Flannel Friday - Mr. Lou's Mustache

I wanted to read the fabulous Book O'Beards by Donald Lemke in a family story time, and needed a fun rhyme to go with it.

Thank you, Literary Hoots, for this hilarious and fun felt rhyme! The kiddos loved it so much that we had to do it twice!

Mr. Lou's Mustache

There once was a man named Mr. Lou,
He had a mustache that grew and GREW!

 

On Monday it was as tiny as his nose.

 

By Tuesday, on and on it grows!

 

By Wednesday, it stretches as far as his ears!

 

By Thursday, it looks as if it has grown for years!

 

But on Friday, Mr. Lou caught the flu,
Aaah, aaah, aaaaaahhhhchooooo!

 

On the last "achoo," I pulled the mustaches off his face and threw them at the kids!  They shrieked with delight!

 

The wording is a little awkward, but they are so interested in what's happening to Mr. Lou that I don't think anyone really notices. 

 

This was really fun and I can see us using this felt set and rhyme over and over again in future story times!

 

Thanks for stopping by!

Thanks to Mel's Desk for hosting the roundup this week!  Flannel Friday is for anyone interested in finding and sharing great flannel board ideas!  You can learn more about Flannel Friday and how to participate here.

Flannel Friday - A Cowboy Dresses Himself With Care

I just posted my Horsie Story Time, but I had to contribute my Cowboy to Flannel Friday!  Click HERE for the full story time and my best craft EVER!  But for now....

Dress The Cowboy

I found the following poem on THIS WEBSITE.  Actually there are tons of resources out there for a Western story time, and I really recommend this site.  Seeing that they suggested to make the pieces out of felt, that is exactly what I did.  This is in my EARLY days of felting as you can see by my use of markers instead of puffy paint.  I suggest you read the poem aloud and wait for responses from the group.  They will love participating!

A Cowboy Dresses Himself with Care

A Cowboy Dresses Himself with Care.

He starts with long, red ______(UNDERWEAR).

Out in the desert, you don't want to get hurt, 

So the cowboy wears a strong wool ______(SHIRT).

Deserts and prairies are the cowboy's scenes;

To protect his legs, he wears sturdy blue______(JEANS).

The cowboy bent, and ran, and knelt.

To keep his pants up, he wore a leather ______(BELT).

The coyote howls, the old owl hoots.

On his feet, he wears leather ______(BOOTS).

It isn't yellow, so it's not a banana;

Around his neck, he wears a soft ______(BANDANA).

A cowboy is a cowboy, and that is that!

On top of his head, he wore a ten-gallon ______(HAT).

He's all dressed from head to feet,

And now our cowboy can't be beat! 

And here he is dressed! I let the kids each have a piece and let them place the pieces on the cowboy when we got to their piece.  They loved it.  I even left the pieces up for after story time play.

I think kids love to play dress up, and felt is a great medium.  I want to thank Brooke from Reading With Red for hosting Flannel Friday this week.   If you need more information on how you can get involved with the Flannel Friday community, CLICK HERE. Or you can find Flannel Friday on their Facebook page, by following #FlannelStorytime on Twitter or on Pinterest!

Thanks for stopping by!

Flannel Friday - Little White Rabbit

I LOVE Kevin Henkes' Little White Rabbit! 

What a beautiful picture book to share with little ones in the Spring, especially around Easter time.  The simple text makes it easy enough for babies and toddlers, and the imaginative story makes it a magical read for preschoolers, too!

I decided to make a felt set to make the book more accessible for little ones. Here's my take on it:

Little white rabbit hopped along...

As he hopped through the grass, he wondered what it would be like to be green...

When he hopped by the trees, he wondered what it would be like to be tall...

When he hopped by a rock, he wondered what it would be like to not be able to move...

When he hopped under the butterflies, he wondered what it would be like to fly...

I mostly traced Henkes' illustrations out of the book, since I'm not exactly an artist! I outlined the felt with dark green Sharpie marker, and glued little pink felt noses to the bunnies.  The butterflies are also colored with Sharpies, with green felt bodies.

These bunnies will be a great addition to my "Hoppy Easter" Baby Story Time this week! Happy Flannel Friday!

Thanks to Miss Meg's Storytime for hosting the round-up this week!  Flannel Friday is for anyone interested in finding and sharing great flannel board ideas!  You can learn more about Flannel Friday and how to participate here.

