Flannel Friday: Giggling Ghost Fun!

It's Friday again!

Time for some 

Halloween 

FUN

with 

Giggling Ghosts! 

Last week I presented some unusual "ghostly props" that were lots of fun with the little ones so... this week, I would like to share another equally fun "ghostly prop" for storytimes that is actually a "ghostly POP" ~ as in lollipop! :o)

 It is a

  

"Giggling Ghost Pop" 

Yum! Yum!

I use this prop to help me introduce the idea of Halloween to even my youngest groups of storytime friends. It provides an age-appropriate way to talk about all the scary things we all see around us at this time of year. Remember, no matter how hard a parent might try, their child will encounter "scary" or "spooky" things on television, in the stores, at other people's homes, etc. 

***It is practically impossible to shelter a child completely from Halloween images.*** 

Because of this near impossiblility, I try each year to empower the parents at my storytimes by sharing ways that they can help their child/ren to deal with this time of year.

My Giggling Ghost Pop is made from a large lollipop and other items you will probably find around your home, classroom, or library. Here is a list of supplies for my large Giggling Ghost Pop:

Large lollipop

Two sheets of white paper towels

Thin ribbon (Mine is purple)

Black marker

To make the Giggling Ghost Pop:

1.  First, lay the paper towels on top of each other ~ kind of cattywompus. Then lay the large lollipop in the center.

2. Wrap the paper towels around the large lollipop and tie with the ribbon tightly around the top of the stick. 

3. Last ~ but not least! ~ draw a silly ghost face with the black marker.

Now, the Giggling Ghost Pop is ready for some storytime fun!

I begin the ghostly portion of my storytime by talking about all the scary things that we see around us at this time of year. I ask if the children have ever looked closely at the things that are spooky or scary to them. After a short discussion, I mention that:

"Sometimes ~ when we think something is spooky or scary, it really isn't! 

To see what I mean, let's take a look at a silly ghost. (I bring the ghost pop out from behind my back and yell, "BOO!") 

Was that scary?

Well, this is a silly ghost. He is lots of fun to play with. He likes to fly around as I say this fun rhyme":

The Ghosts Fly In

The ghosts fly in.

The ghosts fly out.

The ghosts are certainly

All about!

The ghosts fly high.

Then dive down low.

They're always spooky 

Wherever they go!

The ghost fly around

All dressed in white.

Did you ever see 

Such a spooky sight?

I fly the ghost pop in and out, up and down, and all around as I recite the poem. If the little ones are laughing then I fly it close to them. If they seem a little hesitant then I fly it close to a couple of adults. At the end, I ask if anyone can guess what is underneath my ghost.

I usually get lots of different answers but, almost without fail, I will have at least one child guess correctly. That is when I take the "ghost costume" off the yummy lollipop and we discuss the idea that if you look closer at the things that scare you, you will often find something silly, friendly, or even yummy underneath.

I have had many, many parents over the years come back after Halloween and thank me for this particular discussion. They are often surprised at how well their child understood the idea behind looking closer at what appears to be scary or spooky. Several have shared anecdotes with me about how their child has repeated parts of our storytime discussion to a sibling, a young friend, or even to a grandparent. And many more have reported that their child has wanted to make ghost lollipops for their friends for Halloween! I love that!

As a treat for the end of our Giggling Ghost programs, I do have ghost lollipops and a copy of the rhyme for each child to take home. Sometimes, we have to search our "haunted library" to find the ghost pops. When I do the search, I usually allow the children to find two ghosts ~ one for each hand. 

The smaller ghosts are made with Dum Dum suckers, yarn, and tissues. A very inexpensive and fun treat! I often don't even add a face to the ghosts because I encourage the families to add the faces at home while talking about feelings. One ghost might have a happy face. Another one might be sad, scared, or surprised! Great opportunity for extending the storytime discussion into each home.

I hope you enjoyed our ghostly discussion today. :o) And that you have a SAFE and HAPPY HALLOWEEN next Wednesday! 

