Flannel Board Fun

Summer Reading #7: Elephant Tails

Here we go with the seventh installment of my summer reading ideas for the Tails and Tales theme!

The summer reading program is focusing on animals (tails) and stories (tales) this year. Well, I've got plenty of both types of flannel boards that fit the bill--but I thought it would be fun to add some new songs and movement activities to the mix.

Over the remaining couple of weeks, I'll be adding new videos of these new songs to my YouTube channel. I'll also post them right here on the blog.

You might already know that I love elephants. They are amazing creatures, which is probably why kids love them as much as I do. Of course, they aren't actually quite as colorful as my set, but I do like to make things rainbow-ish ;) Anyway, you also may have seen these beauties in some of my other elephant videos, but I wanted to add some opposite words to the mix.

So here we've got opposites (short and long), a little math and rhyming, and friendship bundled up together. You know: all the good preschooly stuff we love :)

Here are the elephants:

Here is the video:

And here are the lyrics:

Elephant Tails ©Wendy Gerbi

To the tune of Do Your Ears Hang Low

One little elephant marching on her own

Her tails is pretty short, and her trunk is pretty long!

Along comes another one and joins in the fun

She holds her friend's tail and they march along!

Two little elephants marching one by one

Their tails are pretty short, and their trunks are pretty long!

Along comes another one and joins in the fun

He holds his friend's tail and they march along!

…continue, until…

Five little elephants marching one by one.

Their tails are pretty short, and their trunks are pretty long!

There are no more elephants left to join the fun

So they keep holding tails and they march along!

And let's not stop there! If you'd like to make your own elephant set, you can find the pattern right here:

Summer Reading #6: Five Acorns Hidden

Here we go with the sixth installment of my summer reading ideas for the Tails and Tales theme!

Over the remaining couple of weeks, I'll be adding new videos of these new songs to my YouTube channel. I'll also post them right here on the blog.

So, let's sing about squirrels and acorns, shall we? We'll do a little counting, a little rhyming, a little tail-swishing and pretending. Might as well tuck a bunch of early learning into one short song, right? Right. Off we go!

Here are the squirrel and acorns in question:

Here's the video:

And here are the lyrics:

Five Acorns Hidden ©Wendy Gerbi

(to the tune of Five Little Ducks or Over in the Meadow)

Spread out your acorns on the board, and tell the kids we are pretending that they are hidden underground. Have the squirrel dig and search to find each acorn, and then she can either pile them somewhere else, or munch them up happily 😊

Five little acorns hidden in the ground

Along comes a squirrel, to see what can be found.

She swishes her tail, and she sniffs the air

And look, she finds an acorn—right over there!

Four little acorns hidden in the ground

Along comes a squirrel, to see what can be found.

She swishes her tail, and she sniffs the air

And look, she finds an acorn—right over there!

Continue, until….

No little acorns hidden in the ground

Along comes a squirrel, to see what can be found.

She swishes her tail, and she sniffs the air

She found all five acorns so she takes a nap right there!

Oh and hey--if you'd like to make your own squirrel set, the pattern is now available:

Summer Reading #5: Curly (Pig) Tails

Time is flying! This is the fifth installment of my summer reading ideas for the Tails and Tales theme!

Over the next several weeks, I'll be adding new videos of these new songs to my YouTube channel. I'll also post them right here on the blog.

So, this week we're checking out my pigs. These guys have starred in this Muddy Pigs video, and of course in the Clean version, too! But since the theme is Tails, I decided to sing about their cute curly tails. I love to count, and so do kids, so we're counting up to five, and we're counting down, too! And we're rolling our hands, and sometimes we're jumping, and of course we're rhyming too. Want opposites? They're in there, too :)

And in our imaginations, we're getting nice and muddy and then we're getting nice and clean. And please, invite your kids to jump in and out of the mud, and roll their arms vigorously, so you get those little muscles working along with their spongy brains :)

Here are the pigs:

Here are the videos (they are similar, but different enough from each other that I think it's very worthwhile to include both in your piggy repertoire!):

And here are the lyrics:

CurlyTails Count Down ©Wendy Gerbi

To the tune of Over in the Meadow

Five curly tails on 5 cute pigs

Their tails are little but the pigs are BIG!

They roll in the mud, and they muck about…

Then one big pig just jumps right out!

Four curly tails on four cute pigs

The tails are little but the pigs are BIG!

They roll in the mud and they muck about…

Then one big pig just jumps right out!

