Snowmen

For our holiday extravaganza, I thought I'd share an old favorite:  "FIVE LITTLE SNOWMEN" and some different ways in which it can be done.  The first is for the flannel board and these pieces are almost 15" tall and 12" wide at the arms.  I made these many years ago out of card stock then laminated them and they're beginning to show wear and tear.

 

FIVE LITTLE SNOWMEN

 

Five little Snowmen standing in a line,

1, 2, 3, 4, 5 so fine.

Melting in the sunshine with a sigh,

"We'll see you next year. Bye bye!"

 

Four little Snowmen standing in a line,

1, 2, 3, 4, 'sh' so fine.

Melting in the sunshine with a sigh,

"We'll see you next year. Bye bye!"

 

Three little Snowmen standing in a line,

1, 2, 3, 'sh', 'sh' so fine.

Melting in the sunshine with a sigh,

"We'll see you next year. Bye bye!"

 

Two little Snowmen standing in a line,

1, 2, 'sh', 'sh', 'sh' so fine.

Melting in the sunshine with a sigh,

"We'll see you next year. Bye bye!"

 

One little Snowman standing in a line,

1, 'sh', 'sh', 'sh', 'sh' so fine.

Melting in the sunshine with a sigh,

"We'll see you next year. Bye bye!"

 

 

This has proved so popular with a toddler group that Miss Sue does it every week in the winter and then switches to ice cream cones for the summer.  If you're someone like me who likes to put the pieces on the board with one rhyme then off with another later, here is another one that you can use:

 

 

BUILDING SNOWMEN

 

Playing outside under the winter sun,

I built a snowman and that made one.

 

One frosty snowman under a sky so blue,

I built another one and that made two.

 

Two frosty snowmen underneath a tree,

I built another one and then there were three.

 

Three frosty snowmen standing near my door,

I built another one and then there were four.

 

Four frosty snowmen looking quite alive,

I built another one and then there were five.

 

 

These really big pieces are great for our big groups and if you have a large flannel board.  But what about smaller groups or taking something with you for a presentation?  Here are some quick, easy & inexpensive ideas.  For a glove puppet, you can use gift tags (I got mine at Dollar Tree)

 

 

 



 

What is nice about these is that by using the hook velcro on the back of the gift tag, you can also use them on a small flannel board.  Another alternative is shaped playing cards--these are also good for small stick puppets.  I shared this idea at a conference and another librarian said that she had playing card collectors in her city who took out the face cards they collected and gave her the rest of the deck.  She thought this would be a great way to use some of those.  (These are still wrapped so the picture is a bit fuzzy)  I found these in dollar bins but Oriental Trading Company also carries shaped cards.  These are stiff and would also work as a clothesline story.

 

Linda at Notes from the Story Room is hosting this week.  Check out her blog to see lots of other ideas you can incorporate into your storytime.  You can also check out Flannel Friday on Pinterest.  Happy Storytiming!

 

Sandwiches plus

What to do with those Thanksgiving leftover?  Make a sandwich. 

Originally (many years ago), I cut sandwich pieces out of felt but I was never really happy with them.  Luckily for me, (also many years ago) Nebraska Educational Television was a co-producer of Reading Rainbow and they gave my library system a stackable, wooden sandwich.  This is sturdy enough that I can hand out pieces to the kids and have them help assemble the sandwich.  I will generally hold onto the olive & put it in place to avoid any choking hazard.

Miss Tara used the felt sandwich from Melissa & Doug which is also an excellent choice, but recently I found some $1 (yep, just a buck) alternatives.  They were both packaged as coasters.

Dollar Tree

 



Target





These are both cardboard, but the Target hamburger set is heavier & glossier.  I think I'm going to put a small piece of the loop velcro on the front of each piece & then the hook on the back so we can build the sandwich on the board.  The rhyme I have used in the past is very adaptable and is done as a song to give the kids a chance to get up and get their piece in place.

LET'S MAKE A SANDWICH

(tune:  The More We Get Together)

 

Let's all make a sandwich,

A sandwich, a sandwich,

Let's all make a sandwich

For our lunch.

