(Not a) Flannel Friday - Halloween Finger Puppets

Thank goodness it's Flannel Friday!

I was casually browsing the Halloween goods at my local World Market when I noticed these finger puppets that were just calling to me. Anyone who's talented would probably be able to make them on their own, too.

I was even more delighted to discover that the purple bat looks just the one in The Scariest Thing in the Castle by Kevin Sherry.

Don't forget to check out the roundup hosted by Tracey at 1234 More Storytimes. As always, you can find past roundups on Anne's blog, so tomorrow. Look for us on Facebook and on Pinterest, too!

Storytime - Monsters

Books

Creepy Monsters, Sleepy Monsters by Jane Yolen

Toddler

Go Away, Big Green Monster! by Ed Emberley

Toddler and Preschool

Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

Preschool

Special Songs/Rhymes

If You’re a Monster
Sung to: " If You're Happy and You Know It"
If you're a monster and you know it wave your arms
If you're a monster and you know it wave your arms.
If you're a monster and you know then your arms will surely show it.
If you're a monster and you know it wave your arms.
Continue with:
...show your claws
...gnash your teeth
...stomp your feet
...growl out loud

--PreschoolEducation

Horns & Fangs

Sung to: "Head and Shoulders"
Horns and fangs, knees and claws,
knees and claws.
Horns and fangs, knees and claws,

knees and claws.
Eyes and ears and tail and paws. 

Horns and fangs, knees and claws,

knees and claws.

--PreschoolEducation

Craft

In the past I've had the children make their own "Wild Thing" puppets with paper lunch bags, googly eyes, feathers, pom poms, etc. This year I decided to try something different. I printed out this PDF of the Big Green Monster from Emberley's book. I cut out the pieces beforehand for the toddlers and the preschools cut out their own. They turned out really cute.

Flannel Friday Roundup

What a great turnout for Flannel Friday! Thanks to everyone for their hard work.

Without further ado, here are this week's Flannel Friday posts! 

Here comes Cate (storytiming) with another great version of Go Away Big Green Monster! AND a bonus spiffy Halloween costume idea!

Seth (The Voices Inside My Headphones) gets out of this world with Five Little Spaceships.

Mary (Miss Mary Liberry) with the spooky story The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything.

Alison (MiSS ALiSON iS BLOGGiNG) gives us two creative ways to do Five Little Apples.

Katie (Story Time Secrets) shares three fall rhymes using popsicle sticks: Brown Squirrel, I'm a Little Apple, and Mr. Pumpkin.

Katie #2 (Recipe for Reading) has flannelized (it's a word; look it up in the librarian dictionary!) Fran's Flower.

Kendra (Delectable Dabbling) turns her five little fingers into Five Little Pumpkins using a modified glove.

Anna (Super Librarian Superhero) was inspired to make her own Five Creepy Monsters.

Sarah (Read It Again!) shows off her beautiful Five Butterflies.

Melissa (Mel's Desk) shares her insight on making patterns for flannel boards, as well as shares one of her own.

Anne (so tomorrow) makes us crave pumpkin pie with Jack-O-Happy.

Meghan (Busy Crafting Mommy) prepares us for Halloween with several spooky Halloween stories, including Five Little Bats Hanging Upside Down, The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything, Five Little Monsters, and Goodnight Goon.

Angela (valleystorytime) helps us get ready for bed with Knock Knock.

And lastly, my (not too) scary Haunted House.

If I've missed your post somewhere along the way, never fear! Please leave me a comment here with a link to your post, and I'll add it to the roundup as soon as possible. If your submission comes in after today (Friday), please wait until the next week to submit it. Thanks!!

Flannel Friday - The Haunted House

Flannel Friday is here once again! Let's get ready for Halloween with a spooky haunted house! I used clip art from Open Clip Art. 

 The Haunted House
Sung to: "The Wheels On The Bus"
The ghost in the house goes "Boo! Boo! Boo!"
"Boo! Boo! Boo! Boo! Boo! Boo!"
The ghost in the house goes "Boo! Boo! Boo!"
On Halloween.

