Flannel Friday - I Took My Frog to the Library

This week's Flannel Friday is inspired by another Flannel Friday post from the blog, Narrating Tales of Preschool Storytime.  I loved the finger puppets she used to tell the book I Took My Frog to the Library by Eric A. Kimmel.  I decided immediately that I needed my own flannel version of this super cute story.  I also decided to change up the wording just a little bit to make it more toddler friendly.

I Took My Frog to the Library

By Eric A. Kimmel

I took my frog to the library, but he jumped on the checkout desk and scared the librarian!

I took my chicken to the library, but she laid an egg by the computers.

I took my pelican to the library, but he hid a book in his beak!

I took my snake to the library, but she shed her skin all over the picture books!

I took my giraffe to the library, but he tried to read over everybody's shoulder.

I took my hyena to the library, but he laughed so hard during story time that nobody could hear the story!

I took my elephant to the library.  She was very well behaved.  She stacked her books neatly.  She asked the librarian questions.  She listened to the story and laughed in all the right places.

But my elephant is very big!  SO BIG!

She wrecked the library!  The bookshelves fell over!

The librarian said, "You are always welcome at the library, but please leave your animals at home."

So whenever I go to the library...

my frog stays home,

my chicken stays home,

my pelican stays home,

my snake stays home,

my giraffe stays home,

my hyena stays home,

and my elephant reads to them!

This flannel set was really easy to make.  I traced clip art from the Internet and drew in the faces and other features.  To save time, I used a combination of permanent markers and paint to add details.  I think I may make a library to add to this set at a later date.  I also plan on telling this story not reading it from the book (especially since I made changes to the wording).  I am really excited to use it in story time.  I hope the little ones like it!

Thank you to Storytime Katie for hosting Flannel Friday this week!  Please check out her blog HERE.  If you would like more information on Flannel Friday or how you can participate, click HERE!  Thanks for stopping by!

Preschool Story Time - Frogs!

What a great theme this is!  I had no trouble with this theme because books are plentiful, rhymes are easy to find, and craft ideas abound.  If you need a story time in a hurry, this is a great theme to grab!  Remember to see my story time flow under my Preschool Story Time tab to see the dances and other activities we do weekly!

Books we used:

Stick by Steve Breen
If you haven't seen this book, its quite adorable.  Stick is a frog who seems to get stuck to a bunch of different things as he explores his world.  There are so few words in this book, but there are a lot of pages with multiple panels with no words at all.  We read this book so slowly so everyone in the room could see all of the pictures.  This was probably my mistake of story time.  My room was full and it took quite a while to get through this book because everyone was spread out.  For the second and third readings, it was much easier because my crowds were smaller.  Not a great book for large story times, but the kids really liked the funny situations of the book.
 

 

 The Big Wide-Mouthed Frog - Ana Martin Larranaga

One of my favorite stories to tell, I decided to make felts based on Ana Martin Larranaga's book of the same name.  Click to see my Flannel Friday post on this flannel set.  This was the highlight of my story time.  I taught the Frog's refrain before we started: "I'm a Big Wide Mouthed Frog and I eat flies!" I also slowed this story down so the kids could participate.  One of my goals of story time is to show the kids how to retell stories at home with their own expression and props.  I gave them copies of the text, had LOTS of copies of the book on hand for borrowing, and our craft was their prop.  The kids adored this story and so did the moms.  I even got a hearty applause for my efforts.

 

Too Many Frogs by Ann and John Hasset

Nana Quimby is trying to bake a cake, but she keeps hearing a thump thump on her cellar door!  When she opens it, she is overrun with TOO MANY FROGS!  What will Nana Quimby do?  And will she ever finish that cake?  Any book with a repetitive refrain will have the kids joining in, and that is just what happened with this book.   The kids loved it!

 

The Croaky Pokey- By Ethan Long 

This was my wildcard book - the extra one I always have on hand if the kids are really enjoying story time.  Well, in three story times this week, I did the book each time.  They loved singing it, they loved dancing it, and they loved the surprise ending!  It's the Croaky Pokey!  Enough said!

Finger Plays and Songs this week:

We sang only one verse of 5 Green and Speckled Frogs, because we were getting short on time.  I gave a handout to the kids with the 5 frogs and a log for them to use as flannel boards, coloring, or singing at home.

A fingerplay I used is used from www.prekinders.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/frog-fingerplay.pdf‎

Croak Said the Frog (make croaking sound)

With his golden eyes (put fists up to eyes)

Sitting on a lily pad

Catching Flies (grab air with hand)

I have a sticky tongue (with index finger, make a darting motion)

It's as FAST as can be!

I catch mosquitoes

1-2-3 (count with fingers).

Craft:

I was so happy to find this PDF from Teacher's friend with 46 different paper bag puppets!

cbolding.wikispaces.com/file/view/Alphabet+puppets.pdf

 As I have mentioned, I like to give kids the tools to retell stories at home using props.  This was probably not as creative as a craft as I would have liked to use, but hearing the kids walk out of the room with their puppets and saying "I am the WIDE MOUTHED FROG and I EAT FLIES" absolutely made my whole week. 

Last thoughts:

One book I maybe should have used in place of Stick was A Frog Thing by Eric Drachman.  I went back and forth between the two books.  I know I will do this theme again and when I do, I will be trying out A Frog Thing for sure.

I could not have been happier with this theme overall.  In story time today, the kids were shouting "READ IT AGAIN!" which was really heartwarming.  Its true that kids can tell when you are comfortable and love what you are reading.  It shines through to them, so keep picking books and themes that you love and are excited about, and the kids will want you to 'read it again' too!

Flannel Friday - Big Wide-Mouthed Frog

This is our first Flannel Friday Post.  I just couldn't wait to show off my flannels!

I love the story of the Big Wide-Mouthed Frog.  We have lots of versions in the library, but I wanted to create a flannel story where I could just tell the story.  I really like Ana Martin Larranaga's version with the Australian animals, so I created flannels based on her art.  When I saw that we had only one copy of this book in the library left, and it was a much-loved, taped-up copy, I knew I had to work fast!

They are large felts so placement is off:  The pieces are made by photocopying the pages of the book (I love the illustrations!) and sizing as needed.  I traced the pieces on felt, then went over with puffy paint.  Some pieces got embellishment with other colors of paint.  I have to say that this is my largest set, so you will want to be aware of the size of your board (or travel board in some cases) before making it to size.  But I also work with large groups so the size is needed.  One more note, some of the creatures are reversed so they always face the same way.  This was to reduce the number of frogs I had to make.

Here's the Wide Mouthed Frog as he meets Kangaroo and Emu. 

Then the Koala and Possum....I made one tree where the koala could sit on one branch, then remove her and add the possum family branch. The possum is connected to the branch by yarn legs and tail.

And finally, the frog with his teenie, puckered mouth as he meets the crocodile!

Miss Kristie used my flannel board today for a visiting preschool.  Next week is when I get to use my set for the first time in my Frog themed story time, I am so excited to try it out!  I hope to get a lot of use from this story.

-Miss Sue