Down at the Bayou

I was looking back and found this post that I never finished.  I did a whole summer with themes where we "visited" different locales and this was my trip down South.

The books I used were:
BEDTIME AT THE SWAMP by Kristyn Crow
THE CAJUN CORNBREAD BOY by Dianne de Las Casas
THERE WAS AN OL' CAJUN by Deborah Ousley Kadair
BAYOU LULLABY by Kathi Appelt

While working on this theme, I found Dianne de Las Casas' website and her printable finger puppets for THE CAJUN CORNBREAD BOY.  I made copies with the website information so my kids could color and cut out their finger puppets at home and share the story with their parents.



For my flannelboard stories, I did "Five Green and Speckled Frogs" and "Five Hungry Alligators" (found as Five Hungry Crocodiles)

My fingerplays/action rhymes follow:

CHOMP, CHOMP WENT THE LITTLE GREEN ALLIGATOR

Chomp, chomp,
Went the little green alligator. (arms straight, clap hands together twice, then wiggle side to side)

Chomp, chomp,
Went the little green gator. (repeat actions)

Chomp, chomp,
Went the little green alligator. (repeat actions)

And its tail went, (clap palms together sideways, swish arms side to side)
Swish, swish, swish.




HUNGRY LITTLE ALLIGATOR


Hungry little alligator (clap hands together like an alligator snout)
Looking for its lunch. (wiggle hands side to side)

Sees a little fish,
Then munch, munch, munch! (arms straight, clap hands three times)


These two rhymes were found in SING! PLAY! CREATE! HANDS-ON-LEARNING FOR 3-TO 7-YEAR-OLDS by Lisa Boston

ALLIGATOR, ALLIGATOR, TURN AROUND

Alligator, alligator, turn around.
Alligator, alligator, touch the ground.
Alligator, alligator, dance on your toes.
Alligator, alligator, touch your nose.
Alligator, alligator, jump up now.
Alligator, alligator, take a bow.
Alligator, alligator, snap your jaws.
Alligator, alligator, show your claws.
Alligator, alligator, stomp your feet.
Alligator, alligator, take a seat.



ALLIGATORS IN THE SWAMP
(tune: London Bridge)

Alligators in the swamp,
In the swamp, in the swamp.
Alligators in the swamp,
Living in the water.

Alligators have sharp teeth,
Have sharp teeth, have sharp teeth.
Alligators have sharp teeth,
And chomp down very hard.

Alligators are very green,
Very green, very green.
Alligators are very green,
And good swimmers too.

Model T ride

My oldest brother and I took a Model T ride down a dirt road & I wanted to share the sights and sounds of it.

Fruits & Vegetables

I love all the sharing that goes on with Flannel Fridays and how ideas will move & morph between storytellers.  Since June is National Fresh Fruits & Vegetables Month, I decided to use that as my storytime theme this week.  I found "Picking Up the Fruit" at Mollie's blog--What Happens In Storytime and decided to adapt it for my groups.  She did it as a flannelboard (which is how we'll present it in Toddler Time), but I wanted to do a prop song for my preschoolers.  I used Melissa & Doug plastic fruit and vegetable sets as my props.  I wasn't able to get a picture up yet of my basket of fruit, but I hope to post it later.

 

Rather than doing just one fruit/vegetable at a time, I used three different ones for each refrain and changed the location to what fit my choices best  (farmer's market for items found there or grocery store for shipped in items)  The song can also be arranged to fit an orchard, a garden or a fruit stand.

PICKIN' UP FRUITS & VEGETABLES

(sing to "The Paw Paw Patch")

 

 

Pickin' up apples and puttin' 'em in my basket

Pickin' up carrots and puttin' 'em in my basket

Pickin' up pears and puttin' 'em in my basket

Way down yonder at the farmer's market.

 



 

 

 

 

\

For resources on Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Month, visit the USDA's website.  I found links to some great fact sheets and bulletin board materials. 

