isn't available for purchase yet, but please stop by my shop where you'll find lots of my flannels for sale!
Flannel Friday is being hosted this week by Jen at Adventures in Storytime. You can find a huge assortment of ideas at Flannel Friday's Pinterest Board, and other goodies at the Flannel Friday Facebook Page and FF blog.
This is going to be a super quick post! Just hoping to make it in on time for Flannel Friday!
I'm planning to do a series of good old nursery rhymes--so here's Hey Diddle Diddle (with pieces unglued and fabric paint still wet! Forgive the messy fiddle--I will likely be redoing him!):
Editing to add a link to a video of these cuties in action!
Flannel Friday is being hosted this week by Kate at Felt Board Magic. You can find a huge assortment of ideas at Flannel Friday's Pinterest Board, and other goodies at the Flannel Friday Facebook Page and FF blog.
Welcome to the Shark Week Flannel Friday Roundup! After my long and somewhat rambling Roundup in June, I'm going for short and sweet this time :) We'll see how I do...Here are this week's contributors:
First up is Lisa at Thrive After Three, with a fintastic (yep) sequel to one of the most creative storytime props I've seen yet: her Shark in the Park flannel set. This time she's back with Shark in the Dark, and it's beautiful! You must check it out, and be sure to watch her video explaining how to use these props. Amazing.
Anyone up for some Fun with Friends at Storytime? Well please head over to check out Kathryn's beautiful set of Five (Sassy!) Little Fish--she even included real shells on her sand!!
Luckily Amy at One Little Librarian made some lovely, sparkly shells for her fish to hide behind, so they'll be safe from any lurking sharks... Her adorable Hide and Seek with Dory and Nemo is perfect for a summer Toddler storytime!
Keith at Felt-tastic Flannelboard Funtime shares an 80s inspired 8-bit style rocket in his unique version of the well-loved Zoom, Zoom, Zoom. And, no, this isn't a shark set--but there are fins on rockets, so it works for me!
Check out the awesome tail feathers on Felt Board Magic's Two Little Blackbirds set! Another classic from Kate, and so fluffy and sweet that we don't even miss the sharp teeth and dorsal fin ;-)
And finally, I'm sharing this set of sharks that can be used as a take on Brown Bear, Brown Bear, or I Went Walking. Hope you enjoy!
I'm hosting Flannel Friday this week! This is the roundup :) And of course you can find a huge assortment of ideas at Flannel Friday's PinterestBoard, and other goodies at the Flannel Friday Facebook Page and FF blog. Check them all out!
So, Shark Week. Hmmmm..... And I'm hosting it! Hmmmmm...... I checked out all the cool ocean sets on Pinterest, and I looked through my own collection thinking I might just post my old Slippery Fish set, or add a shark to my Ocean Set. I even have a laminated clipart set for Three Little Fishies (aka Boop Boop Ditty). But I decided I needed something different. So, I started googling.
I made this set by searching for 'shark size chart'. I really wanted to emphasize the difference in the size of each shark. I printed out one of the million images that came up and traced the sharks I liked. I then enlarged each one about 2x bigger to create my templates and got to work flannelizing them (and the diver!) Add a little fabric paint, and voila!
I haven't decided exactly how I'll use them yet. I'm thinking a take on Sue Williams' I Went Walking... Maybe:
I went diving!
What did you see?
One Blue Shark was swimming by me!
Or perhaps a take on Brown Bear:
Blue Shark, Blue Shark, what do you see?
I see a Tiger Shark looking at me...
Here they are all lined up: diver, blue shark, tiger shark, thresher shark, hammerhead, great white...all atop the huge whale shark!
(Huge whale shark, do do, do do do do, huge whale shark do do, do do do do...)
This particular set isn't for sale, but please check out my shop with many of my other sets:
I'm hosting Flannel Friday this week! Check out the Roundup HERE. And of course you can
find a huge assortment of ideas at Flannel Friday's PinterestBoard, and other goodies at the Flannel Friday Facebook Page and FF
blog. Check
them all out!