And, as always,

HAPPY READING TOGETHER!

For more Flannel Friday Fun please checkout this week's Flannel Friday Round-Up that is being hosted by Lisa on her blog, Libraryland. Enjoy!

Not a Flannel Friday: Ghostly Props

It's time for

FLANNEL FRIDAY!

YAY!

 I missed out on sharing last week so I am very happy to have something to share this week. :o)

This week is not a flannel set but it is a fun, inexpensive idea to add a little glow-in-the-dark ghostly excitement to your Halloween or pumpkin storytimes.

While shopping for a Halloween Spook-tacular yesterday, I came across some very cute window clings.

Looking at them started me thinking about several books, songs and fingerplays that I could use them with. I loved the idea of something new that took little to no effort ~ just a little money ~ from me. Plus I really LOVED the idea that some of them glow-in-the-dark ~ a perfect addition to my October Pajama Party when we turn out the lights for our short children's movie following storytime.

The first way I used them was based on the book:

Five Spooky Ghosts

written by Salina Yoon

 Here is how it starts:

 "Five spooky ghosts haunt a pumpkin patch."

Out of respect for Ms Yoon, I will only share a few sentences here. I highly recommend that you look for the book at your library. It is a fun one for even the littlest of ghosts!

 "Four spooky ghosts..."

"Three spooky ghosts..."

"Two spooky ghosts are scared by a bat."

"One spooky ghost yells..."

Be sure to check out the book so that you can find out what happens when

everyone hears the ghost yell, "Boo!"

The second activity that I used my glow-in-the-dark window clings for is an oldie but goodie! It is:



Five Little Pumpkins



Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate.

(Count pumpkins together.)

The first one said, "Oh, my! It's getting late!"

(Point to each pumpkin as you say the rhyme.)

The second one said, "There are ghosts in the air."

(Add ghosts to board.)

The third one said, "But we don't care!"

The fourth one said, "I'm ready for some fun."

The fifth one said, "Let's run and run and run."

"Oooooh!" went the wind.

And out when the lights!

(Have someone flip off the light.)

And the five little pumpkins rolled out of sight.

(Place "Happy Halloween" on the board and remove

pumpkins as you turn the light back on.)

I tried to take a picture of the board with the lights out. It didn't turn out very good but here it is:







Flannel Friday: Halloween Extravaganza

It's 

a 

Flannel Friday

Halloween Extravaganza!

"It's Halloween night and the moon shines bright. 

We run through the gate and can hardly wait.

We ring the bell and then we yell..."

Sound like an exciting time? 

It is all part of the fun in the book, 

It's Halloween Night!

Written by Jennifer O'Connell

Illustrated by Jennifer Morris

As you will be able to quickly tell, my storytelling pieces are not like the illustrations in the book ~ for the most part. I have had a collection of young "Trick-or-Treaters" that I made many, many years ago and I decided to update them this year. I also added a few new friends, too!

When I first made my original set, they were smaller and they were printed on white paper and then colored with markers. This time around, they are each between 7 and 8 inches tall and made using the cut-paper technique ~ one of my favorite ways to make story pieces.

The pieces I am sharing today are a mix of old and new Trick-or-Treaters. With the help of a special and very talented friend, I was able to make the new ones look very similar to the old ones. Can you guess which ones are the newer friends?

I use them for several activities that I will share at another time but, for now, here are the friends who join me when I share the book, It's Halloween Night!

***Out of respect for the author, I will only share a few of the guessing rhymes.***

But! I think everyone should have this book in their storytime collection for little ones!

"It's Halloween night and I'll be a fright!

With this pointy hat and my spooky cat,

I'm a..."

"WITCH!"

Then we meet: 

a Ghost!

a Bear!

a Vampire!

and, finally, 

"It's Halloween night. My costume's just right.

With my satin gown and golden crown, 

I'm a..."

"PRINCESS!"

What happens next?!??! 

You will have to read the book to find out! ;o) 

But, I will tell you ~ it is Halloween FUN for all!

