Flannel Friday Round Up (August 10th, 2013)

Hello all! I hope everyone is celebrating the end of their Summer Reading Program, or are very close to doing so. Enjoy these wonderful submissions as you are recovering from all of the craziness!

First, Kathryn from Fun with Friends at Storytime shares an awesome activity for any picnic or food themed storytime.

Lisa at Libraryland shares her flannel of A Hole in the Bottom of the Sea adapted by Jessica Law. It involves number practice, and she included a shark to celebrate Shark Week. Double bonus points!

We have two wonderful Five Green and Speckled Frogs contributions this week. Both seem to be inspired by the lovely Mel over at Mel's desk. A big welcome to a first time poster–Simple Story Time with Puppetry! She shares how to make your own Five Green and Speckled Frogs manipulative for outreach storytimes.

Then, Ms. Anna over at Future Librarian Superhero shows us how to make a super-sized Five Green and Speckled Frogs– and adds numbers!

Thrive After Three shares an original story called Squirel! Swan! It is a hilarious play on Amy Krouse Rosenthal's Duck! Rabbit!

Over at Storytime with Miss Tara and Friends, we learn a new way to use your "Five Little Ducks" flannel with a duck puppet.

Falling Flannelboards is sharing a fabulous resource she found online. She then shows how she plans to incorporate her new count and clip cards in storytime.

Miss Kristie at Let the Wild Rumpus Start shares an amazing flannel rendition of Hey Diddle Diddle. I plan on making this immediately!

Katie over at Story Time Secrets shares an adaptation of A Perfect Nose for Ralph by Jane Zalben. The possibilities with this one are endless.

Piper Loves the Library shares what looks like a wonderful time making mustaches! I think Mustache Mania will definitely be trending soon.

Anne at So Tomorrow shared "Going to the Pet Store". This is a spectacular way to use all of those random puppets you have in your storytime collection.

Wrapping up this week is the fabulous Storytime ABC's blog with another shout out to Shark Week! She shares a great shark finger puppet and even includes her favorite shark song.


What a wonderful week of contributions! Don't forget to check out the Flannel Friday website, Facebook, and Pinterest page.

Linda at Notes from the Story Room is the host next week. Thank you all for visiting and have a good week!

Flannel Friday Placeholder

In case you didn't know– it's Shark Week! To help get you in the mood I've included a hilariously awful clip from the 2002, straight to video, Shark Attack 3: Megladon. Anytime there is a 3 in the movie title, you know you're going to get something awesome.

This is my first time ever hosting Flannel Friday. So I'm very excited to see all of your amazing contributions.

Please leave your Flannel Friday submission in the comments below. Include the url for your post and anything else you want to say. I will have everything up on Friday!

Have a fabulous day!!!

Brooke

Baby Storytime– Baby Chicks

Check out what my typical storytime looks like here. All the words to my songs and rhymes can be found here

Opening Song
Welcome Song

Opening Rhyme/Movement
Hands are Clapping

Early Literacy Tip
Explore different types of books to find what your baby enjoys. Some babies like looking at pictures of real babies. Others really enjoy touch and feel board books. Today, we'll be using a pop-up book and a lift-the-flap book. Your babies preferences will change frequently, so make sure you're stocking up on different books each week!

**During playtime, I always make sure to have a variety of board books for check out and for the babies to play with. This week I pointed out some different types of board books and all of them were gone at the end of the session!**

Shape Game
Today, I hid Charlie Chick under the red circle. You can find out about this game here.

Rhyme/Movement
Itsy-Bitsy Spider

Book
Charlie Chick by Nick Denchfield
This is a great pop-up book to use with little ones. The parents always have a great reaction to the ending too.

Rhyme/Movement
Where is Thumbkin?

Rhyme/Movement
Roly-Poly

Book
Here a Chick, Where a Chick by Suse Macdonald

This is a lift-the-flap book that has a wonderful rhythm to it. The parents started chanting this with me as we got closer to the end.

