Queen Elsa's Crowns

This past week at story time we had a royalty theme.  While looking for a good flannel story to go along with my books I came across an idea for using different colored crowns at Story Time Secrets.  I figured that could be an easy flannel story, have a princess who keeps changing her crown and we could sing to the tune of Mary wore her red dress.  Then, when looking for a princess clip art to use as a guide for my flannel I saw a picture of Queen Elsa and decided to go with that.  Thus 'Queen Elsa's Crowns:'

Queen Elsa wears her BLUE crown, BLUE crown, BLUE crown
Queen Elsa wears her BLUE crown every MONDAY.

I put up the picture of Elsa and had 7 crown options, each a different color (one was many colors and we called it rainbow).  Then, we went through the days of the week and at the start of each new verse I would ask the kids which day came next.  Sometimes we had to start at the beginning, but that helped them both remember and learn.  I also took suggestions for the crown color.  (There were a few little girls who took this responsibility very seriously.)

Of course they LOVED this.  Even the boys were into it - mostly for shouting out the days of the week - and they all were singing along.

Normally I prefer to make my flannels, but I do have to admit using clip art and a laminator made it super easy.  I may have to try a flannel  Elsa though, that would be a fun challenge!

Checkout this week's Flannel Friday round-up at What is Bridget Reading? or visit the Flannel Friday blog for more information including how to participate.  You can also visit the Pinterest page (click the button on your right) for ALL Flannel Friday postings arranged on rather helpful boards.

Flannel Pizza Friday

Friday seems to be a rather popular pizza day, so I feel that it is appropriate to share the flannel pizzas that I used in story time this past week for Flannel (Pizza) Friday.  You can read about the books and songs we used for pizza week here, below are the flanneled parts.

Whilen looking for a flannel story or activity for our pizza theme I came across this fun song posted by Jen in the Library.  It is a pizza song much like Bingo and goes:
There is a treat that's fun to eat 
And Pizza is it's name-o.
P-I-Z-Z-A, P-I-Z-Z-A, P-I-Z-Z-A
And Pizza is it's name-o.

Then, because it looks so yummy, we ate one.  The kids LOVED this.  I held out the flannel slice and we all happily pretend chewed it up.  We went back to the song and replaced the P with a clap and then ate another slice and so on until we had eaten all of the pizza.

When I sang the song with my toddler group we kept saying Pizza, even if the letters said IZZA or ZA etc.  I could not remember how the Bingo song goes (this is what happens when you start to get older and accumulate too many children's songs in your head - just wait until you forget the tune to Twinkle little star!).  I think I have heard Bingo sung both ways, so we just kept going with the full word.  And, if you just go with it like your way is right everyone will follow along and figure maybe they had it wrong :) (Until a 3 year old informs you of your error, I had one in tears over Little Bunny Foo-Foo once and I sang that one 'correctly'.)

The pizza slices are made of flannel and decorated with various toppings.  I made each one with different toppings just for fun.  I did color the white flannel with yellow and brown sharpies to get a better looking 'cheese' layer.  The letters are paper that was laminated with a velcro piece on the back.  I figured this way I could take them off if I ever needed pizza slices for another story.

For play time after story time I wanted to incorporate the pizza theme so I made up some flannel pizzas.  There is crust, sauce, cheese (cut yarn), and various toppings.  I saved a few pizza boxes over the weekend and lined them with some cardstock and let the kids use those to serve and deliver their pizza creations.  They had a great time with it.

You can find the rest of this week's Flannel Friday submissions over at storytime katie and for the best ever collection of flannel ideas check out the Pinterest boards.

Flannel Friday: Halloween with Pete the Cat

So, if you have read this blog in the past you may know that I have a little bit of an obsession with Pete the Cat.  I have made both a Christmas and Valentines version of Pete the Cat stories.  Now, I have a Halloween version.  This story is much like the original Pete the Cat: I love my white shoes by Eric Litwin.  In this story, Pete is off for a night of trick-or-treat fun.

Trick-or-treat featuring Pete!

It was Halloween night so Pete the cat put on his grooviest costume and headed out for trick-or-treat.  As he walked he sang to himself:

‘Trick-or-treat, trick-or-treat.  Can I have something yummy to eat? …Please?’

When all of a sudden,from out from the shadows jumped a scary witch!

Was Pete scared?  Goodness no!  That witch is just a cat you know.  So Pete kept walking.

‘Trick-or-treat, trick-or-treat.  Can I have something yummy to eat? …Please?’

All of a sudden, from out from the shadows jumped a frightening monster!