Continue, until…

No curly tails on no cute pigs

Those tails were little, but the pigs were big!
They rolled in the mud and they mucked about

But now all the pigs have jumped right out!

CurlyTail Count Up ©Wendy Gerbi

To the tune of Miss Polly had a Dolly

One curly tail on one cute pig

Her tail is little, but the pig is big!

She rolls in the mud right up to her chin

Then along comes a friend who jumps right in!

Two curly tails on two cute pigs

Their tails are little, but the pigs are big!

They roll in the mud right up to their chins

Then along comes a friend and he jumps right!

Count up, until…

Five curly tails on five cute pigs,

Their tails are little, but the pigs are big!

They rolled in the mud right up to their chins,

Now there aren’t any pigs left to jump right in!

And hey, if you love these piggies, you can make your own set with this pattern:

Summer Reading #4: Fishy Tails

Wheee--it's the fourth installment of my summer reading ideas for the Tails and Tales theme!

Over the next several weeks, I'll be adding new videos of these new songs to my YouTube channel. I'll also post them right here on the blog.

This week I thought I'd put my ocean friends set to good use. These fishy fellows have been used in several videos already...

But those tails.... We need to sing about the tails! Of course fishy vocabulary (gills, fins, swim, dive...) abounds in this one, and so do color words and motions and rhyming. Ah, kids' songs--I love 'em :)

Here are the fish:

Here's the Fishy Tails video:

and here are the lyrics:

Fishy Tails ©Wendy Gerbi

To the tune of Gray Squirrel.

Blue fish, blue fish, swish your fishy tail! (swish your tail!)

Blue fish, blue fish, swish your fishy tail! (swish it again!)

Use your gills to get some air (raise your arms a bit from your side as you take a breath)

Flap your fins—steer here and there (flap your hands like fins and move about)

Blue fish, blue fish, swish your fishy tail! (swish it!)

Purple whale, purple whale, slap your whaley tail! (slap hands like a big tail!)

Purple whale, purple whale, slap your whaley tail! (again!)

Swim up high to breathe your air (pantomime swimming to surface)

Use your tail—steer here and there (swim around)

Purple whale, purple whale, slap your whaley tail!

Great white shark, great white shark, swish your sharky tail! ( swish your big tail!)

Great white shark, great white shark, swish your sharky tail! (again!)

Lurk around and hunt some fish (dorsal hand/fin up, sharky look)

Give your tail a great big swish!

Great white shark, great white shark, swish your sharky tail!

Tuna fish, tuna fish, swish your tuna tail!

Swim so fast and dive so deep

Swim, swim, swim—you never sleep!

Tuna fish, tuna fish, swish your tuna tail!

Summer Reading #3: Paddle, Paddle, Quack :)

Here we are--#3 in the summer reading series!

Over the next several weeks, I'll be adding new videos of these new songs to my YouTube channel. I'll also post them right here on the blog.

This time, I've got my Five Little Ducks set again. I have sung the Five Little Ducks 857 trillion times over the years, and I don't really get tired of it. There are always ways to mix things up by adding fun voices and names to the ducks, or having them hide in funny places when they go over the hills and far away...

But this time, we're going all out brand new. The ducks will be used more as visuals while we get up and act out the song. Kids who don't want to join in might be happy to just do the motions with their hands. And of course, observers are always welcome--they just might need to get out of the way for the waddling feet and wiggling tails of their neighbors in this active song!

Here are the ducks:

Here is the video:

And here are the lyrics:

Paddle, Paddle, Quack! ©Wendy Gerbi

Spread out your felt ducks on the board and talk a bit about all the parts of the duck you see. Have the kids test out their own feet, tails, wings, and bills. Invite them to stand up and be the ducks! Get active and flap your wings, paddle your feet, dip your bills, etc!

(This one is sung to the tune of All the Fish are Swimming in the Water)

The little ducks’ feet are paddling in the water,

Paddling in the water, paddling in the water.

The little ducks’ feet are paddling in the water…

Paddle, paddle, paddle, paddle, paddle…QUACK!

Their little orange bills are dipping in the water,

Dipping in the water, dipping in the water.

Their little orange bills are dipping in the water…

Dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip…QUACK!

Their little feathered tails are wiggling in the water,

Wiggling in the water, wiggling in the water.

Their little feathered tails are wiggling in the water…

Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, wiggle…QUACK!

Their little yellow wings are flapping in the water,

Flapping in the water, flapping in the water.

Their little yellow wings are flapping in the water…

Flap, flap, flap, flap, flap, flap…QUACK!