Rhyme/Movement
Giddy-up, Giddy-up

Rhyme/Movement
Row, Row, Row, Your Boat

Nursery Rhyme
Humpty Dumpty
I decided to repeat my nursery rhymes for 2 weeks in a row. The parents responded a bit more enthusiastically this week so I think I made the right decision. I found this fabulous idea at Storytimes with Moxie. She sadly does not blog anymore, but she has some great flannel pieces posted.

Choral Reading
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr.

Egg Shakers
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
Baa, Baa, Black Sheep 

Rhyme/Movement
Zoom, Zoom, Zoom

Playtime!

Baby Storytime–Cows

I've decided to slightly restructure my baby storytimes this session. The structure I was using worked, but I realized it could definitely be better.

My first big change is that I have decided to theme each of my storytimes. While I love just picking my favorite books of the week for toddlers and preschoolers, I definitely think babies work better on a theme. This gives parents a specific thing to focus on and it makes conversation a little easier.

I also decided to start including more flannel pieces. Each week, I introduce the theme by using the "Shape Game". I also do a nursery rhyme flannel each week. So without further ado...

Check out what my typical storytime looks like here. All the words to my songs and rhymes can be found here

Opening Song
Welcome Song

Opening Rhyme/Movement
Hands are Clapping

Early Literacy Tip
We use repetition a lot in storytime. Each week we will be following the same basic structure and change the books we read. Repetition is a great way to help your baby learn. They will begin to anticipate what comes next and feel empowered.  By the end of the 5 week session you will notice your little one doing the motions to songs and babbling when we are singing. It's an awesome thing to see!

Shape Game!
Today, I hid a cow under the blue square. This game is a fun to introduce your theme and you can find out about it here.

 

Rhyme/Movement
Itsy-Bitsy Spider

Book
Do Cows Meow by Salina Yoon
This book is fabulous. All of her books are fabulous. Seriously, buy them all.

Rhyme/Movement
Row, Row, Row Your Boat 

Rhyme/Movement
Roly-Poly

Book
Farm Animals by Simms Taback
This book has huge fold -out animals in it. The "clues" are extremely easy and it is perfect for babies.

Rhyme/Movement
Giddy-up, Giddy-up

Rhyme/Movement
Pat-A-Cake

Nursery Rhyme
Humpty Dumpty

The parents were not as excited about this as I expected them to be. Perhaps I did a poor explanation of why we are doing nursery rhymes? I will try again next week. I found this fabulous idea at Storytimes with Moxie. She sadly does not blog anymore, but she has some great flannel pieces posted.

Choral Reading
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr.

Egg Shakers
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
Baa, Baa, Black Sheep 

Rhyme/Movement
Zoom, Zoom, Zoom

Playtime!

Flannel Friday – The Shape Game!

This session I decided to start having a theme each week in my baby storytime. What better way to introduce it then with a game?

I think including a theme has made it easier for my parents to focus on the books. Plus, it gives them a sense of what to expect each storytime. I have definitely noticed a difference in the conversations parents are having with their babies about the books.

I have been using this game off and on for over a year, so I have no idea if I stole this from someone or not. All of my bookmarks were lost in the great Google Reader switch. So, if you gave me this great idea, please tell me!

The actual flannel pieces are super easy. All you do is cut out 4 shapes in flannel pieces. Make sure they are different colors and make sure they are big enough to hide things behind.

Each week I pick a theme and then make a piece that relates to it out of flannel.

Our theme was babies!

After our opening song and rhyme, we unveil the shape game. Unveiling is important. It takes away the temptation for kids to pull pieces off as soon as they enter the room. Plus, it makes it more exciting!

Every week I say, "Now it's time for our shape game! Are we ready to see what we're going to read about this week? Let's see if there is anything under the purple star...." I always wait until the last shape to find my item.

The babies have responded really well to this. The first two weeks they were a little unresponsive, but now they clap when I unveil the shape game and make a mad rush to the flannel board. It's adorable. Plus, they're getting exposed to shapes which is a precursor to learning letters!

You can see all the other Flannel Friday Roundup submissions for this week at Future Librarian Superhero!