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!

Preschool Story Time - In the Deep Blue Sea

I love shark story times - I really do!  There are so many books for shark story times, it is crazy!  I expanded my shark story time to include other ocean creatures though because, well, I have two felt sets I wanted to use ONE MORE TIME!

How could a minnow and a shark be best friends?  A wonderful book about friendship in the face of peer pressure.  I just love this book. Fang and Minnow are as different as they could be.  It doesn't matter if everyone thinks they shouldn't be friends, because they know they absolutely should.

I totally forgot I made this for my ocean story time last year.  GAH how CUTE!!!  The finger play is JUST as cute.  I found this on a blog of Story Time Songs, Finger plays and Activities.

Chomp, Chomp, OH NO!!
A Slippery fish, a slippery fish, swimming in the water (make 2 fingers 'swim' like a fish tail)
A slippery fish, a slippery fish CHOMP!!  (make your two hands come together like teeth)

OH NO!!  He's been eaten by 
a jellyfish, a jellyfish, swimming in the water! (hold your hand fingers down and wiggle the fingers)
A jellyfish, a jellyfish...CHOMP!!!   (make your two hands come together like teeth)

OH NO!!  He's been eaten by 
a tuna fish, a tuna fish, swimming in the water! (make one whole hand swim like a fish)
A tuna fish, a tuna fish...CHOMP!!!    (make your two hands come together like teeth)

OH NO!!  He's been eaten by 
a great white shark, a great white shark, swimming in the water! (make a fin on your head and move it side to side)
A great white shark, a great white shark...CHOMP!!!   (make your two hands come together like teeth)

OH NO!!  He's been eaten by 
a big blue whale, a big blue whale, swimming in the water! (put your arms together to make big fish tail motions)
A big blue whale, a big blue whale...CHOMP!!!   (make your two hands come together like teeth)
BURP!!!

This felt set was part of FLANNEL FRIDAY just a few weeks ago.  Check it out HERE.  I love all of the "Old Lady who Swallowed" books.  This one is extra special to me.  I love how they stay true to the pattern and rhythm of the original.  It is very singable.  And the artwork gives a nod to our Native Americans of the North West.  Lovely!

You guessed it!!  This one is based on the Three Little Pigs.  You HAVE to go BIG on this one.  I have great voices I use when reading this book.  Spoiler!  No one dies in the end.  But there is definitely the scary factor with the shark.

Now we come to our special song!  I know perhaps five songs on the ukulele.  With three chords, you can do almost anything though!  I love to change the words to my standards.  I probably found this one online somewhere, but it is SO something I would do, so I did it.  This is to the tune of Wheels on the Bus.  Come on everyone, sing along!!

The fish in the sea go swim, swim, swim.  (make your hand like a fin and swim along!)
Swim, swim, swim,
Swim, swim, swim.
The fish in the sea go swim, swim, swim
All day long  

Continue with:
Sharks....chomp (with two hands, make teeth that bite)
Lobsters....pinch (with two hands, make pincers)
Octopus....wiggle (wiggle your body and arms)
Clam....open and shut (two hands to make a clam)

Do you see it?  There's a shark in the park!!   Silly Timothy Pope.  There's no shark in the park.  Or is there?  The kids really enjoyed seeing the telescope effect of the holes cut through the center of the book.

For my craft, I asked my village friends to borrow these great daubers.  I love them for safe, clean(ish) painting.  The kids love working with them, and the mom's appreciate them.  It is an up front investment, but they last a long time.

We made a fish!  The kids could cut the mouth (which becomes the tail) and decorate any way they wanted.  I just did a few spring colored dots for demonstration, but they could paint stripes or whatever they wanted.  We also attached a string so they could hang their craft later.

I never tire of this theme.  I hope it gives you a good preview for some summer story times.  Thanks for stopping by!!

Flannel Friday - There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Trout

Long before I became a children's librarian, I would go into my children's preschool or kindergarten class and read every alternate version of There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly.  I hung onto many versions of the book.  Now I can say I have flannelized at least a half dozen versions.  This is definitely my favorite one!

This book, by Teri Sloat, is my favorite for many reasons.  I love the artwork, the alternate lyrics stay true to the pattern and form of the original song, and nobody dies!  All of the things she swallows are ocean related, so this can be used for several story time themes.

Here's the whole set.  Placed carefully, all of the creatures fit onto the Old Lady's dress.  The felt design is right out of the book.  I have a tough time with people in felt, but I got close.

You can use this set with or without the Old Lady.  Another option is to use it with the book, but place the sea creatures on the board in order, so as the song progresses, there is a visual as to what creature is next.  This is great for repetition and retelling!

This was one of the (if not THE) first sets I ever made.  I almost forgot I had it!  Now that it is rediscovered, I can't wait to do an ocean or fish theme again soon!

Thank you to Brooke at Reading With Red for hosting Flannel Friday this week!  If you'd like to learn more about Flannel Friday, click here!  Thanks for stopping by!