Felt Boards & Storytime Activities

Duck Memory Game
Inspired by a post on the blog Itsy Bitsy Mom, I made this felt memory game for my preschool storytime. This group has been doing a math challenge at the end of storytime for over 6 months, so I made it pretty challenging (9 pairs for an average of 5 kids). Each kids got 3 tries to find a pair before it went on to the next kid and this worked very well.

Pizza Pie

My wonderful coworker made a pizza felt board months ago and I realized it would be perfect for a Silly Stuff storytime recently. Sure enough, it was a hit! The pizza itself was very simple to make and I pulled the other pieces from already existing felt sets.

Pizza Pie Felt Board 

(to the tune of "Wheels on the Bus")

A big pizza pie needs lots of sauce, lots of sauce, lots of sauce

A big pizza pie needs lots of sauce to make the perfect pizza

After the first verse, I asked kids what they liked to put on their pizza (cheese and pepperoni were the popular choices). After those verses, I told them there were some toppings I loved on my pizzas and introduced toppings like bubbles, flowers, and penguins. Be warned- nobody will hear you singing over the shrieks of laughter if you tell kids you like to eat penguins on your pizza.

Hungry Caterpillar Tub

I finished a giant tub of lemonade at a program earlier this year but couldn't bear to throw out the container (#librarianproblems). I finally used it to make a fun little caterpillar themed activity.

Monkey Face Story

I loved the felt version of Monkey Face I saw on the blog Storytiming but, like the original blogger, I thought the picture book itself was a little outdated. It was the first time I've done a felt board at storytime without a book or song to go along with it, but I think it went really well. It meant I could make the order of the animals less strict and kids got a big kick out of it. The pictures below are of the pieces I made, but I used a combination of the words from the blog post above and the original book by Frank Asch.

Five Melting Snowmen

I used the technique found on Miss Sarah's Storytime combined with modified lyrics found here. I'm really looking forward to fitting it into as many storytimes as I can in the winter-

Five little snowmen made out of snow

Five little snowmen standing in a row

Out came the sun and stayed all day

One little snowman melted away!

(Repeat until all the snowmen have "melted")

*The technique is described well at the link listed above, but it is essentially a free-standing felt board with secret holes poked through the cardboard and felt behind the snowmen. Strings glued to the backs of the snowmen feed through the holes and pulling on them makes each snowman "melt". I added small tabs to the ends of each string so they can't be pulled through the holes (and the tabs match the colors on each snowman's hat).

Five Hot Dogs

Rhyme from Jbrary, felt board by me

Adults find this funny, kids like shouting BAM! and I'm always happy when I get to use my gold glitter fabric paint.

Five little hot dogs frying in a pan

The oil gets hot and one goes BAM!

(repeat until none are left)

Five Superheroes

Rhyme from Jbrary, puppets by me

This was a fun addition to my Superhero storytimes. The two year olds weren't super interested beyond being excited to count to five, by the Big Kids loved picking out which superhero was which. I borrowed the rhyme from Jbrary, but the superheroes (and villain) I made from a mish-mash of different versions on the internet. They're all fingerpuppets, but can be used on a board as well:

Five superheroes ready to fly

Here comes the villain- catch that guy!

Our superhero can save the day

Off he flies- up, up, and away!

(repeat until none are left)

Community Helpers

I think this is my favorite felt board I've made so far and kids seem to like it, too. Between me and my coworkers, we've used it in Community Helper storytimes, Things That Go, and Mo Willems storytimes. I'm sure there are ways to use it without the pigeon and expand its uses even more. The idea was originally from SLC Book Boy, but I've tweaked the song and vehicles until they worked for me.

 The pigeon wants to drive a [bus, truck, etc.], drive a [bus], drive a [bus]

The pigeon wants to drive a [bus] let's see if he will today

(continue until you find the pigeon!)

Have You Ever Seen a Turkey
This was a big hit around Thanksgiving and at farm-themed storytimes.

Have you ever seen a turkey, a turkey, a turkey

Have you ever seen a turkey with feathers like this?

With pink ones, and green ones, and purple ones, and brown ones

Have you ever seen a turkey with feathers like this?

Have you ever seen a turkey, a turkey, a turkey

Have you ever seen a turkey with feathers like this?

Like an elephant, like a tiger, like a zebra, like a parrot

Have you ever seen a turkey with feathers like this?

Have you ever seen a turkey, a turkey, a turkey

Have you ever seen a turkey with feathers like this?

With fireworks, and a cow, and tie-dye, and sunflowers

Have you ever seen a turkey with feathers like this?

Wild Animals

I found this song on Let's Play Music and thought it would be fun for storytimes. I didn't use the chorus to make it more of a guessing game.

Down in the jungle where nobody goes

There’s a big fat elephant washing his toes

With a rub-a-dub-dub here and a rub-a-dub-dub there

That’s the way he washes his toes

Down in the jungle where there’s nobody there

There’s a great big lion washing his hair

With a rub-a-dub-dub here and a rub-a-dub-dub there

That’s the way he washes his hair

Down in the jungle if you look in the trees

There’s a silly monkey washing his knees

With a rub-a-dub-dub here and a rub-a-dub-dub there

That’s the way he washes his knees

Down in the jungle if you care to check

There’s a very tall giraffe washing his neck

With a rub-a-dub-dub here and a rub-a-dub-dub there

That’s the way he washes his neck

Down in the jungle if you look underneath

There’s a great big crocodile brushing his teeth

With a rub-a-dub-dub here and a rub-a-dub-dub there

That’s the way she brushes her teeth

Down in the jungle if you care to take a peek

There’s a colorful bird cleaning her beak

With a rub-a-dub-dub here and a rub-a-dub-dub there

That’s the way she cleans her beak