Saturday Share: B-I-N-G-O and More!

I missed posting for the Flannel Friday Round-Up yesterday.

 

So ~ it is time for a 

Saturday Share!

This week I am sharing an oldie but goodie! 

B-I-N-G-O!

My dogs are made from cardstock and laminated with magnets on the back.

The tags are diecut circles with diecut letters, also laminated.

They are taped on with double-sided tape for easy removal.

There was a farmer had a dog

And Bingo was his name-o.

B-i-n-g-o, 

B-i-n-g-o,

B-i-n-g-o,

And Bingo was his name-o!

With each additional verse, remove a tag ~ starting with the B ~ 

and revealing a dog paw underneath.

Have the children either clap or say "woof!" for each paw revealed.

Final verse:

There was a farmer had a dog

And Bingo was his name-o.

Woof-woof-woof-woof-woof,

Woof-woof-woof-woof-woof,

Woof-woof-woof-woof-woof,

And Bingo was his name-o!

Fun, isn't it?

Okay, that is the traditional song but ~ you know me ~ I have to tweak it! 

Counting Dogs

I know some dogs who love to play

And counting is their game-o

1-2-3-4-5,

1-2-3-4-5,

1-2-3-4-5.

And counting is their game-o.

Oh, no! One puppy lost his tag! How many still have tags?

That's right four. 

Let's sing about those four dogs and 

when we get to the fifth dog, let's say "woof".

I know some dogs who love to play

And counting is their game-o.

1-2-3-4-woof!

1-2-3-4-woof!

1-2-3-4-woof!

And counting is their game-o!

Continue until once again you are having the children say, 

"Woof, woof, woof, woof, woof!"

Then end with,

"That's the end of their game-o!"

I have found that Bingo is one of those songs that just invites audience participation without much effort on my part. All ages love to join in singing and clapping! 

It is a fun way to encourage letter recognition and, now with the tweaked version, it can be used to encourage number recognition as well. All with the same set of magnetic pieces!

Do you have a special way that you tweak Bingo? 

I hope you will share your version in the comments below!

Have a lovely Saturday evening and, as always,

HAPPY READING TOGETHER!

Flannel Friday: Valentine Race

Wow! Is it Friday again already?

This week has been CrAzY! But I have a feeling next week will be even crazier ~ especially since Tuesday is Valentine's Day and we have 3 storytimes scheduled for that morning! Whew!

Well, let's get down to business. Since it is Friday ~ that means it is time for Flannel Friday!

My contribution this week is a simple version of a very OLD but extremely FUN fingerplay:

VALENTINE RACE

Five little Valentines were having a race.

The first Valentine was frilly with lace.



The second Valentine had a silly face.

The third Valentine said, "I love you!"

The fourth Valentine said, "I do, too!"

The fifth Valentine was as sly as a Fox.

'Cause he ran the fastest to your Valentine box!

Yay!

The Valentines were easily made from felt. In fact, it was such an easy project that I decided to make a second set out of fun foam for the magnetic board...



I am not sure which I like better. I had fun making both sets. Which set do you like best?

Here is a list of supplies and quick directions to make the felt set.

Supplies Needed:

White felt

Purple felt

Red felt

Pink felt

Yellow felt

Orange felt

Black felt

Pink ribbon

Sticker eyes or wiggly eyes

Black Sharpie

Fuschia Sharpie

Tacky Glue

Sharp scissors

Directions:

1. Cut the lacy heart out of white felt and a regular heart-shape out of purple felt. Glue the purple onto the center of the lacy heart. Make a small bow out of the pink ribbon and glue onto the lacy heart.

2. Cut a regular heart-shape out of pink felt. Add sticker eyes or wiggly eyes using the glue. Draw on the eyebrows, nose and silly mouth with the black Sharpie.

3. Cut a regular heart-shape out of red felt. Cut a small heart-shape out of pink felt. Glue the small heart in the middle of the large heart. Add the letters and punctuation with the black Sharpie.

4. Cut a regular heart-shape out of yellow felt. Add the letters and punctuation using a fushcia Sharpie. I love this heart because it looks like a candy heart to me. :-)

5. Cut a regular heart-shape out of orange felt. Cut the upper part of the heart shape out of black felt and glue to the top of the orange heart. Cut "cheek" shapes from white felt and glue on. Cut eyes and nose out of black felt and glue on.

Now you have five little Valentines ready for a race!

Have fun!

***I just want to mention my inspiration for the fox heart. This week our storytimes have featured Michael Hall's book, My Heart is Like a Zoo. In his book, there is a "crafty" fox. I thought he was adorable and silly ~ just perfect for our race! What do you think? 



The top fox is made from felt and the fox to the right is made from fun foam.