This week's Flannel Friday is being hosted by Amy at Catch the Possibilities 

 

Flag Day/Fourth of July

Last year I was inspired by Mel's post in 2011 on her Red, White, and Blue storytime.  I made a flannel board based on hers and then added two more of my own. 

I found small American flags 3 for $1 at Target last year & wanted to use them somehow.  (I've seen them there again this year if you want to try this).  Sue, who does our Toddler Time, likes the rhyme but her toddlers get  distracted with two many props so she's going to use some flag room decorations for a flannel board..  I found those at Dollar Tree last year.

 FIVE FLAGS

 

I hung my flag high outside in the sun,

It waved in the breeze as I counted one.

 

While my flag so proudly flew in a sky of blue,

Ann raised another & then there were two.

 

Two flags flying over the land of the free,

When Joe raised another & then there were three.

 

Three proud flags in the breeze did soar,

Tami raised another & then there were four.

 

Four flags fluttering as my friends arrive,

Bob raised another & then there were five.

 

Five flags whipping about as the wind blew,

And now we salute the red, white, and blue.

 

 

(the underlined names can be changed to children you choose to come up front & raise the flags with you or have place a flag cut out on the flannel board)

 

 

I always think of picnics when I think of the Fourth and what goes better with a picnic than ice cream?  I used patterns from one of the Carson-Dellosa pattern books to make my ice cream cones.I made more than one set so I could have several children building cones on the board at one time.

 

 

 

FOURTH OF JULY TREAT

 

We need a special treat for Independence Day.

Would something cool and sweet be okay?

 

Let's start with a munchy, crunchy cone,

Though it's not very special when it's all alone.

 

Red raspberry ice cream will add some zest,

Because it's so refreshing, some like it the best.

 

Vanilla white is what I would pick,

But we have to wait to take a lick.

 

Top it off with bright blueberry

For a treat that's colorful and merry.

 

So here it is--red, white, and blue;

A holiday treat for me and you.

 

The books I used were PIPPA AT THE PARADE by Karen Roosa, MY AMERICA by Jan Spivey Gilchrist & Ashley Bryan, HATS OFF FOR THE FOURTH OF JULY by Harriet Ziefert, and I also had available some of the patriotic song picture books that Ann Owen illustrated that include YOU'RE A GRAND OLD FLAG, YANKEE DOODLE, & WHEN JOHNNY COMES MARCHING HOME.  There's a new title out that I want to use this year, RED, WHITE, AND BOOM! by Lee Wardlaw. 

 

Lisa at Story Time With the Library Lady is our hostess this week for Flannel Friday.

 

 

 

 



Treetop friends

A few months ago, I found a dog toy that was a plush tree stump with a chipmunk, a mouse & a hedgehog inside.  I knew I wanted to use it as a storytime prop but wasn't sure how until we were planning an Earth Day/Arbor Day storytime. 

 

 

We added some beanie babies we already had at the library & tucked all the creatures into the tree.

 

 

Another storyteller & I discussed our ideas and this was the finished project:

 

 

WHO IS HIDING IN THE TREE?

(tune: Frere Jacques)

 

 

Who is hiding

 

Who is hiding

In the tree

 

In the tree

 

I spy a hedgehog

 

I spy a hedgehog

 

Yes, indeed.

 

Yes, indeed.

 

 

Our other entries were mouse, chipmunk, ladybug, snake, frog, butterfly, lizard--basically anything you might find in a tree & have handy.

 

Our kids love "finding" hidden things during storytimes and this was a really big hit.  Another popular activity was "Five Bottles of Juice" that I found on What Happens in Storytime... and adapted a little bit.  We had five empty plastic bottles & a blue recycle tub that we used while we sang:

Five bottles of juice that we drank,

Five bottles of juice.

Put one in the recycle bin.

Four bottles of juice that we drank.

 

We continued until all the bottles were recycled.  Then you could end with:

 

 

No bottles of juice that we drank,

No bottles of juice.

They all are in the recycle bin,

All those bottles of juice that we drank.