Flannel Friday - Easter and Spring Resources

True to form, March came in like a lion here in Ohio.  Just because there is snow on the ground (which I am happy to report is MELTING!) doesn't mean that children's librarians everywhere aren't preparing for their spring story times.  I realized the other day that some of the felts we are featuring today have not had their own Flannel Friday Day, so I thought I would group them together with some of our Flannel Friday Favorites for our own roundup of Easter and Spring themed Flannel Friday Spectacular. Phew!

Planting a Rainbow - Lois Ehert 

Way back when Miss Kristie was new to the village, I asked ever so kindly if she would make this set for me, and I am so glad I did.  She did such a great job with them.  They are gorgeous!  The art is right out of the book Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert.  I haven't blogged that story time yet, but that doesn't mean this set isn't used in a variety of other themes!

Miss Kristie wrote an entire Flannel Friday post on this felt set with close-ups on each of the flowers which you can find HERE.

Miss Kristen used them in her Baby Story Time - Spring theme.  You can CLICK HERE for the rest of the theme.

Baby Story Time Game - Where is duckie?

Miss Kristen used this sweet little guessing game in her baby story time.  She says she borrowed the idea from Mel's Desk.  I think the eggs and duckie would work perfect for any spring or Easter story time!  Click HERE for more information on this activity.

Jelly Bean Countdown

I just used this OH-so-simple set in my Easter story time.  There is a cute little poem you can use with or without the set.  But of course, who doesn't love using felt sets?  Click HERE for this rhyme.

There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Chick

If you like singing along to Lucille Colandro's books, here is another felt set for you!  I like to let the participants put the pieces on the board, and leave them up for exploration after story time.

There was an Old Lady who Swallowed a Clover

Speaking of Lucille Colandro, here is another one!  While not technically a spring book, I thought I would include this one because it can be used in March. St. Patrick's Day is just around the corner!  Click HERE for this story time.

Owen's Marshmallow Chick

This one is all about Easter!  Miss Kristen adapted Kevin Henke's sweet little board book into a felt board story (ok, they're cardstock, not felt!) for babies and toddlers. Check out her post from last Easter here.

Too Many Bunnies!

Too Many Bunnies - by Matt Novak, is a super-fun and funny book that is just-too-small to use in story time.  Have no fear, it was easy to recreate larger and in felt!  Click HERE to see how this story works.

Little White Rabbit

Kevin Henke's book Little White Rabbit is perfect for baby and toddler story time.  Miss Kristen immortalized his book in felt!  Click HERE for this felt set.

Duck!  Rabbit!

Rabbits are great for an Easter or spring theme.  If your preschool group is a little older, give Duck! Rabbit!  a try!  Click HERE for more.

Ducks

But wait!!  Library Village has a ton of duck resources.  Click HERE for a number of sets and ideas.

Blackbirds!

Blackbird finger puppets?  Yes please!  Click HERE for more!

Nursery Rhymes

This Itsy Bitsy Spider felt set is perfect for spring story time!  Click HERE for more on this set and on the Bugs Toddler Story Time.

More Nursery Rhymes

What says Easter and spring more than a little lamb?  We have a bunch of lamb and sheep resources including this set for three nursery rhymes - The one above is Mary had a Little Lamb!  Click HERE for more!

Ten Fluffy Chicks

Miss Kristen used this in Baby Story Time.  Ten Fluffy Chicks poem with felt set.  Click HERE for more.


PHEW I think I got them all!  If not, you can always search our website by our labels on the right.  Use your imagination and you will always have plenty of resources for your story times!  And don't forget to check out our colleague's blogs in our blog roll.  We all share each others ideas and tweak them for our story times.  We all work together, encourage and support each other.  We three librarians know we would never have blogged or become so addicted to felt if it wasn't for some seasoned professionals sharing their passion for their profession.  We hope you enjoyed this roundup.

Special THANKS to Laura from Library Lalaland  for hosting Flannel Friday this week.  If you need more information on how you can get involved with the Flannel Friday community, CLICK HERE. Or you can find Flannel Friday on their Facebook page, by following #FlannelStorytime on Twitter or on Pinterest!

Thanks for stopping by!