Was Pete scared?  Goodness no!  That monster is just a cat you know.  So Pete kept walking.

‘Trick-or-treat, trick-or-treat.  Can I have something yummy to eat? …Please?’

All of a sudden, from out from the shadows jumped a creepy mummy!

Was Pete scared?  Goodness no!  That mummy is just a cat you know.  So Pete kept walking.

‘Trick-or-treat, trick-or-treat.  Can I have something yummy to eat? …Please?’

All of a sudden, from out of the shadows jumped a chilling ghost!

Was Pete scared?  Goodness no!  That ghost is just a cat you know.  So Pete kept walking.

‘Trick-or-treat, trick-or-treat.  Can I have something yummy to eat? …Please?’

All of a sudden, from out of the shadows jumped a pumpkin dog!

Was Pete scared?  Well… maybe a little.  But, Pete, he knew just what to do.  He looked at that dog and he said:  BOOOOOO  and Happy Halloween!

You can find the rest of this week's round-up with Katie at storytime katie.  Check out the blog for all things Flannel Friday or stop by the Pinterest boards for all Flannel Friday submissions.  

Fabulous Flannel Round-Up 9.20.13

Here is the Flannel Round-Up for September 20, 2013.  Thanks to all of the contributors this week.  We have a great round-up with several seasonal posts if you are still looking to fill in a few fall themes.

Kathryn of Fun with Friends at Storytime is hitting the trails with her Cowboy themed storytime.

Ms Shaia from Thrive after Three bring us her version of Pete the Cat and his four groovy buttons (always a favorite)!

Christine at Felt Board Ideas shares several felt boards that can be used with a Transportation theme.  You can never have too many ideas for this theme, it is always a popular one.

Miss Kristen from Let the Wild Rumpus Start brings us a Sock matching game with some very adorable socks as well as a flannel for the book Ducks don't wear socks.

Sharon of Rain Makes Applesauce has some beautifully made Birds sitting on a line.

Analisa of The Preschool Procrastinator (love the name of her blog!) has a great poem and flannel board that she made to go along with the book The Kissing Hand.

SLCbookboy has Magic Sneezes for us this week.  I was thinking that magic sneezes sounded fun, but after reading this cute story I may re-think that.  However, sneezing in story time (for the story, not from germs) is always fun.

Miss Tara from Storytime with Miss Tara and Friends gives us an extremely cute, seasonally appropriate story with Ouch!.   Check out some of Miss Tara's other recent posts if you are looking for more ideas for apple themes (as many of us are this time of the year).

Bridget from What is Bridget Reading? shares with us a lovely Fall flannel set that she made inspired by Mel's Desk.

Andrea at Roving Fiddlehead Kidlit takes us on Safari with her African animals.  In addition to her lovely flannel animals she shares a LOT of rhymes to use with them.

Melissa of Mel's Desk shares with us both a Picnic flannel board and an idea for staff story time training.

Anna from Future Librarian Superhero has Apple Bingo!  (The song - not the game.)  I love how she uses some 'eaten' apples.

Shawn at Read, Rhyme, and Sing has a flannel version of Who stole the cookies from the cookie jar!  I love cookies - it was probably me who stole them!

The Library Lady from Story Time with the Library Lady sings a fun song called Everybody know that I love my toes for us with her ukelele this week.  Very cute song that would work with a variety of ages, the kind every storytimer needs several of 'just in case.'

Jane of Piper Loves the Library shares a very detailed tutorial for how to make some adorably stylish Sheep.

And there you have this week's Flannel Round-up.  Check Pinterest for a wonderfully organized collection of ALL Flannel Friday posts.  Visit the Blog for more information about how you can get involved by hosting, contributing, or pinning.

Speaking of getting involved, we are currently looking for round-up hosts for the end of this 2013 and early 2014.  Go here for more information.  Hosting is really easy, basically all you need is a few posts and then do some cutting and pasting to move the links from blog comments.  Some have even used linky tools that cut out the cutting and pasting.

Next week's host is Angela at ValleyStorytime so be sure check in with Angela next week for another installment of Flannel Board fun!

Flannel Friday Placeholder for 9.20.13

I am happy to be hosting the awesome flannel board round-up this week.  If you want to contribute all you need to do is leave a link in the comments and I will compile them into a post that will be ready either late Friday or Saturday am.  Keep an eye on the Flannel Friday Facebook page to know when the round-up is done.

If you are interested in hosting a Flannel round-up we are looking for hosts for later this year.  You can e-mail flannelboardfriday at gmail dot com to express your interest (it is a lot of fun, always exciting to see new ideas - plus you get a ton of blog visits!)