 

Happy storytelling and for more ideas visit Andrea who is hosting Flannel Friday for April 26 on her blog, RovingFiddlehead KidLit  Check it out.  I always find something interesting when I do.  For more on Flannel Friday visit its homepage.

Dr. Seuss Storytime

Each year we do a Dr. Seuss program prior to Read Across America Day for our toddlers, preschoolers, and families.  Since we have a Cat in the Hat costume that we use, these tend to draw a crowd so I'm always looking for something a little different for the flannelboard that isn't too small and is colorful.  This year I found some Dr. Seuss fish cut outs at our local Michael's store.  There were 12 of each color in the packet.  I then found a rhyme "So Many Fishes in the Deep Blue Sea" at King County Library System's Tell Me A Story.  I adapted it to:

So Many Fish In the Deep Blue Sea

From Nany Stewart  (then adapted by Sandy Wallick)

 

There are so many fish in the deep blue sea.

What color fish do you see?

(Hold up one colored fish.)

 

Blue, blue, this one's blue. This little fish is blue

(Repeat first refrain)

 

Red, red, these are red. These two fish are red.

(Repeat first refrain)

 

Yellow, yellow, these are yellow. These three fish are yellow.

 

There are so many fish in the deep blue sea.

Can you count the fish with me?

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.

 

 

I laminated 3 of each color so I can change the color order if I want.  I added this to the flannelboard I made using Mel Depper's idea of GREEN EGGS (NO HAM) and fingerplays from Storytimes Online to some of my favorite Dr. Seuss books and plush Seuss creatures that I've collected (most recently from Kohl's).

Flannel Friday is being hosted by Storytime ABC's this week, so check out that site for lots of great ideas.

Pickup Trucks

My library added the big book LITTLE BLUE TRUCK LEADS THE WAY by Alice Schertle to our storytime collection recently.  I began planning a storytime around it and discovered that there were enough good pickup truck books to narrow my theme to that.  The next thing I needed was to find some flannel boards.  I found a great rhyme, "Five in the Truck" at King County Library System's Fingerplays, Rhymes and Songs page.  I also found a simple truck pattern at Honeybunch Boutique that was meant for quilters but which worked well for a flannel board pattern once I enlarged it.

 

 

The rhyme (based on "Five in the Bed") starts with Five in the Truck and the little hen clucked, "Move over, move over".  Instead of using five chickens, I used five wooden farm animals I had and just added some velcro to the back.  This fits in very well with the books FARMER DALE'S RED PICKUP TRUCK by Lisa Wheeler and MINERVA LOUISE AND THE RED TRUCK by Janet Morgan Stoeke. 

 

I used the same pattern, just not as big, to make several trucks in various colors.

 

 

 

I wrote two rhymes that I could use with these, one of which needs a duck and some other creatures that will fit behind the trucks.  This first rhyme can be used with different colored trucks or numbered trucks.

 

STUCK BEHIND THE TRUCK

 

My friend duck

Is hidden behind a truck.

 

Is my friend duck

Behind the _____ truck?

 

If no:

No, that's not duck

Behind the _____truck.

That's.....

 

If yes:

Yes, that's duck

Behind the ______truck!

But if duck is behind the _____truck

Who's behind the _____truck?

 

 

 

These trucks were made from card stock so I can also attach them to sticks for stick puppets if I want and have kids help with the second rhyme/song.

 

MY OLD TRUCK

tune:  "Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush"

 

 

My old blue truck goes bumping along, bumping along, bumping along.

My old blue truck goes bumping along, all the way to town.

 

 

Different colors & descriptive words can replace the underlined ones.  For example, bumping can become bouncing, zipping, speeding, rolling, cruising, or crawling.

 

 

For an action song, I adapted "Wheels on the Bus" to "Wheels on the Truck" and adjusted verses accordingly.

