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.

Fruits & Vegetables--Flannel Friday

Several years ago my library purchased a flannel board set of fruits, vegetables, and nuts.  There were no rhymes or stories to go with it.  I took some of the most familiar pieces and wrote a piggyback song to use with them.

While the song can get a big long if you use all the pieces what has worked well is when I choose the ones that work for a specific theme:  just the fruits, just items from the garden, sweet treats, etc.

The title came about because I first used it with a theme of "Big Eaters" with books like THE GLERP by David McPhail.

The Big Eater's Song

(Tune:  "Mulberry Bush")

Chorus:

These are the things we like to eat,                                       

Like to eat, like to eat.                                                        

These are the things we like to eat,                                     

'cause we are big eaters.                                                      

                                                                                            

                                                                                            

Strawberries so ripe and red,

Ripe and red, ripe and red.                                                  

Strawberries so ripe and red,                                               

Will satisfy our tummies.                                                    

Chorus                                                                                

                                                                                            

Watermelon so sweet and wet,

Sweet and wet, sweet and wet.                                           

Watermelon so sweet and wet,

Will satisfy our sweet tooth.

Chorus

Pears that are plump and ripe,

Plump and ripe, plump and ripe.

Pears that are plump and ripe,

Picked from the tree.

Chorus

Oranges so big and juicy,

Big and juicy, big and juicy.

Oranges so big and juicy,

Make us wipe our chins.

Chorus

Pineapples from far away,

Far away, far away.

Pineapples from far away,

Are always such a treat.

Chorus

Peas that are green and round,

Green and round, green and round.

Peas that are green and round

Make us use a spoon.

Chorus

Pumpkins that are big and fat,

Big and fat, big and fat.

Pumpkins that are big and fat

Go in a pumpkin pie.

Chorus

Carrots that are long and orange,

Long and orange, long and orange.

Carrots that are long and orange,

That we love to crunch.

Chorus

Green beans so long and thin,

Long and thin, long and thin.

Green beans so long and thin,

From our veggie garden.

Chorus

Nuts with shells we like to crack,

Like to crack, like to crack.

Nuts with shells we like to crack,

For the nuts inside.

Chorus

If I was writing this today, I would probably change the last line of the chorus to " 'Cause they're good for us." or something along that line.  As I said, I adapt this to my theme & I encourage you to do the same.  Our set also had an eggplant, onion, peach, beets, and a few others in it and verses could be added for those or other fruits, berries, or nuts you might have.  This would also work with props such as plastic fruits and vegetables. 

Erin at Falling Flannelboards is our hostess this week.  If you'd like more information on Flannel Friday, visit their website and learn how you can get involved.





Ah-Choo!

     A few months ago, I did a preschool storytime on SNEEZES.  I was looking for all kinds of things that make us sneeze--allergies, colds, pollen, etc.  We had the pansy die from Ellison and I came up with this rhyme to use with the die cuts.  I cut them out of felt, and made separate stems and flowers and only glued the blue blossom to a stem.

A FLOWER FOR YOU

Out in the garden the flowers grew

Each with a different color and hue.

I picked the red one just for you,

Then took a sniff and went "Ah-choo!"

Away the head of the flower flew.

(This continues substituting the colors purple, yellow, orange, pink for red until only blue is left)

Out in the garden where the flowers grew,

All that was left was a flower that was blue.

I picked that flower just for you

But I didn't sniff and go "Ah-choo!"

Now I can give you the flower that is blue.