I really love when I can tie our featured book in with our songs, learning activities like fingerplays and creative movement, and our crafts ~ when possible. These tie-ins help young children stay focused a little longer and help make more connections in their brains so that the children will be able to recall more about the storytime later in the day or week. I believe anything I can do that helps to make those connections possible is well worth the effort. :-)

This week, I was delightfully reminded of how these types of tie-ins were important to one particular storytime friend. One of our regular storytime Moms took this picture of her daughter creating her Lion Puppet at home. They proudly shared the picture with family and friends ~ and ME! ~ on Facebook. It was a sweet surprise because I am usually the one sharing storytime pictures with the families. ;-)



I am hoping to see an increase in the circulation of My Heart is Like a Zoo due to this family's enthusiastic sharing.  I am also hoping to see new families attend the library storytime next week. You just never know... I have already been contacted by a Mom asking for craft directions and the words to the song we sang with the puppet. What an awesome result for such a simple take-home craft!

HAPPY READING TOGETHER!

By the way, here’s Flannel Friday information for this week:

Library Quine has the round up at her blog, Loons and Quines @ Librarytime.

Round up archives and host schedule is at So Tomorrow.

Visually scan all the Flannel Friday posts at Pinterest.

Talk about storytime and flannelboards at the Flannel Friday Facebook Page. Be sure to checkout my Flannel Friday Comment Challenge on the facebook page. This is the third week and I am offering an incentitive!

Follow Flannel Friday on Twitter with the #flannelfriday hashtag. (You don’t have to be on Twitter to check this out.)

And, last but not least, if you’re a contributor, there is an awesome blog button from Melissa and you can grab it from the right hand menu at Mel’s Desk!



Flannel Friday: Magical Rainbow Stew

Rainbows are MAGICAL ~ in and of themselves ~ but this activity will have your storytime friends asking, "How did you do that? Is it magic?"

This week's Flannel Friday is my version of:

 Rainbow Stew

Items needed:

Flannel or Magnetic board

Cauldron or "pot" of some sort

Spoon 

(for stirring)

Colorful fruits 

(made from felt, fun foam or a set of artificial fruit)

Rainbow pieces

(made from felt or fun foam)

We will get to the song in a few minutes but, first, let me explain how I set the activity up and present it ~ in as magical a way as possible...

Before the storytime starts, I place the rainbow pieces inside the "pot".

I start the activity by asking the children to help me name the different fruits
as I add them to the board. 

We then practice our color signs for each fruit.

The children should see only an "empty pot" with a stirring spoon throughout the song.

Now we are ready for the song. Please click on the song title for a copy of the words without the pictures.

 Rainbow Stew

(Sung to: "Jimmy Crack Corn")

"Take an apple"

"Put it in the pot."

"Stir it, stir it, stir it a lot."

"Take it out now. What will it be? The prettiest red you ever did see!"
(Place red rainbow piece on the board with dramatic flair.)

Continue the song ~ taking one fruit at a time off the board, placing it in the pot, stirring with the spoon, and then placing the appropriate rainbow piece on the board. 

"Take the grapes and put them in the pot. Stir it, stir it, stir it a lot."



"Take it out now. What will it be? The prettiest purple you ever did see!"


By this time, the children are wide-eyed and usually yelling, "It's a rainbow!" So I congratulate them on helping to magically make a beautiful rainbow from our Rainbow Stew recipe. Then we finish up with this rhyme:

Rainbow Colors

Rainbow purple,

Rainbow blue,

Rainbow green,

And yellow, too. 

Rainbow orange,

Rainbow red,

Rainbow smiling overhead.

Come and count the colors with me.

How many colors do you see?

1-2-3

Up to green

4-5-6

Colors are seen.

I also have a magnetic board version of this song. The rainbow pieces are made from Fun Foam.

The foam pieces have several magnets on the back to make it easier to place them together as a rainbow.

The fruit pieces that I use are artificial fruits that can be found at Michael's or Wal-Mart. I prefer to buy them at Michael's with a 40% off coupon. *Wink*

I have yet to find a blueberry so I made my own by painting a small wooden ball. It has worked just fine. (If you look closely, you can see it by the pear and grapes in the picture above.)

As you may have noticed in the picture, I use this activity with the book, Lunch, written by Denise Fleming. I have several learning activities for this book that I will be sharing in the near future. One is a cute mouse puppet or hat ~ depending on how you want to use it. 

I have also used this activity for a storytime on Spring, Weather, Colors, Fruits and Vegetables, or even Leprechauns and St Patrick's Day. Each time I use it, the children have a BLAST!

I also like to change up how we stir so that I can include sizes and following directions as part of my storytime learning. For example, when it is time for the blueberry, I talk about how small it is. I ask, " Do you think we can get any color from something so small?" We try and it doesn't work. Instead of the blue rainbow piece coming out of the pot after stirring, I just take the blueberry out and act sad and curious. "No blue! It's just the berry. How can we get the blue out? Maybe if we stir really fast? Are you ready? Can you stir fast, fast, fast?" I re-sing that verse and stir fast. Then when the blue rainbow piece appears, we all clap! So much fun!

No matter how many times a child has seen this activity, s/he still participates and has fun.

Thank you for stopping by my blog for another Flannel Friday post. I hope you find many opportunities to share a little Rainbow MAGIC with a child in your life!

HAPPY READING TOGETHER!

By the way, here’s Flannel Friday information for this week:

Andrea has the round up at Roving Fiddlehead Kidlit.

Round up archives and host schedule is at So Tomorrow.