The tired little ducks are snuggling with their papa,

Snuggling with their papa, snuggling with their papa…

The tired little duck are snuggling with their papa…

Snuggle, snuggle, snuggle, snuggle, snuggle, snuggle, SNORE!

Summer Reading #2: Dinosaur Tails

Here's the second installment of my ideas for the summer reading program this year. The focus is on animals (tails) and stories (tales). I decided to create new lyrics for some of the felt sets I've used year after year, to mix things up a little and put those tried and true sets to brand new use!

Each week I'll post a new video on my YouTube channel, and right here on the blog, too.

Without further ado: Dinosaur Tails!

Here are the felt cuties:

Here's the video (please excuse the audio in some of the more active parts!):

And here are the lyrics:

Dinosaur Tails ©Wendy Gerbi

Dinosaurs used their tails for all sorts of things. This fingerplay/rhyme helps kids become aware of some of the reasons dinosaurs had tails, and it’s also great for rhyme, rhythm and other early language skills. I find it extra fun to let the kids stand up and act out some parts of the rhyme, and then stomp back to their places when you’re through 😊

One enormous dinosaur— (hold up one finger)

MUCH bigger than a table! (arms wide)

Some dinos needed tails like this (swish your tail😉)

to keep them nice and stable. (arms out to balance)

…along comes another one, and now…

Two enormous dinosaurs (two fingers up)

having lots of fun. (party hands 😊)

Some dinos used tails like this (swish your tail)

to help them quickly run! (run in place)

…along comes another one, and now…

Three enormous dinosaurs (3 fingers up)

hunting in the night. (tip toe sneak)

Some dinos used tails like this (swish your tail)

to help them in a fight. (roar!)

…along comes another one, and now…

Four enormous dinosaurs (4 fingers up)

running all around. (run in place)

Some dinos used tails like this (swish your tail)

to keep them safe and sound. (hug yourself)

…along comes another one, and now…

Five enormous dinosaurs— (5 fingers up)

they all lived in the past. (wiggle those fingers)

Some dinos used tails like this (swish your tail)

to help them swim so fast! (fast swimming motion)

But wait, there's more! You can make your own dino set with the pattern:

Summer Reading #1: The Little Yellow Duck

Here's the first installment of my summer reading ideas for the Tails and Tales theme!

Over the next several weeks, I'll be adding new videos of these new songs to my YouTube channel. I'll also post them right here on the blog.

So we've got ducks this week, and lots of movement! We're using the ducks as a visual to help identify the parts before we get moving :) This song hits on a little math (numbers and color naming), some opposite words (up and down), some good old ducky vocabulary (waddle, bill, tail, etc.) and gets the kids active at the same time. Win, win, win! Quack, quack, quack!

Here's a close up of the ducks in question:

Here's the video of the new song:

And here are the lyrics:

An action song (to the tune of The Grand Old Duke of York)

Oh, the little yellow duck, (stand with arms like wings)

she has two orange feet (waddle your feet)

She flaps her wings, and she wiggles her tail (do that!)

And she catches bugs to eat! (flap your hands like a bill)

And she quacks her bill right up, (quack your bill hands up)

And she wiggles her tail right down, (wiggle your tail toward ground)

She flaps her wings and waddles her feet (do it!)

And then she sits right down! (Sit down!)

(Please do this song over and over until you are out of breath and your quadriceps hurt. It's just the way you should do it ;) )

Five Magical Unicorns

Have I posted about my unicorns here yet? I can't remember! But here they are, starring in a simple little counting and color rhyme.

I like this rhyme because it includes some nice unicorn-related vocabulary words--like prance and trot and all those good unicorn movement words :)

Here are the unicorns:

And here's the video of the Five Magical Unicorns rhyme:

Oh, and if you're looking for more unicorny stuff to add to your day, here's my Pinterest board that might spark some ideas :)

(Oh! And you can make your own unicorns using my pattern, available below!)

Patterns Now Available!

Woo hoo--I'm so excited to be sharing a new project...

I've just released 11 of my sets as

digital download PATTERNS!!

If you're reading this blog, you are probably a teacher, librarian, or homeschooling parent. And you might even fit into the "crafty" segment of one of those groups :) If so--or even if you are brand new to making your own felt board set--these patterns are for you.

I've started the pattern section of my shop with a few simple, a few more intermediate, and a few of my more complex designs.

No matter which pattern you choose, they are all simple to create and come with written and visual instructions.

I've even included video tips and tutorials to make cutting, assembling and gluing your set as easy as possible.