 

First we need some bread

Some bread, some bread,

First we need some bread

For our sandwich.

 

Add a slice of swiss cheese,

Swiss cheese, swiss cheese,

Add a slice of swiss cheese'

To our sandwich.

 

Next we'll add some ham....

 

Now let's have some more cheese...

 

Next a slice of tomato...

 

Now we need some lettuce...

 

Then a slice of bread,

Bread, bread,

Then a slice of bread

To top our sandwich.

 

Finish with an olive,

An olive, an olive,

Finish with an olive

Now it's done!

 

Let's all eat our sandwich,

Our sandwich, our sandwich,

Let's all eat our sandwich

For our lunch.

 

 

You can shorten or lengthen for your group and what pieces you have.  I will also change "lunch" to  "picnic" for use during the summer.

 

 

And now for my plus:  Target also had coasters that were donuts (also for $1)!  There's several counting rhymes out there for baked goods so I'm just going to show them to you.

 



 



This week's Flannel Friday can be found at Loons and Quine  Check it out for lots of great ideas.  If you haven't participated and would like to, you can find out more at the Flannel Friday site.  Happy storytime!

Treasure Boxes

I decided to have a storytime on Treasures with pirate treasure only a very small part of it.  I found some small, colored boxes at Hobby Lobby and used small items around my office to create a rhyme.

 

TREASURE BOXES

 

What is in the (yellow) box?

What can it be?

Is it a treasure?

Let's look and see!

 

(repeat with each different color box)

 

A frog is a treasure for a boy named Ben;

An apple is a treasure for a hungry wren.

A bee is a treasure when you want honey for your tea;

And candy is a treasure when you're hungry like me.

A cat is a treasure when you're looking for a friend--

So now we've found our treasures and this is the end.

 

 

I used the following books:

• THE TREASURE CHEST by Dominique Falda
• RUSSELL AND THE LOST TREASURE by Rob Scotton
• TREASURE by Suzanne Bloom
• WHAT A TREASURE! by Jane Hillenbrand

This can easily be adapted to the flannelboard, which would make it easier to store.  These would also work well with a color theme and colors could easily be switched out.

 

Tracey at 1234 More Storytimes is hosting Flannel Friday this week, so check out all the other fun ideas there!

 

    

 



Clothesline Story-Five Fat Turkeys

I like doing clothesline stories as an alternative to flannel boards every so often.  In planning for my November storytimes, I thought I'd do "Five Fat Turkeys" on the clothesline.  I found this song at www.perpetualpreschool.com/thanks_songs.htm which was sent in by Kristen Kroll.

 

 

FIVE FAT TURKEYS

 

This old road is hard and bumpy

Five fat turkeys wild and jumpy

 

Driver, driver, not so jerky

Or you'll make us lose a turkey.

 

 

(spoken)

 

Driver!  Driver!  Stop I say!

One fat turkey got away!

 

 

 

repeat each verse until just one turkey is left and say:

 

Driver!Driver! Stop I say!

Let's save this turkey for Thanksgiving Day!

 

 

 

I'm planning to leave off the last segment & let all my turkeys escape.  One nice thing about the clothesline is that it can be shaken for the "hard and bumpy" & "jerky" parts.

 

I made my turkeys with an XL Ellison die & sandwiched two together with a small piece of red paper between so the turkeys can face either direction.

 

 

 

Since I'm using a clothesline, this song could also be done with 5 small plush turkeys.  I didn't have any on hand, but took this photo to give you an idea of what I mean.

 

 

 

You need a sturdy line (clotheslines are available  at most dollar stories) and some clothespins.  If you don't have anyplace to attach it, draft two parents to be your holders.  When I do "Old MacDonald", I'll hand out beanie babies & let the children come up and pin them on which they love doing.

 

 

I work with our local community college and two students took this idea into their preschool.  It was so popular, they set up a clothesline in the play area and preschoolers could use it for sequencing, sorting or just playing.

 

 

This week's host is Amanda at Trails & Tales where you'll find a special Thanksgiving edition of Flannel Friday.