Happy Flanneling!

Flannel Friday: A rainbow horde of dinosaurs

Dinosaurs have been a big part of summer reading this year with the digging theme and all.  So, of course no story time session would be complete without a dinosaur week.  There are so many options for dinosaur books and flannel boards that I had a hard time picking ones to use.

So, as I made my flannel board I tried to keep in mind the multiple possibilities and create pieces that could serve several purposes.  Thus I give you my rainbow horde of dinosaurs!

I made the same dinosaur in all the colors of the rainbow, plus two with rainbow spots just for fun.  (I really had to hold myself back on making some glitter dinos, maybe in the future.)  You can use them with all sorts of dinosaur rhymes and stories.  If you need some ideas just check the Flannel Friday Dinosaur Pinterest Board.

With my Baby Time group we used the dinosaurs for the story 'Dinosaur, dinosaur what do you see?'  (Much like brown bear only the colors of the dinos change so the kids or parents shout out the next color of the dinosaur.  This is a great concept that you can use with many different themes.)

For toddler time we did a story my co-worker passed along from Jean Warren called Dotty the Dinosaur.  I modified the original story some, mostly because I did not want to memorize the rhyme, so my story was a little more like the Chocolate Chip ghost.

So, we have a dinosaur who is green because she eats only green foods:

One day she finds some new food and tries that, but she finds that there is a crazy side effect to eating something not green.  Since turning different colors is fun, she tries a new food each day.

Finally, she decides to eat all of that yummy food a once and...

I have two options for Dotty at the end :)

She likes the fun colors and decides that she is going to keep eating all that yummy (and healthy) food and be a rainbow dinosaur forever.

I had also planned to sing 5 little dinosaurs but we ran out of time.  I found the song that I wanted to use at Recipes for Reading and it goes like 5 little ducks but involves lots of roaring.

You can find this week's round-up with Miss Angie at Mrs. Andre's Library.  All things Flannel Friday can be found at the BLOG and all contributions a pinned to the Pinterest Boards.

Flannel Friday: Construction Trucks

Next week story times will have a construction theme.  I had lots of ideas for things to do, but I ran a bit short on time, so... for a quick and easy flannel board I made a few extra pieces to go with my vehicles set.  This is the set that I had already:

Last time I used it we sang the song 'Little Red Wagon' and after the first round where we bounced up and down in the wagon I brought out different vehicles to bounce in.  To go better with the construction theme I added a bulldozer and a cement mixer.  So, with the dump truck and pick up truck I could do the song again and have 4 verses.  I could also use it with the 'Brown bear' version (like the book Brown bear, brown bear, what do you see? by Bill Martin Jr.) where you say 'blue truck, blue truck, what do you see,' then put up the next one and have the kids yell out the color or type of truck.

If I happen to get ambitious I may try to add a steam roller, bucket truck, or excavator, but we will see what kind of time there is.  I always enjoy when I have something on hand that can be adapted a little to fit a new theme.  And, I like being able to add to sets instead of making whole new ones.  Multi-purpose flannel boards are kind of awesome.

You can find this week's flannel round-up with Jane at Piper Loves the Library.  All things Flannel Friday can be found at the BLOG and you can see all flannel posts past and present on the Pinterest boards.

Flannel Friday: Pop-up Flannel Boards

I am sure that by now you have seen my worm flannel - you know, 'cause I've posted it twice :)  Well, since I did all that work making the foam core board for the wormies to slide along I decided I needed to find other uses for it - and so we have POP-UP flannel boards!  I have actually done something similar before with my butterfly board.  But unlike that one these can be easily changed for whatever you have made to go along with it.

If you want to know how the board itself was made you can read about it here.  To modify the board I made a 'shelf' out of cardboard and toilet paper rolls.  I decorated a cardboard strip with some flannel grass...

I put some grass on the back and the front to add a little 'depth.'

Next I cut some toilet paper rolls in half and taped them on with some heavy duty tape.  I realized after the fact that a paper towel roll would have done nicely, but I did not have one on hand and I am kind of impatient.  Anyway, I line the half rolls up along the back to make a little shelf.

Then I needed something to push it out from the board so I would have room for the flannels in the shelf.  So, more tp rolls were cut and pieces were added to each end.

I added some Velcro dots to each round piece on the end as well as to a few spots along the shelf where it will touch the board.  I forgot to take a picture with the Velcro, but it seems to do its job.

It does wobble a little, I think it will be ok for story time, but I may end up reinforcing it with some binder clips 'just in case.'

