Not a Flannel Friday: Big Red Barn

Wow! It's Friday again! It comes up quicker and quicker each week ~ I think that's because Summer is headed our way with all the FUN (and WORK) of Summer Reading Programs. :-} Just thinking about all our Summer programs makes me tired! Lol

Ah, well...

HAPPY FLANNEL FRIDAY!

This month, I am doing my Family Storytime every Thursday evening and I am also doing our weekly daytime programs for our youngest patrons. 


When I am responsible for the weekly programs, I try to pick a topic that can be tweaked easily ~ that way I can change things up for the little ones ~ who tend to be younger for our daytime storytimes and a little older for our night one.

Besides our Mother's Day topic, which we did last week, I have chosen to do a Farm theme. It is such a versatile and fun topic for all ages! Plus I already have tons of flannel sets, magnetic board sets, songs, fingerplays, puppets, etc. ~ and the list of books to choose from is endless and awesome!

For Flannel Friday this week, I want to share one of my oldest ideas for a storytime prop. I made my first one years ago when my own boys were little and we were going to visit my Dad who was a veterinarian who cared for many types of farm animals in rural Oklahoma. It was a perfect way to connect our trip to our chosen library books for that week. My boys loved chosing library books by topic when they were little! They especially loved choosing animal books!


 I then used this storytime prop in my classroom for many years!


 It can be used with songs, fingerplays, or even a story. It is an item that I used each year during my teaching career so the original one weathered much use and many little hands! It is:

THE BIG RED BARN

A Spinning Wheel Prop!

Who's inside our Big Red Barn?

This Big Red Barn is about 1 ft by 1 ft. It is made from very sturdy posterboard and held together by a paper fastener. The yellow circle spins so, that each time you open the barn doors, you will see a different farm animal. 


The little ones LOVE the surprise of not knowing which animal they will see next!

In our Big Red Barn, we have a:

Cow

Pig

Sheep

Horse

As I mentioned earlier, this storytime prop can be used for lots of activities. I often use it with the song, Old McDonald Had a Farm. 


But I also often use it with this song:

The Animals on the Farm

(Sung to: "The Wheels on the Bus")

The cow on the farm says,

"Moo, moo, moo!

Moo, moo, moo!

Moo, moo, moo!"

The cow on the farm says,

"Moo, moo, moo!"

All day long.

Mooooooooooo!

Additional verses:

Pig ~ "Oink, oink, oink!"

Sheep ~ "Baa, baa, baa!"

Horse ~ "Neigh, neigh, neigh!

If you make your own Big Red Barn Storytime Prop, you can choose different animals for your "wheel". I actually have a second "wheel" with different animals on it that I can switch out very easily. If I have older storytime friends who want to sing about more animals, I have been known to switch the "wheels" right there in front of them. It is that easy!

Next week's craft for storytimes will be a smaller version of the Big Red Barn:

It is smaller and made from construction paper. I will be making a post about how-to make the smaller Big Red Barn. It is very fun to play and learn with! So check back here for the directions and hopefully a template. I will link the post up as soon as I can. :-)

Also, keep an eye out on the blog for another Blog Hop. It will be a Farm ABC'S Blog Hop! Coming your way soon!

This post has made me miss my home state of Oklahoma and all the years I worked with my Dad at his veterinary clinic. I love those memories! <3

I hope ya'll enjoyed our quick trip to the Farm. If you are looking for a delightful Farm book, try one of these:

Barnyard Banter

Written and illustrated by 

Denise Fleming

or 

Big Red Barn

Written by 

Margaret Wise Brown 

and 

Illustrated by

Felicia Bond

(one of my favorite children's book illustrators!

And I hope ya'll will have lots of fun with your child/ren if you get a chance to visit a Farm to see all of the animals in the Big Red Barn!

As always,

HAPPY READING TOGETHER!

This week, our Flannel Friday Round-Up is being hosted by Linda at Notes from the Story Room. Thank you, Linda, for doing the round-up!

Everyone is invited to linkup their posts about farms and farm animals here: