Flannel Friday: On Mother's Lap

On Mother's Lap by Ann Herbert Scott and illustrated by Glo Coalson

I think I heard about this older title from Heather McNeil at an OLA/WLA storytime workshop (It was a fabulous workshop, by the way). I put it on hold and when it came in I loved that it was a bit of a quiet story with a nice refrain. A little boy adds more and more things to his mother's lap, but isn't sure there is room for everything he wants AND the baby - something a lot of families in my toddler storytime can relate to. It would make a great Mother's Day read, but it's also what my co-worker calls a "happens to be" story; the characters are Inuit but it isn't the focus of the story. A nice way to add some diversity to any given storytime.
I made flannel pieces of each of the things the little boy, Michael, adds to Mother's lap. I photocopied and enlarged images I thought would translate well to flannel, then used packing tape to tape them to their various colors. I cut out each piece using the lines of the illustration as a guide. The tape makes for clean lines but it doesn't seperate well from cheap flannel. Be warned. I added a bit of pink marker to the baby and doll, a couple french knots for eyes to the dog, used sharpie to give the blanket the look of fur, and viola!
I didn't include the rocking chair, Mother, or Michael, but obviously you could. Each time Michael added a new thing to Mother's lap I put it on the flannel board. When the book was over we revisited each item and noticed that there really is a lot of room on mother's lap. My group of twos was totally rapt and they were particularly rambunctious the day I tried it.

Flannel Friday: Which fish?

Here's a simple flannel to play during preschool storytimes or with early elementary school groups. Start with the entire school of fish displayed on a flannel board. Spend a moment talking about them. Then turn your flannel board around, secretly remove one fish, turn it back to the audience, and sing your rhyme:

So many fishies here today!

Which fish did I take away? 

OR to make it simpler, "Which color fish did I take away?"

If your crowd is very good at this game, trying taking away more than one fish. Repeat until no longer fun.

To make this flannel, I chose 7 fish from a huge set we already had and raided our supply closet to personalize each one using puff paint, googly eyes and sequins. Little prep, lots of fun.

Flannel Friday: 5 Little Ducks

Five Little Ducks is such a classic and after my son was born I found myself singing it A LOT. When I returned to work and storytimes, I wanted to create a special flannel to accompany it. Not wanting to spend the time to individually cut duckies and not having a suitable chick die, I used the adult duck die, painted them with fabric paint, and used some scrap felt to give them ducky feet. These mallard ducklings could be seen almost anywhere in the country come spring. Making them realistic lends itself well to adding a STEM moment to your storytime, which seems to be all the rage these days.

Flannel Friday: Down By the Bay

I recently re-discovered that old camp favorite, Down By the Bay. I checked out a copy of the Raffi version, illustrated by Nadine Bernard Westcott and thought, "Don't we have a flannel of this?" We did indeed, but it was all clip art and didn't move me. I set about creating my own based on Raffi's version of the lyrics. I cut these images from paper (with help from Google image searching and OpenClipart). I also added my own verse to inspire little rhymers:

 "Did you ever see a kiwi eating seaweed?"

I look forward to using this call and response "flannel" with preschoolers, tour groups, and perhaps accompanied on the ukele by KJ at an upcoming storytime featuring 2 storytellers!

PS I need to re-work that little fly in a tie. He's a bit....unrecognizable.

6/2 UPDATE By request, here is the "template." Okay, it's a scanned copy of the finished product, but it's the best I could do after the fact. Feel free to customize or use as is for non-commercial purposes. You can also email me at l.thackeratfvrl.org for the .pdf

Flannel Friday: Windblown

Windblown by Édouard Manceau screams to be made into a flannel. It would take 2 storytellers or (a) disciplined preschool assistant(s) to make it work seamlessly. You could read through the text and simply play with the shapes afterward. This might also be fun with smallish tour groups, like a boy scout troop or the like. I'm excited to try it out, but do wish the text had been translated a little more artfully.
To make this set I blew up a page with all the shapes to legal size, cut them out and pinned them to flannel, cut again, and was finished! If not a perfectionist, you could also eyeball it.

5/26 UPDATE: I belatedly realized if you haven't seen or read this newer title you might not be inspired to seek it out by what little I shared above. Here's a shot of the open book and one of the other creatures constructed of flannel pieces. Now do you see the possibilities?

Flannel Friday: Little Mouse alternatives

I love that old storytime standby, Little Mouse Little Mouse. It's a hit with all ages and kids get to practice personal space (specifically, respecting mine), patience, taking turns, and naming colors. What you may or may not know is that there are many alternatives to fit almost any storytime theme. Here are two I created drawing inspiration from PUBYAC.

Little frog, little frog, are you under this log? You could also add numbers to each log and ask preschoolers which number log to check first. I couldn't find a log I liked so I drew this one. The froggie is Microsoft clip art.

Idea courtesy of Elizabeth Nelson and Lisa Soper via PUBYAC

Little bear, little bear, are you hiding under there? I die cut shapes and used Kevin Henkes adorable Old Bear for this game. It lets kids name colors AND shapes, as well as giving them a bit of excitement if they recognize the bear

Idea courtesy of Deborah Brightwell Brown via PUBYAC