Now, besides these five cute Trick-or-Treaters, I have more! I use them to tell my Halloween version of Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? Depending on the program, my Halloween version might be entitled, White Ghost, White Ghost or Black Cat Black Cat. Be sure to check back soon for my full Halloween version. It's Spook-tacular! 

In the meantime, here is a sneak peek at one of my other Trick-or-Treaters:

a Skeleton!

That's it for now. Be sure to check out the rest of the Flannel Friday Round-Up this week being hosted by Mary at her website, Miss Mary Liberry. 

It is worth a look because:

And, as always, 

HAPPY READING TOGETHER!

Flannel Friday Guest Posts: Apple Farmer

This week we have a return Guest Poster for the Flannel Friday Round-Up. 

Lindy is back! 

Yay!

To learn a little about Lindy, you can visit her first Guest Post here.

And now, here is her contribution for this week:

Apple Farmer

(Sung to "Bingo")

There was a farmer had some trees.

His apples were so tasty.

A-P-P-L-E

A-P-P-L-E

A-P-P-L-E

His apples were so tasty!

Continue singing the next verse and turn over the first apple and clap like when singing "Bingo".

Continue singing, turning over apples and clapping until the last apple is turned.

Then everyone yells, "Yum yum!"

Not a Flannel Friday: Celebrating Talk Like a Pirate Day!

AVAST, me hearties!

It be time to celebrate!

Aaaaarrrrr!

If you follow this blog or my Flannel Friday posts at all, then you know how much I adore anything pirate-y. 

If you know about my love for pirate treasures ~ then you have probably guessed that I look forward to Talk Like a Pirate Day each year. And, oooooh, how I DO look forward to it!

If you have never heard of this very special day, you can learn about the celebration here.

For this year, I have been working on adding things for younger children to my pirate stash of things to share when it is time to set sail with the Captain at a storytime for little ones. 

Recently, I came across a delightfully illustrated Board Buddies book entitled,  Pirates!

Illustrations by Viviana Garofoli

The simple and easy-to-follow text presents the exciting antics of a small band of young pirates. Your younger child(ren) will enjoy the brightly colored illustrations, especially the expressive faces of the pirate crew. They remind me a little of the old Peanuts characters ~ especially Charlie Brown! ;o) 

For my Flannel Friday Round-Up contribution this week, I have made a magnetic board set of 5 young pirates. These could be made for use on a flannel board by backing them with a little felt or they could be made into stick puppets so that you could have 5 children actively participate in the rhymes by holding the stick puppets up in front of the group ~ until you take them back as you count-down with the last rhyme.

Each pirate is around 9 to 10 inches tall.

For the first activity, I am sharing a piggy-back song:

One Brave Pirate

(Sung to the tune of "One Little Elephant")

One brave pirate sailed out to sea

Across the blue waters, wild and free

He had such enormous fun

That he called for another brave pirate to come.

Two brave pirates sailed out to sea

Across the blue waters, wild and free

They had such enormous fun

That they called for another brave pirate to come.

Continue counting up to five 

~ adding another pirate with each verse.

Special note: As you can see, I used the illustrations from the book to create my cute little pirates. Out of respect for the illustrator, I am only posting a few pictures here. I will be using these adorable pirates along with the book so that I can give credit where credit is due! I feel that by creating a magnetic set that mimics the illustrations in the book, I am adding some cohesion to my storytimes. The little ones will be able to more easily connect the book with the song and rhyme. It also gives me an opportunity to talk briefly with the adults about the importance of reading well-illustrated books with characters that appeal to younger children. These little guys are perfect for this "teachable moment" discussion.

Five Scurvy Pirates

Five scurvy pirates standing on the shore,

One went on a search and that left four.

Four scurvy pirates sailing out to sea,

One went for a swim and that left three.

Three scurvy pirates out on the ocean blue,

One walked the plank and that left two.

Two scurvy pirates having tons of fun,

One went below the deck and that left one.

One scurvy pirate, tired and alone,

He turned the ship around and sailed for home.

