Five Green and Speckled Frogs for the Felt Board

 
After working years in the childcare field  I would have to hazard a guess that Five Green and Speckled Frogs is the most common felt board song that I have observed from my colleagues. I certainly use my felt board pieces a great deal, either with preschool ages or toddlers. In addition, I also have felt puppets in my collection, with one being made within my days as an ECE student. I like how my frogs turned out, and I think what makes them so adorable, is those googly eyes and smiles!

Wow, how long has this been in my circle time "toolbox"?

Online Early Childhood Workshops with Circle of Ideas

Flannel Friday Roundup for February 7th

Hi Everyone and thank you for your contributions!

To begin, welcome Jennifer with her first contribution! She provided us some felt props to be used with the story, Cupcake by Charise Mericle Harper on her blog Storytime Extras. Her blog is filled with great ideas.


Kathryn over at Fun with Friends at Storytime provided us with the cutest dragons ever, that were inspired after reading the book, George and the Dragon by Chris Wormell many times over with her grandson J.


Our next contribution comes in two parts titled Feeling a Little (Hermit) Crabby inspired with kindergarteners and Eric Carle's Hermit the Crab which can be found on her blog: A Librarian Less Ordinary. Mrs. Todd collaborated with others and the outcome is amazing. As she explained herself..."I hope you're inspired to do your own over-the-top Eric Carle study".

Storytime Crafts provides us with props for a theme about Alligators and/or Crocodiles for as stated on the blog, indeed children don't care about the difference! :)

Brooke at Reading With Red sent in a contribution from her "Play and Learn" center all about Building a Snowman. The different felt pieces to create one's snowman are so cute, especially the hats!

Sharon at Rain Makes Applesauce and her blog title: Weeding the StoryTime Collection:. An Unconventional Flannel Friday sort of says it all :) Her blog describes how the library where she works are having the carpets replaced which led into a major weeding process for her and her staff members.Think we can all relate to that. As a preschool teacher I have weeded many a cupboard/closet of its belongings!

Katie at Story Time Secrets has sent us felt board pieces inspired by the rhyme, Mother and Father and Uncle John. It is a poem usually used when bouncing with babies. She has provided the words, a link to view it, and ideas for extending the rhyme with preschool aged children.

Lisa at Libraryland created felts to accompany the classic children's book Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? She used her die cut machine and said it was easy to use the felt material and was happy with the outcome.

At Library Village,  Miss Sue made the most adorable  mailbag and envelopes inspired by one she found on Pinterest. She used it with her new theme: Letter of the Month. I love her idea of putting the letter and something that begins with that letter in each bag!

MissMaryLiberry provided felt pieces spelling out B U N N Y to help the children have some indoor movement after all the cold cold weather. As she wrote it "was a great movement activity that incorporated letter knowledge, letter sounds, phonological awareness, and just plain FUN".

Bridget's contribution this week at What is Bridget Reading? displays bird houses with shapes which she was inspired to create from a Flannel Friday contributor. She looks forward to using the felts with various Storytime themes.

My contribution this week is  felt pieces to be used with Down by the Bay. Although the post is from awhile ago, I have been singing the song alot this week with the children at my workplace, and smile on the inside with how much they love singing those lyrics again and again!

Old Macdonald Had a Farm--Felt Board and Finger Puppet

Old Macdonald Had a Farm---Ei, Ei, O....such a classic song, and perfect for young children, particularly toddlers as they begin learning the sounds of animals with the beginning stages of language development.

An alternative way of sharing the song aside from making felt pieces for the felt board, is to make puppets for children to enjoy.

Another idea for making puppets for Old Macdonald Had a Farm is to make stick puppets. For further information, visit my other blog by clicking on the photo below.

Online Early Childhood Workshops with Circle of Ideas

Let the Children Play---with the Felt Board

This winter at the childcare centre where I have been working, we placed out my matching mitten felt activity, as well as a Christmas Tree to decorate.

The felts on the felt board have been an activity for nearly three weeks now!  We eventually put the Christmas tree away after the holidays. Children who are actively playing and interacting with material are learning through the process.

Online Early Childhood Workshops with Circle of Ideas

Snowflakes for the Felt Board with Template

Five Little Snowflakes

This felt activity requires only one template, some googly eyes, and fabric paint. Use the snowflake template to cut out five white snowflakes. Decorate them with a fun smile, and some googly eyes. To view the template, please visit: http://issuu.com/circleofideas/docs/snowflake


Here is a poem to attach to this felt activity:

One little snowflake with nothing to do
Along came another and then there were two
Two little snowflakes playing in a tree
Along came another and then there were three
Three little snowflakes looking for some more
Along came another and then there were four
Four little snowflakes that finally did arrive
Along came another and then there were five
Five little snowflakes having so much fun
Out came the sun and then there were none.


FURTHER RESOURCES: Snowflake Preschool Songs

                                            Snow and Ice Preschool Activities

Online Early Childhood Workshops with Circle of Ideas

The Wheels on the Bus for the Felt Board

The Wheels on the Bus is such a classic song, that young children, particularly toddlers, always enjoy. For caregivers, the song is a great one for it can change in its length, by adding or subtracting the verses. In daycare situations, sometimes every verse is sung and maybe sung again to keep the children seated and entertained! And, the felt pieces for the felt board is an additional bonus:)

When I am using these felts and singing the song, I start with the outside of the bus, and then go to the inside of the bus, and place the bus over the seats to finish the song. The children love it!

Online Early Childhood Workshops with Circle of Ideas

Felt Advent Calendars

Several years ago, I participated in a Christmas fair with my felt board product. I created these Christmas Advent Calendars and they were a big hit. I am not a sewer, glue is my friend. But, simply browsing through Pinterest and one can find AMAZING Advent Calendars made from felt. I have provided a few at the end of this blog. So whether making them with the sewing machine or not, they are a nice addition for the holidays. I particularly like the hanging felt trees, which children would love to interact with:)



From CraftWhatever Blog with Tutorial



runlorirun.typepad.com

Polar Bear Felt Board and Penguin Felt Board Ideas



 

 

Polar Bears and Penguins are animals that fit well into a preschool winter curriculum. The following blog entry provides some felt story ideas and links to include into any early childhood setting.

Templates for Polar Bear, Polar Bear by Eric Carle

There Was a Little Penguin by Storytime ABC's

By A Bad Case of Books

Five Little Penguins

By Crafty Chic Mommy




Online Early Childhood Workshops with Circle of Ideas

Bear Felt Board Stories

There are so many felt stories that include bears. The following entry provides a handle of suggestions, correlating well if carrying out a Bear theme with children.

Bear Story #1  

To begin with the classic, Brown Bear Brown Bear by Eric Carle. A great book for toddlers to encourage language development and to allow them opportunities to demonstrate which animals they can label. In addition, this story encourages color recognition.

Bear Felt Story # 2   

The Mitten by Jann Brett is such a fun story to include into a winter curriculum or a mitten theme. One great idea I once observed with a library visit was the story told with stuffed animals and a large woolen mitten!

Bear Felt Story #3   

Down By the Bay is a fun song/book which introduces rhyming with children. A great extension is to see whether children can create their own verses.

Further reading: Polar Bears and Penguins

Online Early Childhood Workshops with Circle of Ideas