In a few weeks I am doing a gardening theme, so I came up with a rhyme about planting seeds and then various things will grow.

One little seed planted in the ground,
Give it lots of sun, and water all around.
Now we have to wait and see,
For a sprout to pop up,
What will it be?

A tree!

We will repeat with 2, 3, 4, and 5 seeds.

Wait a minute... that last guy is a worm (well, looking at it right now he's first, but whatever).  Worms don't grow from seeds!  No, worms do not grow from seeds, but they are very good for the soil and help plants grow by making food that plants can use.  And, sometimes, not all seeds grow.  Every once in awhile you get a dud. 

This week's flannel round-up can be found with Kathryn at Fun with Friends at Storytime.  All things Flannel Friday related can be found at the blog and all Flannel Friday contributions, both past and present can be seen at Pinterest. 

Flannel Round-Up 5.31.13

Happy Friday!  Hopefully most of you are ready for those Summer Reading Programs - ours starts next week!  If you are still looking for some last minute flannel boards (as I often am - or I see a better idea from you wonderful people and scramble to make a new flannel board) there are several options that would work with the Dig into Reading theme and others that are just plain fun.

This week we have:

Bridget from What is Bridget Reading shares with us her beautifully crocheted flowers to go along with the many 5 little flowers rhymes.

Jane at Piper Loves the Library is trying not to stress over sharks in the ocean.  She alleviates some of it with her adorable and not-too-menacing SHARK!

Kathryn of Fun with Friends at Storytime is cooling off and having a hopping good time with her colorful frogs and a pool.

Kay at Storytime ABC's left me wanting more with her unfinished Pigeon post.  What can't Pigoen do?!  The answer to that question is coming  The final version will be up Saturday afternoon (6.1.13) so check back for more fun with Kay and Pigeon.

Leah from Time for Storytime has a colorful version of 5 little rockets.  While most of us are 'digging in' for summer reading, Leah is headed Up, Up and Away.

l.thacker of with kiddos @ the library shares a bright and colorful a version of Down by the bay based on Raffi's rendition of the song.

Lisa in Libraryland is growing a Blooming Garden as she shares her find from the Mailbox, a magazine that is made for teachers and often used by those of us in libraryland.

Lucy from In the Children's Room reminds us that the Cicadas are coming and makes a cicada that is far cuter than the real thing to help explain the upcoming barage our young friends.  Plus, she sends him away, which would be handy when the real ones drop by. 

Meagan at Miss Meg's Storytime is teasing Mr. Alligator this week with her adorably colorful monkeys.

Ms. Shaia from Thrive after Three is singing with the dinosaurs as she asks Red brontosaurus, red brontosaurus, what do you see?

Now that this is done I better get to work on those last minute flannels!  Be sure to check the Pinterest boards for all of these and a gazillion past flannel boards.  If you have questions or are just looking for more information about Flannel Friday you can check the official blog.  And, you can always look for us on facebook (the picture is the colorful Flannel Friday logo) to join in conversations about flannel and other library and early literacy stuff.

Next week's host is Lisa at Storytime with the Library Lady, so be sure to tune in there next Friday.  Have a great week!

Flannel Friday place holder for 5.31

It's almost Friday and that means Flannel Time!  If you have a flannel board or related post to share this week please leave a link in the comments below.  I will compile them and post the final draft either late Friday evening or on Saturday morning.
Enjoy!

Flannel Friday: An Ode to Flannel

Oh Flannel Friday, how I love you so!

Fridays were so boring, but not any more.

I had thought flannel was just for clothes,

but I see how well in stories it goes.

Each and every Friday morn, 

Flannel ideas are being born!

Story time's no longer boring.

Kids and parents are not snoring.

I read on Friday with such glee,

Great story time possibilities!

And all the bloggers, oh so wise,

Have moved story time standards up so high!

Sorry for the cheesy poem, but I felt that if this was truly an 'ode' I needed to actually write one :)  In honor of Flannel Friday turning 2 we have been asked to talk about what Flannel Friday means to us, has benefitted our work, etc.

Here is 'Flannel Me'

First off, I will tell you about how I came to Flannel Friday.  I guess it was bout 2 years ago that I ran across a few blogs run by children's librarians.  Ironically, I found them while looking for flannel story ideas to use with my toddler story times.  One of the blogs I found was Miss Mary Liberry, and I just loved her ideas and voice so much that I returned frequently.  I began noticing posts for Flannel Friday so I did some blog hopping and discovered some really wonderful ideas being shared by some wonderfully creative people.  I was hooked.