Flannel Friday Guest Post Palooza - Pete The Cat

Flannel Friday is 4 years old!  WHOOT!  To celebrate, seasoned bloggers such as Library Village were paired with guest bloggers who wanted to give blogging and Flannel Friday a try.  Miss Sue was paired with Mary Eames, an early childhood specialist and stay-at-home mom who wanted to share a multitude of ways she uses Pete the Cat with her adorable sons.  She sent along a ton of great photos, ideas, and resources.  I bet you NEVER thought about SHOELACES on Pete's shoes!  Read on for more about that!  Without further ado, here is Mary:

Pete the Cat Activities

My sons LOVE Pete the Cat! We have definitely hoped on the bandwagon with this one. I have an Early Childhood Education degree and a degree as an Intervention Specialist. Currently though, I stay home with my 3 year old son and 16 month old son. In order to keep us busy, we do lots of FELT activities! So I knew as we rented all these books from the library, that we just HAD to make some felt-board activities with Pete!

My felt board is a piece of big green felt hooked to a metal drip tray that is attached to our playroom door. The inspiration for the magnet board part was found at:

http://www.babble.com/toddler/20-repurposed-projects-for-toddlers-diy-ready-made/

But the idea for the green felt board part was my own idea.

 We also have a small one that I made by taking the glass out of an 8x10 picture frame and putting blue felt into it. This is our “on the go” one or when we feel like sitting at the table or on the couch to do a felt activity.

These are our felt pieces for Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes by Eric Litwin.

Pete the Cat loves his brand new white shoes so much, he walks down the street singing this song, “I love my white shoes, I love my white shoes, I love my white shoes...”

Oh No! (My son loves yelling this part out). Pete stepped in a large pile of (I let my son tell me the fruit here) STRAWBERRIES! What color did they turn his shoes? (I let him tell me the color) Red! But did Pete cry? (My son will yell out) GOODNESS NO! He kept walking along and singing....

Once again- he’s walking and singing his song....Sing it now, inserting the word “Red.”

Repeat all steps again, except it’s a pile of BLUEBERRIES! So they turn his shoes BLUE.

Now after you’ve done, “Did Pete cry? Goodness no!” He keeps on walking...just now with BLUE shoes. Until....he steps in a pile of MUD this time, turning the shoes BROWN. So repeat all steps using these words and props.

So continue the song about the BROWN shoes, same as before. Until he steps in a BUCKET OF WATER! Now his shoes are (back to white because it washes off all the red, blue and brown) WET! He sings, “I love my wet shoes, I love my wet shoes, I love my wet shoes...”

Story ends with, “The moral of the story is- no matter what you step in, keep walking along and singing your song, because it’s all good.”

My son enjoyed being able to put the shoes on Pete the Cat, along with putting the items on the board for Pete to “step in.”

In order to keep add a “mathematical element” to this, I put one “shoelace” (aka a black marker line) on the first shoe, two on the second, etc. It also helps me to keep them in piles to minimize the shoes from getting lost.

These are our felt pieces for Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons by Eric Litwin:

This is Pete with just his shirt on, to show what it looks like. I made Pete separate from the shirt, so that I could reuse him with other stories. The shirt is also 2 separate pieces, so it could make it as close to the story as possible when the buttons pop off.

So the story talks about how much Pete puts on his favorite shirt with four big, colorful, round, groovy buttons. He loves them so much he sings this song, “My buttons, my buttons, my four groovy buttons. My buttons, my buttons, my four groovy buttons.”

But then POP! A button pops off (I pull it off dramatically) and rolls away. How many are left? (I have my son count the number left and tell me) 3! 4-1=3. Did Pete cry? My son yells- Goodness no! Buttons come and buttons go! He kept on singing his song....

My belly button is hard to see because my son keeps pulling it off. I think I’m going to put a new one on using white puffy paint instead of a small piece of white felt. It will last much longer!

We also found an AMAZING extension activity on http://www.heidisongs.com/blog/2012/08/a-pete-cat-freebie-and-brand-new.html that has free printables of “Pete the Cat’s” with blank shirts and numbers next to them. The activity called for velcro and paper buttons, but I put them in a binder with page protectors and gave my son large real buttons to put on the shirts. He loves to count the buttons out and put them on each cat. I have to admit I love it too! I used buttons I had, but I know Wal-Mart carries buttons that look just like the ones in the book. This can work one-on-one as shown here, or for a group!

GREAT JOB Mary!  It was my pleasure to host you this week.  Big thanks to Mollie Kay from What Happens In Storytime for hosting Flannel Friday this week. Mollie has a great blog which you can read (and make sure to follow!) by CLICKING HERE!  If you would like to know more about Flannel Friday, read their blog by CLICKING HERE.  You can also follow Flannel Friday on Pinterest and Facebook (just search for Flannel Friday), or on Twitter with the hashtag #FlannelStorytime

I really enjoyed hosting this week.  If you are a gentle reader who would like to share your ideas but do not blog, I would be happy to host you sometime.  Just let one of us at the Library Village know you are in need of a space.