The book actually only had 3 different pirates so we had to play around with them in Photoshop to make 5 pirates for the set. This is the same guy with a few tweaks, like different hair color:

We also made a few changes to this guy ~ a solid-colored bandana and striped:pajama pants to match his shirt!

We all had a blast at our Talk Like a Pirate celebration! We sang and danced like pirates. We counted pirates and fish. And we even "swam in the ocean" with lots of other sea creatures. We topped off storytime with a yummy snack of fish crackers while we made Pirate Spyglasses to take home. We used pirate stickers, jewel stickers and colorful beads to decorate our spyglasses:

I have one more picture to share ~ just for fun. ;o) It is our youngest storytime pirate. She is only 2 months old! So precious!

Enjoy your weekend!
And, as always,

HAPPY READING TOGETHER!

Flannel Friday Guest Post: Five Little Leaves

On Tuesday, I met up with a good friend (also a local children's librarian). During our conversation I mentioned that I was hosting the Flannel Friday Round-Up this week. She was very excited to hear about the group and wanted to know more. I showed her the website and a few of the past Round-Ups on my laptop. 

She loved them! 

But ~ was a little bummed because she doesn't have a blog. I offered to have her as a "Guest Poster" anytime she wanted to share an idea. This interested her immediately.

She asked what our theme was for this week. After my explanation that we don't usually have a theme, she asked what I was doing for the week. When I mentioned Fall leaves, she smiled happily and said that she might have something to contribute since that was her storytime theme this week, too. 

And that is how we came to have "Lindy" as a Guest Poster this week! 
(I put her name in quotes because she doesn't want me to use her real name yet. Her library is rather strict about an "on-line presence" so she isn't sure if she would get in trouble or not. Until she has a chance to find out, she will be "Lindy".)

Lindy works mostly with 3 and 4 year olds. She "enjoys seeing their faces light up when she shares a new song or rhyme so she tries to share a new one each week". (That is the reason she was excited to learn about our group! New songs and rhymes!)

This week at her Fall storytimes, she shared a magnetic board rhyme called "Five Little Leaves". She mentioned that  it should be easily transferred to a flannel board set.

Here is the rhyme and a few pictures that Lindy emailed me:

Five Little Leaves

Five little leaves in the tree next door,

One fell off and then there were four.

Four little leaves all over the tree,

A bird pulled off one and now there are three.

Three little leaves up where the wind blew,

One fell off and then there were two.

Two little leaves sitting in the sun,

A bug ate a leaf and now there is one.

One little leaf in the tree alone,

The wind blew and blew and now there are none.

Lindy says that she starts with a bare tree on the magnetic board and has the children help her count each leaf as she puts it on the tree. Then, as she recites the rhyme, she adds the other pieces (bird, grasshopper, wind) to the board as they appear in the rhyme and removes a leaf with each verse.

Other pieces:

Lindy made her magnetic pieces by finding pictures in books that her library has in their professional collection. She copied the bird, grasshopper, and cloud pictures onto white construction paper and colored them with crayons before laminating them. For the tree, she cut the trunk out of brown construction paper ~ freehand! (I'm impressed!) ~ and then diecut the leaves out of green construction paper. She laminated these pieces, too, Then she added a piece of magnetic stripping to the back of each one.

Lindy recommends this counting rhyme for many different storytimes. She has used it for Fall, trees, birds, bugs, and even a weather storytime. Very versatile!

Thanks, Lindy, for joining us this week and sharing this fun magnetic board set and rhyme. I hope you can join us again for another Flannel Friday Round-Up real soon!

Flannel Friday: Fall Leaves are Falling!

Fall is almost here!

With it's cooler days and colorful leaves!

When I first arrived in Florida years ago, I thought that I would not be seeing any of the color-changing leaves of Fall. Florida has only one season, right?