A picture from my first Flannel Friday post: Five Red Apples

It took me a little while to finally join in, but when I did I was warmly welcomed to the Flannel world.  Everyone is very encouraging and helpful providing not only a great community but also an amazing story time resource.  Many times I have found a great idea that sparked an entire story time plan.  I now make sure that anyone I meet who works with young children hears about the wonderful thing that is Flannel Friday.

My most viewed post to date: Pete the Cat Christmas Extravaganza

Flannel Friday has encouraged me to work to make story time as exciting and innovative as I can.  Even though many times posts are ideas that have been used before there are new twists that help make them current or more interesting than before.

One of my favorite creations based on another blogger's Flannel Friday post

For anyone who is working with young children the Flannel Friday blog and Pinterest page are amazing resources.  I truly applaud the work of all those pinners who have made the pinboards so navigable.

Happy 2nd Birthday Flannel Friday!!!  I hope to see many more years of excellent story time ideas!
  

Flannel Friday: Dig into Reading

So this week Flannel Friday is gearing up for Summer with a special Summer Reading theme - for those of us who use it the theme this year is Dig into Reading.  For the rest of you, lots of worms and dirt this week!

I have a semi-triple post, one rhyme done two ways and a craft possibility.  The first one is a tube-prop story that I first saw used at Mel's Desk with her 5 Green and Speckled Frogs.  Of course, instead of frogs I've got worms (any Dumb and Dumber fans out there?)

I modified the song One elephant went out to play and it goes:

1 little worm went out to play
On a very rainy day.
Splashing in puddles was so much fun
That he called for another little worm to come:
HEEYYYYY WORMYYYYY!!!!!

Repeat until there are 5 worms:

5 little worms went out to play
On a very rainy day.
But then out came the big bright sun

And the 5 little worms had to end their fun.

Then, if you want to send your worms back down into the ground instead of lying bloated in puddles:

5 little worms came out to play
On a very sunny day.
As the bright sun shone all around,
1 little worm squirmed underground.

I took a paper towel roll and cut 5 strips of paper, each 2 inches wide and as tall as a piece of construction paper when turned to a landscape position.  I added grass to one side:

Then I cut worms.  I folded the paper in half before cutting my worms so  that I got 2 of each color.  That way they could hang off of the end a little but be the same shape.  I then gave them to my craft expert to decorate:

That is when I realized, this would be a rather simple, fun craft.  If you pre-cut the paper strips kids could really do most of the rest.  I love crafts that can be played with or used to tell a story or rhyme that we used during story time.  At any rate, my assistant had fun.

To go with the same song or rhymes, I wanted to make a board where the worms could slide up and down. So, I got a foam core board  and cut it to the size that I wanted.  Then, I drew vertical lines every three inches (this was determined by the size of my board and the fact that I wanted 5 slits).  I also drew 2 horizontal lines, each 3 inches in from the edge.  The horizontal lines were to know where to begin and end my slits.

I then used an exacto knife and a ruler to cut my slits.  I had to make 2 passes with the knife to cut through the board.  Thankfully, we have some lovely tile floors in our house that were unaffected by my knife.  I kept the ruler in place for the second pass to ensure a clean, straight cut.

Next, I adhered the flannel to the foam board with an adhesive spray.  I chose a stiff flannel sheet to add a little stiffness to the whole board.  Luckily the craft store put the foam board in a really big bag that I could use to protect the floor.  The spray worked great and made a nice flat bond.

Once the adhesive dried I pushed the knife through the slits so that they went through the flannel as well.

Next i made some worms.  They are rather plain right now, I will probably jazz them up some, but I was looking to get the construction down first.  I attached a brad to a small piece of foam that matched each worm and then glued it to the back of the worm so that the head of the brad was sandwiched between the pieces of foam.

The narrow part of the brad fits nicely into the slits of the board.  I had hoped to glue the flat ends of another brad to the one attached to the worm to give a little more of a handle, but that did not work out.  I was trying to super glue them together, but merely ended up with white paint super glued to my finger.

Regardless, the worms slide up and down on the board, there is just less of a handle to hold.  Hopefully I will find a fix for that, I am thinking maybe I can hot glue the brad to a popsicle stick or something.

 I would also like to add some grass across the middle so that there is not such a harsh dirt/sky.  My plan for that is to use extra foam core to lift a strip about an inch or so across the middle.

You can find the complete round-up this week with Lisa at Libraryland.  All things Flannel Friday are located at the Flannel Friday blog and the Pinterest page has a great visual display of all posts sorted by theme.