Whose House Is This? - Flannel Friday

Greetings to everyone! This is my first Flannel Friday post. I've been meaning to join this awesome group for a good while, but just hadn't taken the plunge. Well, there is no time like the present and it's time to jump in!

To make my first splash, this Flannel Friday post is about my favorite flannel board that I had made just this past summer.

To celebrate my library's Summer Reading Program theme, "Get A Clue... At the Library!," I did a "It's a Mystery!" theme for the Toddler and Preschooler Storytime.

I found the rhyme "Whose House Is This?" on Lisa's Storytime Source Page and decided that it would be perfect for my toddlers.

"Whose House Is This?" flannel board, Toddler Storytime

created by Dorothy, WP-CC 2012

Whose House Is This? (T)

Does a frog live in a tree?

Does a frog live a nest?

Does a frog live on a lily pad?

Continue with other animals and where they live. 

Source: Storytime Source Page

I used a combo of templates from the forever-handy book 2'S Experience Felt Board Fun by Liz and Dick Wilmes, 1994 and a few of my own hand-drawn templates to make the animals and their homes.

I am :: in love:: with the sea star and whale! Actually, I don't know if "love" is even the right word to describe how much I like them! Oh, so cute!

For the Preschool Storytime group I simply added black silhouettes for each of the animals and had the children shout of their guesses as to what each shadow represented. For this I used the rhyme "Whose Shadow Am I?," which I found at Katie's blog Story Time Secrets.

Whose Shadow Am I? flannel board, Preschool Storytime

created by Dorothy WP-CC, 2012

Whose Shadow Am I? (AKA Shadow Guessing Game) (P)

I'm a shadow.

Look at me!

Do you know

Whose shadow I might be?

Source: Story Time Secrets

I'm looking forward to participating more with the rest of the Flannel Friday group! Have a great weekend! 

Agnes and Frankie - New Friends

There comes a time when you need a friend or two or three or more! I've been dreaming of having a Folkmanis puppet to call my own, and I finally decided that it was high time to treat myself. Perhaps that is one reason we have bad days! A recent bad week has equaled a week of treating myself!

Say "Hello" and "Howdy" to my new friends Agnes and Frankie! Aren't they sweet? Aren't they adorable? I think so!

Agnes and Frankie will hopefully make appearances at my storytimes. I think they'd go over very well with the toddlers. I am still getting acquainted with the idea of regular "special friend visits" or having a mascot at my storytimes. But I do have experience with my library's puppet mascots for the Summer Reading Program, so I know that it's only a matter of time. 

Agnes has already made her appearance in a special music video for the City. She was super excited to sing and dance with me! 

AGNES

Full Name: Agnes Daisy

Story Behind the Name: Agnes is a very sensible name, which at times is a necessity. Daisy because you should always have a special, happy flower associated with your other name. 

Breed: Dutch Rabbit

Birthday: September 10

Favorite Books: What Does Bunny See by Linda Sue Park and Maggie Smith, Possum Magic by Mem Fox just to name a few. 

Favorite Activities: Tea time with friends, rollicking in a garden, playing dress-up, doing art projects 

Perhaps-Little-Known-Facts: Loves mysteries and will read the occasional Miss Marple mystery by the great Agatha Christie. She also likes stories from the Anne of Green Gable series. 

FRANKIE 

Full Name: Franklin Wilberforce - "Frankie" 

Story Behind the Name: Miss Dorothy's little brother shouted "Frankie!" when he was shown a picture of me. It was fate! Franklin is his sensible name (inspired by Benjamin Franklin) and Wilberforce is his dignified name. 

Breed: African Elephant 

Birthday: September 02

Favorite Books: Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson 

Favorite Activities: Doing art projects, practicing magic tricks, telling jokes 

Perhaps-Little-Known-Facts: Gives his friends "Trunk Kisses" with his long trunk and likes wearing stylish shirts to programs.

Hope love them as much as I do! I'm looking forward to them joining in the fun! 

Yummy Fiesta - ¡A Comer! - A Storytime Outline

 ccHispanic Heritage Month spans across September 15 to October 15. To celebrate and add some culture to my library's storytime programming, I did my third storytime that revolved around it all. This year I focused on food (last year it was a Fiesta y Siesta theme that went OK) and it went great!

Typically, I find it hard to weave Spanish words into my readings. I can slaughter the English language just fine so I'm not always gung-ho on going into another language. However, perhaps the third time the charm! I wasn't corrected once! I had a mom help me pronounce "anaranjado" - the one color that always trips me up despite all the practice that I do! All in all I ended each program feeling happy and accomplished!

I think a big tip for handling a storytime like this, for someone who isn't very familiar and does not normally speak the language, is go forth with... baby steps. Don't plan on doing too much, especially for toddlers. Preschoolers can handle a little bit more. Do what you feel comfortable with doing!

T = Toddler Storytime

P = Preschool Storytime

BOOKS

1, 2, 3 to the Zoo written and illus. by Eric Carle (T) 

I did the English version of this book. I wanted to focus on the counting in Spanish with story. I'm a firm believer that start with the basics with toddlers, especially young toddlers like what attend my programs. 