Visually scan all the Flannel Friday posts at Pinterest.

Talk about storytime and flannelboards at the Flannel Friday Facebook Page. Be sure to checkout my Flannel Friday Comment Challenge on the facebook page. This is the second week and I am offering an incentitive!

Follow Flannel Friday on Twitter with the #flannelfriday hashtag. (You don’t have to be on Twitter to check this out.)

And, last but not least, if you’re a contributor, there is an awesome blog button from Melissa and you can grab it from the right hand menu at Mel’s Desk!

Craft: My Heart is Like a Zoo

Next week for my 3 and under storytimes, I will be sharing Michael Hall's book, My Heart Is Like a ZOO. It is a playful book filled with twenty zoo animals ~ all made from hearts! And it has a delightful, surprise at the end.

This book, with it's simple but bold illustrations, is one that can be used for many topics when working with little ones. It is definitely a good choice for hearts or Valentine's Day. It can also be used for a Zoo unit ~ or a Jungle unit ~ or a unit on Feelings and Emotions ~ or Colors and Shapes ~ or Counting or each individual animal like the penguin or crab or yak... The list is pretty extensive for such a simple, fun book.


I am using it in the first full week of February as a lead-in to my Valentine's Day celebration the following week. I know the little ones will love all of the animals, especially the lion. They always love to R-O-A-RRRRR! (Keep an eye out at the end of this post because I will be including a rhyme or two which will involve lots of roaring.)


Speaking of "roaring", my take-home craft will be the lion's face that is featured on the front and back cover of the book. As you have seen above, the face is bright and colorful and very simple to make. In fact, Michael Hall has done all the work for us. On the back of the cover, he includes a step-by-step how-to illustration! 

I did change a few steps to make it easier for my storytime friends. And I decided to add a popsicle stick or a long straw so that the children would be able to play with their lion like a puppet.

Making templates:



I made copies of the illustrations and increased their size until they were what I wanted.
 Here is my template.



I then made templates for each piece by cutting the hearts out of cardstock. 

This made my prep-time for 100 plus crafts go very quickly as I cut 3 to 5 hearts out at a time by stacking the paper, tracing the heart-shape on the top one, and then cutting 
them out all together. It takes a little practice but is fairly simple to do.

Supplies needed:

White cardstock for template

Brown construction paper

Tan construction paper

Red construction paper

Black construction paper

Pencil

Scissors

Holepunch

Scotch tape

Tacky glue

Jumbo popsicle stick or long straw

In preparing for my storytimes, I made the templates and then used them to cut out all of the hearts ahead of time. I also holepunched the black paper to make the eyes. 

If you want your child(ren) to help with the preparation:

* I would first demonstrate how to trace the pattern onto the construction paper. It might be      easier for your little one(s) if you hold the template in place for them. 

** Then I would supply them with a good pair of scissors and allow them to cut the hearts out. Helping them to turn the paper into the scissors.

*** Finally, I would demonstrate how to use the holepunch and then let them punch away! Yes, I know lions only have two eyes but little ones love to use the holepunch!

All three of the above steps are very good for eye-hand co-ordination and fine motor skills.

Directions for the little ones:

Glue the tan heart onto the the lion's mane like this.

Glue the second tan heart on top of the first ~ covering all of the first heart except the bottom curve.

Glue on the red heart for the nose.

Glue on the black dots for the eyes.

Turn the lion over and tape a jumbo popsicle stick or long straw to the back.

Ta daaa! You have a lion puppet to play with!

I usually show the example craft and then put it away. I want my storytime friends to feel free to create their own crafts without having to make it look exactly like the sample ~ unless following directions is one of my goals for that particular storytime.

Here are a few of my storytime friends' lion puppets that they made last year:

Cute, aren't they? I can't wait to see this year's lion creations!

How about a few activities to help you enjoy your lion puppets?

I'm a Lion

(A guessing rhyme)

I love to sleep all day in the sun,

And chase other animals just for fun.

In all the jungle, I'm number one.

Who am I?

I'm a lion!

ROARRRR!

Itsy Bitsy Monkey

(Sung to: "Itsy Bitsy Spider")

The itsy bitsy monkey climbed up the coconut tree.

Down came a coconut and hit him on the knee.

OUCH!

Out came the lion shaking his mighty mane.

ROARRR!

And the itsy bitsy monkey climbed up the tree again!

Where is Lion?

(Sung to: "Where Is Thumbkin?")

Where is lion?

Where is lion?

Here he is.

Here he is.

He's looking mighty hungry!

He's looking mighty hungry?!??!!

Better runaway!

Roarrr! Roarrr!Roarrr!

If you would like some more ideas to use with My Heart is Like a ZOO, please visit my blog post: Not a Flannel Friday: My Heart is Like a ZOO.

Also, be sure to check out the trailer for Michael Hall's unique, colorful book here.

And be sure to check out some fun activity pages from Harper Collins here. (A very special thank you to my friend, Library Quine, for sharing these pages with me so that I could share them with you.)

 

My Heart is Like a ZOO really touched my heart!

And I know it will touch yours, too! <3

Have fun with your lions!

Annnnd...

HAPPY READING TOGETHER!