Five Green (or Red) Peppers--Flannel Friday

     I found these green peppers (as well as red ones) at my local Dollar Tree store.  My preschoolers love actual objects and (when we have a small group) enjoy participating by putting something in or taking it out of a basket.  I made of the following rhyme which can be done with either (or both) sets of peppers for a gardening theme, a color theme, or a vegetable theme.  I also use these peppers as part of my collection of vegetables we use when we tell the story of stone soup.
    For larger groups, I like to make really large cutouts (usually using clip art) that I can put on the flannel board so the kids who like to sit in the back can easily see them.

FIVE GREEN PEPPERS

Five green peppers in a basket by my door,

Ann took one for her pizza and now I have four.

Four green peppers in the basket as you can see,

Joe took one for grilling and now I have three.

Three green peppers in the basket, bright and new,

Sue took one for her relish and now I have two.

Two green peppers in the basket, safe from the sun,

Jack took one to make stew and now I have one.

One green pepper in the basket, now I'm almost done,

I used it in my tossed salad and now there are none.

If I have enough peppers for my group, I'll give one to each child and sing the following song as I move through them with a basket.  I just repeat the song until the peppers are gone.  Of course, you can do this with any item & could make it generic by changing pepper to veggie.

PICK A PEPPER

("Paw Paw Patch" was my inspiration)

Pick a pepper, put it in my basket,

Pick a pepper, put it in my basket,

Pick a pepper, put it in my basket,

Until my basket's full.

Mollie at What Happens in Storytime... is our hostess this week.  Check out her site to see what other fantastic ideas are there.  I know I always find something I want to try out.