Flannel Friday: Aaaaaarrrrreading!

Ahoy there! It be Friday already, me hearties!

Are ye ready for some REAL PIRATE FUN for this here Flannel Friday Round-up?!??

Come on ye lily-livered booklubbers! Grab ye eye patches and ye squacking parrots! 

~ Let's get to hunting for our literacy treasures! ~ 

Do some diggin' in this post and ye'll find a few excitin' pirate adventures that will liven up 

any landlubber's storytime!

Aaaaaarrrgggghhhh!!!

Pirates are a very popular theme at our library! In fact, it is our most requested theme for our Summer Reading Programs and our outreach programs, too. We have even had to come up with a few pirate storytimes for our youngest patrons because the parents were asking why there wasn't one for the babies and toddlers. :-/ 

It took a little digging (Sorry! Couldn't resist!) but we did eventually find a few age appropriate books (even for the babies!) and we have created a number of age-appropriate songs, activities, and crafts. It has actually become my favorite storytimes now!

Since it is a popular theme, I am always on the look out for new things to add to future pirate storytimes and events. Needless to say, I was very thrilled when I joined the Flannel Friday group and found a flannel that is perfect for ALL ages!  I have had it at the top of my TBM (To Be Made) pile since I first found it on Library Quine's website where she shares her version of Pirate Pete. Please click the link above and visit her website. She shares how she layered the pieces to give it more durability and she also shares a link to the original website that has a template for Pete and his eye patches.

Here's my version of 

Pirate Pete and His Colorful Eye Patches

If you follow this blog, you know that I am all about tweaking an idea to make it work for me. So here are a few of the things that I changed when making my Pirate Pete.

Fancy hat! Wish I had a hat like Pirate Pete!

I made my hat in the shape of a pirate hat that was donated by Long John Silver's restaurant. I wanted Pirate Pete's hat to look similar to the children's hats that they would be taking home. I also found some old red ribbon and added it to the bottom on the hat. Then instead of a buckle, I decided to add the skull and crossbones so that we could discuss the Jolly Roger symbol ~ when age appropriate to do so.  

I also tweaked Pirate Pete's face. I decided to give him more facial features like a nose and eyebrows. (My storytime friends always like to call me on a things like no noses so I thought I would avoid an unnecessary discussion. LOL!) 

I wanted to add some more color to his face so I gave him blue eyes and a red mouth. I didn't glue the mouth on because I am considering making lots of different ones for a possible emotions game with Pirate Pete in the future. :o) 

Special Note: Please stay tuned to this blog for an ABC'S Pirate Blog Hop in the very near future!  I have lots of pirate-y ideas to share and I would love for you to link up any pirate-y ideas you have that fit into the ABC'S (Activities, Books, Crafts, and Snacks) Pirate theme. Anyone is welcome to share on any of my ABC'S Blog Hops!

I almost gave my Pirate Pete some hair but I think he is adorable without it. You might want to give him some hair though ~ I highly recommend making him your very own Pirate Pete with a few tweaks. It is fun to make a few changes and see where it leads! 

Besides, we are all different and we like to change our looks sometimes. Maybe that's why Pirate Pete has so many eye patches to choose from. He wants to show is individuality and look fashionable, too!  Take a look at all his choices:

  

Very high fashion, don't you think? ;o)

Now we be ready to sing a song or two with old Pirate Pete! The first one is from Library Quine. 

The Pirate Wore a Red Patch

(Sung to" "Mary Wore a Red Dress")

The Pirate wore a Red patch,

a Red patch,

a Red patch.

The Pirate wore a Red patch
All day long.

The Pirate wore an Orange patch,

an Orange patch,

an Orange patch.

The Pirate wore an Orange patch

All day long.

Additional verses:

a Yellow patch

a Green patch

a Blue patch

 a Purple patch

a Pink patch

Etc.

I only have the basic colors and pink right now but I will be adding eye patches made with black, brown, white, and possibly some fancy ones ~ like maybe one with a skull and crossbones pattern or zebra stripes or a tie dye one ~ you are only limited by your imagination and your creative talents!

So I hear some of you saying, "What is another song that you can play with Pirate Pete? You promised us songs!"

While making Pirate Pete, I was thinking of other ways to use him AND to bring some print awareness into the fun. I thought about the pirate-y songs that we already sing with our storytime friends and I came up with a way to tweak one. Here it is:

If You're a Pirate and You Know It!
(Sung to : "If You're Happy and You Know IT!")

If you're a pirate and you know it, 

Swab the deck!

If you're a pirate and you know it, 

Swab the deck!

If you're a pirate and you know it, 

You'll love the sea winds blowin'.

If you're a pirate and you know it 

Swab the deck!

For this song, we make the ASL signs for "pirate", "know",  "winds", and "blow" for each verse. We also do what each verse tells us to do ~ like "Swab the deck!", "Pull the ropes!", "Say, 'Aye, Aye, Captain!'",  "Search for land!", "Swim in the ocean!", and, my personal favorite, "Aaaarrr! Read a book!"

As you can see, Pirate Pete likes to change his looks along with his orders! LOL! 

I made the speech bubbles by printing the words out onto white cardstock and cutting out the bubble shape around the words. After laminating, I added pieces of felt to the back to help it adhere to the flannel board ~ but you could add velcro, if you like. 

This activity is the same as the eye patch one, it is only limited by your imagination and creative talents! ;o) I hope you have as much fun as I have had when you make your Pirate Pete. He is a special kind of guy!  

I also hope you will stop back by and share a picture of your pirate. I would love to see him and hear about how you and your children enjoy playing with him.  

Have fun!

And, as always, 

HAPPY READING TOGETHER!

This Flannel Friday has been one of the easiest flannels to make. And it is in my top 5 for one of the most exciting and fun to share! 

Pirates ~ they be in me blood, me thinks!

Thank you, Library Quine, for introducing me to Pirate Pete and inspiring me to create new ways to use him in my storytimes!

For more information about the awesome group, Flannel Friday, please visit the website here.  We love having new people join us! 

If you have creative ideas and cool resources to share ~ but you don't have a blog of your own ~ please contact me at storytimeabcs@gmail.com and we can discuss how you can share by being a Guest Poster on my blog. It is easy and you will get ALL the credit for what you share. Check out last week's Guest Poster here.

For a look at this week's Flannel Friday Round-Up, please visit our host, Amanda, on her blog, Toddler Tales. This is her first week to host the Round-Up and I am sure she will do an awesome job.