Flannel Friday: Hide-and-Seek Mice: A Flannel Rhyme

For an upcoming storytime with a "Let's Play" theme, I made my own original hide-and-seek flannel game rhyme.  In the photo, the mice are visible, but for the game/rhyme, I'll hide them behind the chimney, the hole in the tree, the window, the door, the doghouse, some grass, and the flower.  (I accidentally left the grass out of the photo.)  The line for the window might be a bit too obscure for toddlers...I may revise it after I see how they respond.

Hide-and-Seek Mice

Can you find me? Where can I be?

I’m where Santa comes in with gifts all for me.

Can you find me? Where did I hide?

A squirrel lives here, deep down inside.

Can you find me? Where, oh, where?

Look close at my hiding place, and you’ll see yourself there.

Can you find me?  Where have I been?

My favorite hiding place is soft and green.      

    

Can you find me? What will you do?

I’m behind something you can walk through.

Can you find me? It’s very dark,

In this place I share with someone who says, “Bark.”

Can you find me? I’m the last one,

Behind something that grows on a stem in the sun.

Check out this week's Flannel Friday roundup at Roving Fiddlehead Kidlit!

Cats!

One of my colleagues brought to my attention the book Cat Secrets by Jef Czekaj just after we added it to our collection, and I'm finally getting around to building a cat-themed storytime for toddlers for next week. I love books like this that invite interaction with the audience, and this one goes way up on my list of favorites along with Can You Make a Scary Face and Is Everyone Ready for Fun? by Jan Thomas, and Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus by Mo Willems.  The books I'm reading this week are:

Cat Secrets by Jef Czekaj

Sleepy Kittens by  Jill and Martin Leman

and Pussy Cat, Pussy Cat illustrated by Annie Kubler for Child's Play.

Between stories, we'll do an action rhyme:

"Five Little Kittens" from Storytimes for Two-Year-Olds by Judy Nichols, p. 58.
One, two, three, four, five, (count fingers on one hand)
Five little kittens standing in a row. (stand up straight)
They nod their heads to the children so. (nod head)
The run to the left, they run to the right (run in place facing left, then turn and run in place facing right)
They stand up and stretch in the bright sunlight. (stretch arms overhead)
Along comes a dog, looking for some fun. (hunch shoulders)
Meow, meow, (make scratching motions)
See that doggie run! (clap hands quickly)

and a flannel rhyme:

"Rainbow Kittens" from Early Literacy Storytimes @ Your Library by Saroj Nadkarni Ghoting and Pamela Martin-Diaz, p. 111
Six little kittens found a box of paint.
They jumped right in...their mother will faint!
The first little kitten came out all red.
"I'll be orange," the second kitten said.
The third little kitten turned bright yellow.
"I'll be green," said the next little fellow.
The fifth kitten said, "My favorite is blue."
"Purple for me," said the sixth with a mew.
Dancing home the kittens go
To show their mother a KITTEN RAINBOW!

We'll also sing "There's a Dog in School" (there's a cat in the second verse) from H.U.M. by Carole Peterson, and we'll repeat that song over the next few weeks when storytimes focus on the other animals in the song--dog, rabbit, and we just had a duck storytime last month.

Our craft, a paper bag cat, comes from http://www.freepreschoolcrafts.com.  We will use markers to add stripes or spots instead of painting the bags, though.

Hey, Mr. Snowman flannel rhyme

Even though it's unlikely to be used until late this year, I made a snowman for a story kit about winter for our volunteers to take to daycare centers and preschools.  The patterns for this snowman are available in Children's Programming Monthly, vol. 1, no. 4, "Mitten Weather,"and were designed by Diane Briggs.

Hey, Mr. Snowman
I went walking
Through a winter wonderland
And spied a frosty snowman
Who needed a hand.
Hey, Mr. Snowman, what do you need?
I need some eyes. Put them on me, please.
Hey, Mr. Snowman, what do you see?
I see an orange carrot. Put it on me, please.
Hey, Mr. Snowman, now what do you see?
I see a purple hat.  Put it on me, please.
Hey, Mr. Snowman, now what do you see?
I see some red licorice. Put it on me, please.
Hey, Mr. Snowman, now what do you see?
I see some brown sticks.  Put them on me, please.
Hey, Mr. Snowman, now what do you see?
I see a green scarf.  Put it on me, please.
Hey, Mr. Snowman, now what do you see?
I see some red mittens.  Put them on me, please.
Hey, Mr. Snowman, now what do you see?
I see some black buttons.  Put them on me, please.
Hey, Mr. Snowman, now what do you see?
I see some yellow boots.  Put them on me, please.
Hey, Mr. Snowman, now what do you see?
I see the coolest snowman ever...ME!

Ten Little Fish flannel rhyme

I've been working on creating new storytime kits for our volunteers who take them to daycares and preschools to read to children, and I've decided that the flannel stories in the kits should be as cute as the ones we use at the library, so today I made one for "Ten Little Fishes" for a beach-themed kit.

Ten Little Fishes
Ten little fishes were swimming in a school
This one said, "Let's swim to where it's cool."
This one said, "It's a very warm day."
This one said, "Come on, let's play."
This one said, "I'm as hungry as can be."
This one said, "There's a worm for me."
This one said, "Wait, we'd better look."
This one said, "Yes, it's on a hook."
This one said, "Can't we get it anyway?"
This one said, "Perhaps we may."
This one, so very brave, grabbed a bit and swam away."

Spring!

This week's toddler storytime celebrates spring, which has arrived early here in Iowa this year.  

We will be reading:

Kitten's Spring by Eugenie Fernandes


Spring Things by Bob Raczka


and Wake Up! Wake Up! A Springtime Lift-the-Flap Book by Nancy Davis.


Our flannel rhyme this week is Five Little Flowers from Children's Programming Monthly, vol. 1, no. 7, p. 10.

Five Little Flowers

Five little flowers grew by my door.

I picked one for my mother, and then there were four.

Four little flowers, pretty as can be.

I picked one for my father, and then there were three.

Three little flowers, what could I do?

I picked one for my sister, and then there were two.

Two little flowers out in the sun.

I picked one for my brother, and then there was one.

One little flower, isn't this fun?

I picked one for you, and then there were none.

We will also make music to "Weather Rhythms" from H.U.M. (Highly Usable Music) by Carole Peterson.  I will distribute rhythm sticks and we'll use them to make the "pit pat" of the rain and the thunder.

Our craft this week was designed by Mallory, one of the youth library assistants.  I also used the pattern to make the flannel flowers for this week's rhyme.  We used our circle and scalloped circle punches to punch out the circles for the flowers, we cut out the leaves, and children will glue them to craft sticks to make flowers.  For a 3-D effect, children can scrunch the edges of the scalloped circle.

What a Hoot

For toddler storytime next week, we'll have an owl theme.  We'll read Little Owl's Night by Divya Srinivasan, Little Owl Lost by Chris Haughton, and Wow! Said the Owl by Tim Hopgood.

I found our flannel rhyme at Sunflower Storytime .

Five Hoot Owls

Five hoot owls sitting in a tree.
One flew away! How many do you see?
One, two, three, four.

Four hoot owls sitting in a tree.
One flew away! How many do you see?
One, two, three.

Three hoot owls...etc.

And our flannel song also comes from Sunflower Storytime.  I really liked the look of the birds from A House for Birdie from Miss Merry Liberry, so I made my birds like those.

Owl in the Tree (sung to the tune of Skip to my Lou)

Owl in the tree goes, "Hoo, hoo, hoo,"
Owl in the tree goes, "Hoo, hoo, hoo,"
Owl in the tree goes, "Hoo, hoo, hoo,"
Hoo, hoo, hoo, my darling.

Robin in the nest goes, "Tweet, tweet, tweet..."
Duck in the pond goes, "Quack, quack, quack..."
Rooster in the yard goes, "Cock a doodle doo..."

Our craft will be paper bag owls.  We used this craft at our Diagon Alley event in December at our Eeylops Owl Emporium, but I've adapted it for toddlers by having the pieces already cut out.  They'll just have to stuff the bag, fold and staple the top with the help of their grown-ups, and glue on the eyes, beak and tummy feathers.  Instead of cutting the bag for the tummy feathers, I've cut out bigger circles that they can use markers to dot for the feathers.  We found this idea on Pinterest, but the link no longer exists or I would post it.

Love and Kisses

Our toddler Valentine's Day storytime was the week before, since toddler time is on Wednesdays and Fridays at one of my libraries. We read I Love You, Mouse by John Graham, How About a Kiss for Me? by Todd Tarpley, and Zero Kisses for Me by Virginie Soumagnac.

We did Five Pretty Valentines as a flannel poem--another one that has been done by Flannel Friday folks:
Five pretty valentines sitting in the store,
I bought one, and then there were four.
Four pretty valentines waiting just for me,
Mom bought one, and then there were three.
Three pretty valentines--one is bright blue.
Dad bought one, and then there were two.
Two pretty valentines sitting in the sun,
Sister bought a valentine, and then there was one.
One pretty valentine standing all alone,
Brother bought that valentine, and now there are none.

I realized after I'd made these that one was supposed to be blue, so I stuck a blue construction paper heart on one of them temporarily, and I'll make a fancy blue one for the next time I use this one.

We also did a flannel song called Which Hearts Are the Same? sung to the tune of Happy Birthday.  This is another idea I got from one of my storytime resources, and I'll add the citation this week.  I and one my assistants cut out hearts of various colors--we kept one set and distributed the rest.  Children were asked to put their hearts on the board when they saw one of the same color there.  I put one of the colored hearts on a small flannel board, sang the song, and circulated through the crowd so children with the matching color could add theirs.  We repeated the song until everyone had a chance to add their hearts.  Simple, but fun.

Which hearts are the same?
Which hearts are the same?
Please tell me, please tell me,
Which hearts are the same?

Welcome to Storytime!

Inspired by the folks of Flannel Friday, I've been incorporating some of their flannel stories and songs into my storytimes for the last couple of months.  It has become a weekend routine to create a flannel board--one that I look forward to and find relaxing.  But now that I'm venturing into flannel stories I haven't seen posted anywhere else, I thought I'd join the blogging world and share some of my own.  I have appreciated the ideas that others have shared--there are some very creative librarians doing wonderful things with their patrons.

I'm starting my blog with the flannel stories I've done already, and then my plan is to post weekly or bi-weekly with new ones as I add them to my collection.

The first one I did in December was Five Little Snowmen--several Flannel Friday folks have done it.  Check out their Seasons folder.

Five little snowmen riding on a sled.
One fell off and bumped his head.
Frosty called the doctor and the doctor said,
No more snowmen riding on the sled.

Four little snowmen riding on a sled...