Flannel Friday: Five Little Apples

Storytimes have only been over for a week, and I already miss them so much that I made a finger puppet set for the summer session. I loved the idea a past commenter had about their five little apples rhyme, but for the life of me I could not make a worm puppet look like anything but something which should never be seen at storytime. So, I switched to a horse:

The song goes:

Five little apples growing in a tree

Teasing Mr. Horse- you can’t catch me!

Along comes Mr. Horse, as quiet as can be

And SNAPS! that apple right out of that tree!

I just used some apple clipart to make the finger puppets and a past hand puppet as a model for the horse. I think it will be a big hit at summer storytimes and I’m also pleased with how much better my puppet making has gotten- I might have to remake my crocodile/snake from the Five Little Monkeys set. Thanks for visiting!

Flannel Friday- 5 Little Flowers

I don't think I've ever been so proud of myself! My Monday morning 3 year old group is very small, but LOVES songs with finger puppets. We've already done 5 Little Fishes and 5 Little Monkeys, but I couldn't find any other examples anybody had done. I knew I wanted a spring-themed set, so I made my own 5 Little Flowers! And, if anybody remembers my crocodile from 5 Little Monkeys, I think you'll agree that my puppet making skills have improved:

I just used a free hand flower shape for the finger puppets and based my hand puppet on a couple ones I've previously made. 

The rhyme goes:

5 little flowers growing in the ground

Teasing Mr. Bumblebee- we can't be found!

Along comes Mr. Bumblebee with a bzzzing sound-

And SNAPS! that flower right out of the ground!

I know it's not scientifically accurate for bees to snap flowers out of the ground, but this group of 3 year olds are just so excited something to snap a finger puppet off their hands that I couldn't resist. Let me know if you have any questions- or any ideas for more finger puppet sets!

Flannel Friday- Five Little Monkeys

My finger puppet version of 5 Little Fishies was such a hit this week, I decided to make a finger puppet version of 5 Little Monkeys. It was really simple to make- I just did a Google image search and found a monkey that looked like it would make a good finger puppet. I didn't use a pattern for my crocodile, which is why it ended up looking like a snake with teeth. As long as it can snap, I don't think kids will mind:

We sing:

Five little monkeys swinging in a tree

Teasing Mr. Crocodile- can't catch me!

Along comes Mr. Crocodile, quiet as can be

And SNAPS! that monkey right out of that tree!

Flannel Friday: Calling All Fire Trucks!

I have a special firefighter-themed story time planned in a few weeks, so I got a head start by making this super fun felt board inspired by a blog post I saw on the Fun with Friends at Storytime blog. The idea is to hand out different firetrucks, repeat a rhyme, and have the kids bring up their firetruck when their color is called. It goes:

Fire! Fire! Emergency!

Someone is in trouble.

Calling all (purple) firetrucks

Come on the double!

Then repeat-

Fire! Fire! Emergency!

Someone is in trouble.

Calling all (red) firetrucks

Come on the double!

And so on until everybody has brought up a firetruck. Depending how many kids end up signing up for this program it might get a little nutty but they always get really into flannels so I'm going to try it no matter what. Happy (almost) Flannel Friday!

Flannel Friday: Ladybug Guessing Game

The kids at my storytimes go so bananas for the Little Mouse guessing game, when I saw Jbrary's ladybug version I knew I had to make my own version. (Their's can be found at http://jbrary.com/flannel-friday-ladybug-ladybug-flannel-game/)

Depending on the group's ages, I might start out by going over the colors. Then I ask what color rug they think the ladybug is under.

If they said yellow, all together we would say "Ladybug, ladybug, are you under the yellow rug?"

"Nope! Not under the yellow rug. What color should we try next? Pink? Ok, all together- ladybug, ladybug, are under the pink rug?"

"There you are! The ladybug was under the pink rug the whole time!"

I really liked this idea because the Little Mouse guessing game was already very popular with my group and this version was no different! Sometimes I bring out Little Mouse twice in the same storytime so it's nice having an alternative. I've found that it's a good way to refocus an antsy group--plus it was very quick to make. 

Flannel Friday: Sharks

I thought I’d dive right in (ha!) to my new blog with a Flannel Friday post. One of my co-workers and I are really into felt board stories and games, so when she made a shark puppet for her ocean themed storytime this Friday, I knew I had to share it!

She made it to go along with the song “5 Little Monkeys Swinging In a Tree” but will be using it as “5 Little Fish Swimming in the Sea”. We're not sure exactly where we heard the re-written lyrics, so if anybody has an answer, we'd love to link to it!

Start out with five fish:

5 little fish swimming in the sea

Teasing Mr, Shark- you can’t catch me!

Along came Mr. Shark, quiet as can be

And snapped that fish right out of the sea!

4 little fish swimming in the sea

Teasing Mr, Shark- you can’t catch me!

Along came Mr. Shark, quiet as can be

And snapped that fish right out of the sea!

[continue counting down until...]

No more fish!

Hopefully kids will like this one--they seem to love any sort of puppet, so it should be a hit!