Saturday Share: It's a Colorful Surprise!

This week, I have a 

Saturday 

Share

for you!

For this Saturday Share, I have several ways to present the rhyme, Six Colorful Eggs.

One way is a flannel board set and another way is with props. Both are fun!

This rhyme promotes color recognition and counting.It is versatile and can be used for lots of different themes. Plus, it is very simple to make!

Six Colorful Eggs!

Six colorful eggs, hoping to survive...

I apologize for the photographs!
They didn't turn out as I had hoped.
AND I don't have the eggs in the right order
but that will get straightened out as we go. :o}

One becomes a red bird, and then there are five.

Five colorful eggs, in a tree outside my door...

One becomes an orange bird, and then there are four.

Four colorful eggs, quiet as can be...

One becomes a yellow bird, and then there are three.

Three colorful eggs, waiting just for you...

One becomes a green bird, and then there are two.

Two colorful eggs, beneath the shining sun...

One becomes a blue bird, and then there is one.

One colorful egg, beneath the bright blue sky...

It becomes a purple bird ready to fly!

Six feathered friends, each made a nest.

Each laid an egg, and you know the rest!

I plan to make nests in each color to add to this set.

But, for now, I will just do the ASL sign for "nest".

Click picture for larger view. 
Click here for Photo Source.

Okay, now for the props way of presenting this rhyme!

I found larger Easter eggs in the rainbow colors for this prop set. Then I made some adorable bird finger puppets out of felt and colorful feathers! 

Click picture for larger view.

When using this set, I will place each bird puppet into the matching egg. Then I will have 6 children come up and hold one of the eggs. When I say the color of an egg, the child holding it will crack it open and pull out the bird. Once the bird is on their finger, they will fly it up and down and all around. I will take the egg and close it back up, set it aside, and bring it back out at the end when each bird lays an egg.

Gently place the bird puppet into the egg.

Be careful not to bend the feathers too much.

I found my inspiration for these awesome puppets here at the I Heart Crafty Things blog. It even has the pattern for you! (I probably shouldn't admit it but I didn't know there was a pattern until I went back to the post to link it here. I saw a picture of the finger puppets in a Google image search and made my own pattern. That is how simple these puppets are!)

After reading the linked post, I have a few tweaks and tips for you:

**I did not use hot glue to add the beak, google eyes, and feathers. I used Tacky glue. If you look closely at the purple bird, you will notice a little white at the base of the bird where the feathers are. It is the glue because it hadn't dried yet when I took the picture. Now that it is dry, it is invisible. 

**I glued the feathers on the bottom side of the bird. I felt like this gave the puppets a little more finished look.

**My wings had a longer strip of felt between the wings. Since my fingers are bigger than a child's fingers, I needed more space there. You may need it, too. ;o)

Versatility is great!

I an very excited about all the versatility I see in this activity! Besides being able to use these two sets for themes such as Birds, Eggs, Easter, and even Colors ~ I am thinking that you can tweak the sets and make them fit for any animal that lays eggs. For myself, I am thinking about making chicks for a Farm theme, frogs for a Pond or Spring theme, or even Snakes for a Reptile storytime. All you have to do is make some colorful felt creatures and tweak the rhyme!

AND! There's more! 

I'm thinking I can tweak the puppet pattern to make butterflies, bees, ladybugs, and who knows what else!

If you make either flannel set, I would love to see pictures and hear about your child/ren's reactions. If you have any ideas for more versatility, I would enjoy hearing about  them! I hope you will share your ideas and experiences with me at storytimeabcs@gmail.com

Let the FUN begin!

And, as always,

HAPPY READING TOGETHER!