 



 

 



Buffalo's Tail

Several weeks ago, I did a buffalo theme and finally used this flannel board by Teresa Chiv which is from the 2008 Texas Summer Reading Manual.  It also includes patterns and begins:

 

A buffalo’s tail is hard to find.

His tail is little, but not so his behind.

I have five tails; one might be his.

Will you help me decide which it is?

 

 

 

 

You start with the buffalo and then put up the tail mentioned (notice the pig tail on him in the first picture) then the correct animal comes on and gets his tail.  Check out the website for the complete story.    I printed the patterns onto color card stock then cut out and laminated.  (For the skunk I made a copy on regular white paper and trimmed out what was white and glued to the black).  It was a quick and easy flannel board that the kids loved.  If you're into the correct "verbiage", you can explain like I did, that although we call them "buffalo" they're really "bison".  This was important to me because COWGIRL ROSIE AND HER FIVE BABY BISON by Stephen Gulbis was one of our stories.

 

 

Cate at Storytiming is our Flannel Friday hostess this week so check out her site for inspiration (I always find something I can use).  For more information about Flannel Friday, visit the homepage where you'll find information on what's coming up, how to post, and the archives.  Happy Storytelling!



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.  



 

 

 

 

Moose and Muffins for Flannel Friday

When I did a moose storytime last year, one of the books I had to use was IF YOU GIVE A MOOSE A MUFFIN by Laura Numeroff.  Luckily, I found the perfect flannelboard idea to go with it at

 

 

 

www.makinglearningfun.com under their theme for the book.  They gave the rhyme (but said little muffins) and a pattern for a moose headband.  With my group, I used a moose puppet and made BIG muffins from photos I found by googling muffins.

 

TEN BIG MUFFINS

 

 

Ten big muffins on the window sill.

Moose came along and ate his fill.

Now how many muffins are on the window sill?

 

____ big muffins on the window sill.

Moose came along and ate his fill.

Now how many muffins are on the window sill?

 

(Continue)

 

____ big muffin(s) on the window sill.

Moose came along and ate his fill.

Now no more muffins are on the window sill.

 

 

I asked a child each time how many muffins he thought moose would eat so this verse can go very slowly or very fast.  This would also be fun to do with props if you had them & could also be changed--for example to Cat & Cupcakes as a companion for IF YOU GIVE A CAT A CUPCAKE.  Don't you just love something that can be adapted quickly to fit your needs?

 

 

Sharon is our host this week for Flannel Friday at RAIN MAKES APPLESAUCE.  If you'd like to get involved, visit Flannel Friday's home at Flannel Friday.

Monster Mania

I love to do monsters in the fall since we don't do a specific Halloween theme.  Last year, I found blank balsa wood masks at one of the fabric stores for $1 each & just had to have them.

 

As you can see, I also had fun coloring them all in.  I used them in a family storytime and had five parents come up to be my monsters and follow as I read the following rhyme:

 

FIVE BIG MONSTERS ON A DARK, DARK NIGHT

 

Five big monsters on a dark, dark night

 

Made a very, very spooky sight.

 

The first one danced on his tippy toes

 

The second one tumbled and bumped his nose.

 

The third one jumped high up in the air.

 

The fourth one walked like a fuzzy, fuzzy bear.

 

The fifth one sang a Monster song.

 

Five big monsters--played the whole night long.

 

 

What was really fun was when some of the parents took their role very seriously--falling down & singing a made up monster song.  The kids enjoyed seeing their adults acting silly and helping out the storyteller.

 

 

I also had some holographic monsters that I found at the dollar store; I just had to trim "Happy Halloween" off the bottom.  These I can use on the flannel board when the masks don't work as well with my group. 

 

 

 

Hallmark put out a picture book with sound effects of "Monster Mash" last year.  I found a CD with the song and put the two together as part of our Monster Mania.

 

The book is out of stock on line at Hallmark, but you might be able to find a copy through another outlet.  (I found a 2nd copy on clearance at Walgreens this fall).  This was fun to use and then at the end, I played it again and encourage them to dance.

 

 



 

 

 

 





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.