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Friday, August 10, 2012

Flannel Friday: Colorful Seastars


It's a stormy Friday here in Florida today. Nice to have the rain and the cooler temperatures but I hope I don't need an ark to get home!

How's the weather where you are?

With it raining outside, it has been the perfect weather to do a little "flannelizing"! This week, I have been working on some flannel pieces that can be used on the flannel board or used as finger puppets. (I love making things that have multiple uses, don't you?)

For the multi-purpose flannel pieces, it is back to the ocean this week ~ one of my favorite places! ;o)  Oh, what is that there on the sand?

A bright, colorful sea star!

Isn't he wacky and fun??!??!

I also made 4 other sea stars from bright colored felt:


***Special Note: My inspiration for these cute sea stars came from this website. As usual, I tweaked mine to fit my needs ~ I made mine smaller since I wanted 5 to fit on my hand together. Mine measure 2 1/2" by 2 1/2". I will be making the other two puppets on this site in the very near future. :o)
The sea stars are kind of tiny because I wanted them to fit neatly on my fingers. It was a little more difficult to cut them out so I used a cool trick that I learned from the Flannel Friday group. Kari Ann made a wonderful video that shows this cool trick and a few other ideas, too. I recommend watching her video here. Thanks, Kari Ann!

The trick is to take your pattern and tape around the edges. This will hold it in place as you cut the felt. It makes cutting out small pieces and detailed pieces so much easier! Awesome tip!

I cut out two seastar shapes from each color. 

Then I cut out white ovals for the eyes ~ using the tape trick.

I sewed on the ovals with black thread because I added a black bead for detail.

I also sewed the mouths out of bright pink thread. Making each one different so that each sea star had its own little personality. ;o)

So fun and adorable!
The blue sea star has all his details. I am still working on adding details to the other ones. They should be finished this evening and I will share a picture of the final look when they are ready.  :o)


As I mentioned before, these sea stars can be used on the flannel board or on your fingers as puppets. However, that is not the end of their versatility! They can be used as sea stars for an ocean-themed storytime. They can be used as stars for an outerspace-themed storytime. But that's not all! They can also be used for a color recognition activity and for a counting activity! 

Here is one of the rhymes that I will use these colorful sea stars with:

Five Colorful Sea Stars

One little sea star so bright and blue,
Along came a green one, then there were two.

Two little sea stars, all that I could see,
Along came a yellow one, then there were three.

Three little sea stars on the ocean floor,
Along came an orange one, then there were four.

Four little sea stars, wiggly and alive,
Along came a red one and that made five!
1 - 2- 3 - 4 - 5!

Thanks for stopping by for another Flannel Friday! If you love ocean animals and finger puppets, be sure and check back over the next few weeks because I will be adding more to go along with my Octavia the Octopus and these colorful sea stars. I'll soon have an ocean full of finger puppets!

This week the round-up is being hosted by Erin at her blog, Falling Flannelboards.

Enjoy your weekend!

And, as always,

HAPPY READING TOGETHER!

13 comments:

  1. I think this is the post you're looking for about the tape trick: http://www.abbythelibrarian.com/2008/09/how-to-make-felt-flannel-board-story.html

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  2. Thanks, Bridget, but the post I am looking for actually has a video about making flannel board pieces and it was posted either in late spring or earlier this summer. It was a very informative video!

    I'll have to take a look at the post you linked. I have heard about the blog you listed above but I haven't really had time to look around it yet. Maybe I'll find some time to check it out this weekend. :o)

    I hope you had a calm Friday. Enjoy your weekend!
    ~ K ~

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  3. K,
    The sea stars are beautiful and as you said - so versatile. I will be adding them to my "to do" list. The post you are looking for is from my colleague, kari ann http://mystorytimelife.blogspot.com/p/cla-2012.html
    This was when we were preparing to do our presentation for the Connecticut Library Association conference. ~ jane

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    1. YES! That is exactly the post I was wanting to link. Thank you, Jane! I will add the link as soon as I can get my laptop from my son. ;o) It is such a wonderful post! So many great tips and ideas!

      I would love to see a picture of your sea stars when you make them. It was fun giving them different looks.

      Enjoy your weekend!
      ~ K ~

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  4. OMG those star fish are hilarious!

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    1. Thank you! I think they are hilarious, too. ;o) And so much fun to make!

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  5. These are great K, and very versatile. My storytime folks would understand better if I called them starfish, but that fits your rhyme too.

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    1. LQ, I interchange "sea star" and "starfish" because the past few years here in Florida the local oceanography crowd has been pushing the use of the word "sea star".

      Here's a little about their reasoning:
      "Marine scientists have undertaken the difficult task of replacing the beloved starfish’s common name with sea star because, well, the starfish is not a fish. It’s an echinoderm, closely related to sea urchins and sand dollars."

      But I think it is fine to use either one. The kids will have fun either way! ;o)

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  6. Replies
    1. Hi, Jennifer! Thank you for pinning my post and letting me know. :o)

      I would love to visit your "We Love Puppets" board. Do I just search your name on Pinterest to find it?

      Enjoy your day!
      ~ K ~

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  7. how fun!!! makes story time even better!!

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    1. Hi, Annmarie! Thanks for stopping by and leaving such a sweet comment!

      One of my main goals with my job and with this blog is to help make storytimes fun and exciting ~ mine, as well as other peoples! I hope the ideas that I share here will help in a small way to bring young children and their parents together with books and early learning activities.

      Thanks again!
      Enjoy your day!
      ~ K ~

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  8. OK... Those are just too cute!!!!
    Thanks for sharing with my Super Link Party! :-)

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