I was wrong! Even though Fall isn't that much cooler here, we do still have some trees around that change colors. I was very happy to see this because, as a preschool teacher, one of my favorite Fall storytimes was all about leaves ~ green ones, red ones, yellow ones, orange ones, and even brown ones! I love the colors of Fall, don't you? So bright and vibrant!

Today, I want to share a few songs and ideas for enjoying the colorful leaves of Fall. 

The first song is such a simple one but it is a tremendous amount of fun and very interactive! Let's get moving!

To prepare for this activity, I have 5 leaves that I have diecut from felt. They are green, red yellow, orange, and brown. I used our Maple leaf diecut and made my leaves all the same shape so that we could discuss same and different once we have counted the leaves onto the board. First, we count as I add each leaf. Then, I ask if the leaves are the same or different ~ they are both! The leaves are the same shape but they are different colors. Next, we name each color and sign the ASL sign for each one.

Here is where I make this song/activity a little more interactive. In advance, I diecut a set of Fall leaves for each child out of construction paper. I give each child a set and ask them to place the leaves in a row in front of them as they are sitting on the ground.

Next, I make the ASL sign for Green and ask the children to hold up their leaf of the correct color. Once we have finished our "color recognition by sign" activity, we are ready for this song:

The Leaves on the Tree

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

As we sing the first verse, the children hold up
the green leaf and wave it in the air.

The leaves on the trees are green, green, green.

Green, green, green. 

Green, green, green.

The leaves on the trees are green, green, green,
All around the town.

For this verse, the child holds up the red leaf,
then orange, and waves them in the air.

The leaves on the trees are red and orange.

Red and orange. 

Red and orange.

The leaves on the trees are red and orange,
All around the town.

For this verse, the child holds up the yellow leaf, 
then brown, and waves them in the air.

The leaves on the trees are yellow and brown.

Yellow and brown. 

Yellow and brown.

The leaves on the trees are yellow and brown,
All around the town.

For this verse, the child holds up any leaves 
that they choose and twirl them down to the ground.

The leaves on the trees come tumbling down.

Tumbling down. 

Tumbling down.

The leaves on the trees come tumbling down,
All around the town.

For this verse, the child lays the leaves 
on the ground and pats hands up and down on them.

The leaves on the ground go crunch, crunch, crunch.

Crunch, crunch, crunch.
Crunch, crunch, crunch.

The leaves on the ground go crunch, crunch, crunch.
All around the town.

For this verse, the child lays the leaves 
on the ground and swishes them 
into the air with their hands.

The leaves on the ground go swish, swish, swish.

Swish, swish, swish.
Swish, swish, swish.

The leaves on the ground go swish, swish, swish.

All around the town.

I provide each family with a printout of the words and allow the children to take home a set of leaves so they can sing the song at home with them.

So that is my favorite Fall leaves interactive activity. 

Very, very simple!

 I shared this song at our Family Game Night for September. To continue the leaf fun, we played with some artificial fall leaves and our parachute. 

The children AND the parents had a BLAST!

Stay tuned for details on the games we played with the
parachute and our colorful leaves.

Before I go, I want to share a second simple song that I use to calm down a rowdy group during any type of Fall program. We usually sing this song two or more times. To start, I ask where leaves grow and talk about them being high in a tree. I ask the children to raise their hands high above their heads and we wiggle each hand as we count 1-2. As we start singing, we twirl our hands:

Leaves Are Twirling

(Sung to the tune of: "Frere Jacques")

Leaves are twirling.

Leaves are twirling.

All around

All around.  

They are falling softly,

Very, very softly, 

To the ground, 

To the ground.

When we sing "all around", I encourage the children to make large sweeping motions with their hands ~ crossing several times in front of their bodies. Then, as we sing the rest of the song in a very soft, quiet voice, we slowly bring our hands down to the ground.

This is a very calming song to use as a transition from a more lively activity into the sharing of a book or flannel story.

Thanks for stopping by today. I am the host for the Flannel Friday Round-Up this week so check below for the Blog Hop and all of the creative posts.

Have a delightful weekend!

And, as always,

HAPPY READING TOGETHER!