Continue with:
The cats go Meow

The witches go ha ha ha

The monsters go rawr

The bats go ee ee ee

-- Preschool Education

Make sure you check back here later today for the weekly roundup. You can also find the link to the roundup on our Facebook page. View our submissions on our Pinterest page, too.

Flannel Friday - Cookies

Flannel Friday is here once again!

My post this week features another "retro" flannel board, one I made when I first started doing storytimes. Melissa from Mel's Desk has also made a version of this.

"Five Little Cookies"

Five little cookies at the bakery shop,

Shining bright with some sugar on top.

Along comes (use a child's name) with a nickel to pay.

He/she buys one and takes it away.

 -- Preschool Rainbow

As you can see from the flashy orange felt below, I am using my awesome miniaturized felt board from Anne at So Tomorrow. 

Don't forget to look for the roundup hosted by Andrea from rovingfiddlehead kidlit. If you miss the roundup, never fear, you can look for it at our Flannel Friday Facebook page, too. Also, see the beautiful pictures of our flannel boards at Pinterest.

Happy Friday, everyone!

Flannel Friday - Four Little Stars

Happy happy Flannel Friday!

This week's submission was an oldie that I recently gave a makeover to. I originally made them with Elmer's glue and gold glitter, but over time the glitter fell off. This time, I used glitter glue instead. I've used this flannel board for space and nighttime storytimes, and at the occasional Wee Read. Enjoy!

"Four Little Stars"

Four little stars winking at me.
One shot off and then there were three!
Three little stars with nothing to do.
One shot off, and then there were two! 
Two little stars afraid of the sun.

One shot off, and then there was one! 
One little star alone is no fun.

It shot off, and then there was none!

-- PreschoolEducation.com

Don't forget to check out the roundup at Anna's blog, Future Librarian Superhero, and see everyone's submissions on Pinterest, too.

New this week: join our Flannel Friday Facebook group!

Storytime - What's That Sound?

Listen! Do you hear that? That's the sound of fun times at library storytime!

Books

Who is Driving by Leo Timmers

Toddler

 

One Drowsy Dragon by Ethan Long

Toddler

The Listening Walk by Paul Showers

Preschool

Special Songs/Rhymes

"Five Senses Song"

I only used the hearing portion of this song. I sang the song while I played a sound from an app on my Nook, and substituted the word "bird" for the animal/object that makes the sound. At first the toddlers were overwhelmed by what was going on, but when they figured it out, they had a lot of fun listening to each new sound. For the preschoolers, we sang the song without using the Nook.

-- The Children's Museum of New Hampshire

"The Bremen Town Musicians"
The preschoolers were treated to an adapted version of  the musician's plight on the felt board. I had them help me make the animal noises, and they were especially excited to make the noises all at once when the animals frighten the robber.

Crafts

Both classes made tambourines out of a paper plate folded in half and popcorn kernels.

Daddy and Me Storytime - Sweet Dreams!

Yawn! So sleepy! This storytime was used for my special Daddy and Me Storytime. Children ages 0 to 5 brought a special family member with them: their dads! Our group was mostly made up of 1 to 2 year olds, but we had a couple of older children, too. This program was a success, and hopefully I'll get a chance to do it again. The dads were very eager to find out what their children do during storytime.

Books

Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late! by Mo Willems

Race You to Bed by Bob Shea

Special Songs/Rhymes

"Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed"

Five little monkeys jumping on the bed.

One fell off and bumped his head!

Mama called the doctor and the doctor said,

"No more monkeys jumping on the bed!"

-- Traditional

"Pajamas"

Oh I'll wear my red pajamas when it's hot,

When it's hot!

Oh I'll wear my red pajamas when it's not,

When it's not!

And sometimes in the springtime,

And sometimes in the fall,

I'll hop into my bed with none at all!

-- Tracey at 1234 More Storytimes

Craft

Light Switch Covers

I cut rectangles out of foam sheets and put a light switch sized hole in each. The children glued foam shapes to them. Voila! Now turning out the lights can be fun!

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