Jack and Jill

My goal this year is to post a new set weekly!  I'm not off to a great start, but hopefully Jack and Jill will be the start of good things for 2018...  Here they are, ready to be shared at a baby, toddler, or preschool story time.  I love good old fashioned nursery rhymes, and this was a fun one to make.

I'm thinking most people already know the rhyme, but just in case...

Jack and Jill

Jack and Jill went up the hill

To fetch a pail of water.

Jack fell down, 

And broke his crown, 

and Jill came tumbling after!

If you have a bucket in your possession, this is a fun one to act out, too!  Paper crowns are a quick accessory to add.  A towel or blanket on the floor can be the hill...

This is a nice one to add if you're doing a nursery rhyme story time, or just need something fast and quick between stories.

Flannel Friday is being hosted this week by Jessica!  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 :)

And I hope you'll come take a look at my other sets at my shop, right here:  Flannel Board Fun :)

Little Miss Muffet (2)

I’m going through some of my sets that were clip art based, and I’m updating them to use my own designs so I can sell them legally :)  Here’s my new set, and a link to My old set for more programming ideas.

Melissa is hosting Flannel Friday this week!  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 :)

And hey--come on over and take a look at my shop:  Flannel Board Fun!

Visit my shop!

Hop on over to FlannelBoardFun !  
The soft, colorful felt board sets there are perfect for children, preschool teachers, and children's librarians. My Travel Mats make it possible (and fun) to use the sets on the go--in the car, on a plane, and anywhere with the dreaded long wait! You'll find many of the sets I've featured here on the blog.  For custom requests, please send me a message by clicking the Contact button under my shop owner picture.

FlannelBoardFun Felt Sets and Travel Mats are classroom tested and teacher-made & -approved. Each item you order is carefully prepared and packaged to arrive safely and quickly, so children can dig right in as soon as possible!

Enjoy your visit!

My Upcoming Holiday Shows!

*If you're not in the Pittsburgh area, my online shop is always open* 

FlannelBoardFun

 I'm so excited to participate in my first holiday craft show season!  Here are some of the amazing events where I'll be selling my sets--if you are in the Pittsburgh area, stop by to see me and many other local artists.  (If you're not in the 'burgh, shop local wherever you are!)

I Made it Northway Block

I Made it For the Holidays

Shop the Burgh Small Biz Saturday

Handmade Arcade

The Three Billy Goats Gruff

How many times have I started making this set?  Oh, about a million.  Finally, I've come up with a pattern I like!  I'm adding this to my tiny collection of good old fashioned stories, which currently includes Goldilocks and The Three Pigs.  I plan to come up with some more over the next few months--stay tuned!

                                  

Click here to buy this set!

Flannel Friday is being hosted this week by Jen at Adventures in Storytime! 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 Mouse: Hanukkah Variation

I'm a big fan of the Little Mouse game and all its variations!  Proof?  Check out this old post.  I have a Hanukkah set that I've also posted about before, and wanted a new way to incorporate it into story times. Enter a Little Mouse variation! (I like this way of exposing kids to other cultures in a developmentally appropriate way.)

Check out this lovely set for sale

By using the rhyme...

Little __________, Little ___________

Playing Hide and Seek...

Are you behind the __________?

Let's take a peek!

...you can come up with almost endless variations, all while exposing the children to Hanukkah related vocabulary words.  Examples:

Hanukkah gelt, Hanukkah gelt, 

Playing hide and seek...

Are you behind the Menorah?

Let's take a peek!

Little latke, little latke, 

Playing hide and seek...

Are you behind the Nun dreidel?

Let's take a peek!

(Obviously you'll need to brush up on your Hanukkah knowledge if you don't have much of it (that was me before I started teaching in a school with a pretty high Jewish population!))  Great opportunity for you to learn along with the kids, if that's the case.

Flannel Friday is being hosted this week by Jen!  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 :)  And of course, swing by my shop when you get a chance:  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!

Five Little Gingerbread Men

I have a gingerbread man die cut, and it's been sitting around collecting a bit of dust lately.  So rather than bake actual cookies last night, I made some felt gingerbread.  Yummy :)

These guys are no longer available for sale, but I've got lots more right here!

There are millions of gingerbread poems, songs, and stories available online!  Here's the one I plan to use (stolen mostly from One Little Librarian) with these sticky fellows:

Five Little Gingerbread Men

Five little gingerbread men in a row (Hold up five fingers, waving back & forth)

__________ wants to eat one!

No, no, no! (shake finger at________ puppet))

But they look so sweet from head to toe (touch head then toes)

Crunch, munch...uh oh! (slap thighs on crunch, clap hands on munch, then puppet eats a gingerbread man right off the flannel board!!)

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

Little Worm

I picked up some leaf dies this past week, and thought I'd put them to good use by making another variation of Little Mouse.  You can see the rest of them here.

I'm not selling these, but you can find lots of my other sets at my shop!

So, the rhyme goes like this:

Little Worm, Little Worm

Playing Hide and Seek...

Are you behind the dark brown leaf?

Let's take a peek!

All the instructions and explanation of this game are in the link above--enjoy!

Shawn is hosting the roundup this week. For more FF fun and information, please visit the blog, Facebook page, or Pinterest page.  And share these links with your co-librarians or co-teachers. The more we share, the better!

Old MacDonald, Part Three!

What is her obsession with Old MacDonald, you might be asking yourself.  I'm sort of asking myself the same thing!  This set isn't that different than my second set,  This one, though, is just right for Toddlers!  None of the pieces are small enough to be considered choking hazards, so this set is perfect for the little ones to use independently if they are so inclined.

I'm selling these cuties in my shop--come check it out!

As you can see, these pieces are pretty darn huge, so this is a great set to use with a large crowd where visibility might be an issue.  And of course you're not limited to just singing Old MacDonald with these pieces.  Adapt songs like The Wheels on the Bus (The Chicken on the Farm goes cluck, cluck, cluck...)  Make up stories using all or some of the animals...  Play rhyming games (I'm thinking of an animal, and her name rhymes with that thing we wear outside in cold weather...)

Here are some farm themed books that might work well for you, too:

Clip Clop by Nicola Smee

Hurry, Hurry by Eve Bunting

How Kind  and I Kissed the Baby by Mary Murphy

Old MacDonald Had a Farm by Jane Cabrera

Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise Brown

Mrs. Wishy Washy by Joy Cowley

Spots, Feathers and Curly Tails by Nancy Tafuri

Rosie’s Walk by Pat Hutchins

Bridget is hosting the roundup this week.  You can also find tons of ideas at Flannel Friday's Pinterest Pages, the Flannel Friday Blog, and Flannel Friday's Facebook page.  And come on over to my shop to check out lots more sets for sale:  Flannel Board Fun!