Spicy Hot Colors = Colores Picantes written by Sherry Shahan and illus. by Paula Barragan (T, P)

This was a book that I recently discovered in my library's Spanish collection. It was perfect for my theme. I did come across the word "pardo" as a version of brown. None of my Spanish-speaking acquaintances knew this word, but from what I could figure out is that it could be Barzillian and referring to a skin tone or it could mean "brownish". Interesting. I changed it to "café". 

The Three Little Tamales written by Eric Kimmel and Illus. by Valerie Docampo (P)

I read this last year and it was a hit, especially since it's a piggyback of the Three Little Pigs. This year the preschoolers got to hold a wolf (Señor Lobo) prop and help recite his huffy and puffy refrain. 

The Cazuela That the Farm Maiden Stirred written by Samantha Vamos and illus. by Rafael Lopez (P)

OK, so I didn't get to do this book because we had so much fun during The Three Little Tamales story, but I was read to go on this one if time had permitted. 

SONGS & RHYMES

Open, Shut Them (T, P)

follow actions

Open, shut them

Open, shut them

Give a little clap

Open, shut them

Open, shut them

Lay them in your lap

Creep them, creep them up to your chin

Open your mouth wide, but don't put your fingers in!

Open, shut them

Open, shut them

Give a big clap

Open, shut them

Lay them in your lap

Five Empanadas (P)

Five empanadas sizzling in a pan (hold up five fingers)

One went POP! (clap!)

and then it went BAM! (slap knees!)

Four empanadas sizzling in a pan (hold up four fingers)

One went POP! (clap!)

and then it went BAM! (slap knees!) 

countdown to one...

One empanada sizzling in a pan (hold up one pan)

It went POP! (clap!)

and then it went BAM! (slap knees!)

Now there are no empanadas in the pan.

Ask the children what happened to the empanadas. Did we eat them anyway or did they explode all together?

You can also change out the food to something else, like Tamales.

Source: Harris County Public Library 

I'm a Piñata(T, P)
I'm a piñata colorful and bright,
Beautiful ribbons make me look just right,
But, alas, I have none,
So step right up and give me a (color name) one!
Source: Me! (Dorothy WP-CC)

Touch Your Nose (T, P)

follow actions

Touch your nose

Touch your chin

That's the way this game begins

Touch your eyes

Touch your knees

Now pretend you're going to sneeze!

Aaachooooo!

Touch your hair

Touch one ear

Touch your two red lips right here

Touch your elbow where it ends

And that's the way this touch game ends.

ACTIVITIES

Egg Shakers (T, P)

The toddlers and the preschoolers used their imagine when we played with our egg shakers. Today they were maracas! During Preschool Storytime the children got the opportunity to help come up with movement ideas beyond the usual (high in the sky, down low by our toes, by our tummies, behind our backs, really fast and really slow, and jumping jacks). They came up with: turning around and around (a very dizzying experience!), jumping really high, and dancing. 

FLANNEL BOARD

Piñata Streamers (T)

I made a donkey-shaped piñata and the children spent a few minutes placing little ribbon streamers to its body and surrounding board area. The ribbons liked to fall off and added an extra level of dexterity practice for their little fingers. I created the rhyme "I'm a Piñata" to go a long with the activity.

Five Empanadas (P)
I couldn't help but make my own empanadas for this rhyme. To make them, I cut my felt with a circle die cut and folded them in half with a little bit of stuffing in the middle to make it full looking. Then I glued little strips around the seams to make it look like the "dough" was crimped with a fork. Not too bad!

CRAFTS

Red Apple = Manzana roja Coloring Page (T)

This was a simple coloring sheet that has an apple tree and a die cut apple shape that the toddlers could glue and color. 

One Little Tamale Coloring Page (P)

To tie into the story The Three Little Tamales the preschoolers got to glue a picture of a wolf, a cactus, and a rectangle to a sheet of construction paper. They got to create their own tamale character. 

PICTURES

Piñata Streamers flannel board, Toddler Storytime,
created by Dorothy WP-CC, 2012

Five Empanadas, Preschool Storytime, flannel board,
created by Dorothy WP-CC, 2012

Señor Lobo props for The Three Little Tamales,
Preschool Storytime, created by Dorothy WP-CC, 2012

Red Apple = Manzana roja Coloring Page, Toddler Storytime,
created by Dorothy WP-CC, 2012

One Little Tamale Coloring Page, Preschool Storytime,
created by Dorothy WP-CC, 2012

MORE BOOKS 

Fiesta Babies written by Carmen Tafolla and illus. by Amy Cordova (T) 

Let's Eat! = ¡A Comer! written by Pat More and illus. by Maribel Suarez (T) 

The Rooster Who Went to His Uncle's Wedding: A Latin American Folktale retold by Alma Flor Ada and illus. by Kathleen Kuchera (P)

Mice and Beans written by Pam Munoz Ryan and illus. by Joe Capeda (P)