For everyone else, I hope you enjoyed all of the guest posts this week.  Shine on everyone!
Thanks for stopping by!

Flannel Friday Series - Felts3Ways. Fish

I was really excited by the Ohio Library Council's Convention and Expo last October.  The Library Village took part in the Convention by presenting felt board techniques in a poster session.  My piece of the presentation involved showing how to use ONE felt set in each of the three age groups (or 4 in some cases) we serve:  Baby, Toddler, Preschool (and young school age) Story Times.  This technique saves time and money for your department by sharing resources.

The next installment in my series Felts 3 Ways (a-la Iron Chef....oh dear, it might be sushi this time) is on the topic of Fish.  This set will work great for lots of themes such as fish, sharks, ocean, summer, and fractured fairy tales.

First, here is the whole set.  The artwork could not be easier as I traced the pieces right out of the book The Three Little Fish and the Big Bad Shark by Will Grace, Ken Geist, and Julie Gorton.  The felts were outlined in a light marker but then embellished with puffy paint.

For Baby Story Time, we can play peek-a-boo with the baby fish as the mommy fish looks for her baby.  Using the three houses, one baby and the mama fish, we can play hide and seek.  Where is the baby fish?  Oh I see her!  She is in the sandcastle!

Next up for Toddlers, we have a fun rhyme based on 5 Little Monkeys sitting in a Tree:

5 Little Fish swimming in the sea
Teasing Mr Shark "Can't catch me!"
Along comes Mr Shark....SNAP!
Oh No!  Where is he?

And then for Preschool - of course we would use the whole story of the Three Little Fish and the Big Bad Shark.

And the best part is when the shark tries to break the ship house but all of his teeth fall out and he is stuck eating seaweed salad for dinner!

Thanks to Bridget from What is Bridget Reading for hosting Flannel Friday this week.  What is Flannel Friday you might say?  Well, Check out the Flannel Friday BLOG for more.  Or you can check out Flannel Friday on Facebook, and even on Pinterest!  You can also follow Flannel Friday on Twitter using the Hashtag #Flannelstorytime.

Thanks for stopping by!

Flannel Friday - AlphaGator

I have seen this done many different ways.  I forgot I even had it, actually! This little story is called AlphaGator and I am not sure of where the original comes from.

Alpha-Gator
There once was an Alpha-Gator, who absolutely adored the alphabet.  He ate the alphabet and had sweet alphabet dreams all night long.
On Monday, he ate the letters A,B,C,D,E, and F.  Then he closed his eyes to get some sleep, but the pointy part of A kept poking him in the tummy and he couldn't sleep a wink all night long!
On Tuesday, he ate the letters G,H,I,J, and K.  Then he closed his eyes to get some sleep but the letters H and I made a word and it kept saying "HI-HI-HI-HI" and he couldn't sleep a wink all night long!
On Wednesday, he ate the letters L,M,N,O, and P.  Then he closed his eyes to get some sleep but the O kept rolling around and around in his tummy and he couldn't sleep a wink all night long!
On Thursday, he ate the letters Q,R,S,T,U, and V.  Then he closed his eyes to get some sleep but the S kept saying SSSSSSSSS and playing 'snake' in his tummy and he couldn't sleep a wink all night long!
On Friday, he ate the letters W,X,Y, and Z. Then he closed his eyes to get some sleep.  He dreamed of sweet ZZZZZZZZZZZs all night long!
See ya later, Alpha-Gator!

My gator gives off a glare because of the quality of the paper I used.  He is created from 12x12 scrapbook card stock - with an extension to his tail.  His belly, however is actually made of felt!  This is so the letters can be placed in his belly while you are reading the rhyme.
The letters shown here are foam letters, but I think next time I use this rhyme, it might be worth my time to trace these and cut them out in felt because the sticker backing to these letters made re-use difficult...that is why only some of the letters are shown here.

Now where did I use this?  I had it as part of several story times.  My Letter of the Month story time for A used this, as well as my Alligator story time and my Back to School story time.  I am sure I can find more uses for him too.  You don't always need to stay perfectly on theme.  If you have a hole in your story time, don't try to force something in there for the sake of the theme.  Pull out some favorites.  The kids will appreciate the familiarity and love it when they can anticipate what is coming.

Thanks for stopping by!  See ya later!