Guest Post: Shh…Sheep (Flannel Friday)
Kristine Millard, Children’s Librarian from Lodi Woman’s Club Public Library is a member of the Flannel Friday Facebook group. Kristine doesn’t have a blog and I offered her Rain Makes Applesauce.
Take it away Kristine:
Shortly after I first found Flannel Friday (that’s a lot of alliteration), I was excited by the folder stories. My excitement came from the absolute favorite prop in my baby story times. Years ago, I found a pattern for a folder version of Baa, Baa, Black Sheep in Dr. Jean Feldman’s book The Best of Dr. Jean: Puppets & Storytime, 2005. I’ve had families ask to copy the image to go home and make their own, and if we don’t sing the song for a couple weeks, I often hear requests to bring it back.
When I originally created mine, I just used the colors of paper that were in the magic story time closet. Somewhere along the way I discovered that I had created an order for them which helped me remember what was coming up even if I was holding the prop in front of my body. I live in Wisconsin, so this order is skewed toward our major sports teams. Black is of course first. Following is white because high contrast is the first sort of colors babies can see. Next is red (white and red for the Wisconsin Badgers.) We slide along to green in a bit of a Christmas color connection. Green is, of course, followed by yellow when in Packer land. Yellow then matches with blue for the Milwaukee Brewers. Blue is followed by pink in the traditional baby color frame of mind. Finally, we have purple, just because I like it. I don’t believe I have ever shared the reasoning behind my color order before, but it just works for me. I highly suggest laminating that little sheep to within an inch of its life. If you do not, you’ll have to remember where to find the pattern when an overzealous little hand gets hold of it.
This rhyme is not relegated solely to baby story time. Toddlers and preschoolers also enjoy having this taste of their early library memories return for any farm themed day. It’s also fun to pair this with books like:
Sheep in a Jeep by Nancy Shaw
Time to sleep, sheep the sheep by Mo Willems
Extension activities:
In the spring, see if a local farmer has a lamb that is being bottle fed. If so, he/she might be willing to bring it to story time.
Find a local fiber artist who works with wool. If you know someone who spins, you might get to feel the wool in many stages, freshly sheared, cleaned, carded, spun, etc.
If you do not have access to actual sheep and wool, use cotton balls during craft time. You can work on the kids’ fine motor skills by allowing them to pick up the cotton with clothespins.
Early literacy tip:
Aside from being fun, singing songs with your baby/ toddler helps them hear words being broken up into smaller sounds. This helps them later when trying to sound out words in the early stages of reading.
Cock-a-Doodle Quack Quack by Ivor Baddiel
If you’ve been a faithful follower of Rain Makes Applesauce, you’ll know that I adore farm animals. I’m strictly sub-urban in my lifestyle, but books for story time [To paraphrase Ol-ee-veh in Green Acres]: Farm livin’ is the life for me.
So, it’s no surprise that Cock-a-Doodle Quack Quack by Ivor Baddiel caught my eye. I made this flannel in 2007 and I’m happy to share it today. I forgot how cute the story is…
It starts with a baby rooster… He knows it’s his job to wake people up, he just doesn’t know how….
So, he asks his friend Piggy
I know it’s my job to wake everyone up in the morning, but I don’t know what to say!
Pigs say Oink…
So in the morning baby rooster tries,
Cock-a-doodle Oink
To baby Rooster’s surprise, nothing happened… so he told his friend Cow about his troubles.
Cows say Moo!
So in the morning baby rooster tries,
Cock-a-doodle Moooo
To baby Rooster’s surprise, nothing happened… so he told his friend Duck about his troubles.
- Ducks say “Quack”!!!
So in the morning baby rooster tries,
Cock-a-doodle QUACK
To baby Rooster’s surprise, nothing happened… baby Rooster was sad.
Cat saw how sad Rooster was and suggested Rooster see Owl
Owls are wise you see!
After a discussion (see book for details), Owl suggests that Rooster not say anything in the morning….
After a long night, baby Rooster stood on the farm gate…
and waited and waited and listened.
He took a deep breath
Cock-a-Doodle Poo!
no, that wasn’t right
Cock-a-Doodle-Noooo!
no, that wasn’t right.
He took a giant breath and
Cock-a-doodle DOOOOOOOOOO!
It worked! He found his voice! YAY!
The Singing Chick by Victoria Stenmark
I like this story. There’s a song in it (I make up a completely different tune in my head each time I tell the story). It’s fun to do with puppets as well.
As always I will sum up the story and not tell it completely, in respect to the author.
On a beautiful day, an egg lays on the ground. It hatches, surveys all there is to see then breaks out into song:
The sky is so blue / the sun is so yellow!
The trees are so green / and I’m a hap-py fellow!
Peep – Peep! Pirrippi! Peep-peep! Peep-peep!
a happy fellow....
So, the Happy Fellow goes on his way and meets a fox ….
... hello lunch!
The Fox eats the Chick who breaks out into song … by the time he gets to the “Happy fellow” part, he is terribly confused especially while he skips into the forest. In the forest he meets up with a…
He has a headache!
It’s nice and peaceful, until the wolf starts to break into song. And skipping!
Peep-peep! Peep-peep! Pirrippi
right into … a Bear!
He was eating raspberries, when all of a sudden...
Bear was eating raspberries and unhappy when wolf carelessly bumped into him. All Wolf can say is “Peep!” After much discussion, Bear eats Wolf and breaks into song!
The sky is so blue / the sun is so yellow!
The trees are so green / and I’m a hap-py fellow!
Peep – Peep! Pirrippi! Peep-peep! Peep-peep!
Thankfully, something happens and bear coughs up Wolf , Wolf coughs up Fox, and Fox coughs up Chick. And everyone stopped singing …well, most of them.
• • • • • •
Kay Leigh has the round-up this week.
To learn about Flannel Friday, go see Miss Anne. She’s got it all organized.
And, Melissa has a handy search tool to find all things story time.
Kangaroos Saturday Storytime 2.18.2012
Saturday Storytime
attendance: 54 there were all sorts of ages from babies to toddlers with lots of preschoolers. There were far more dads than moms today. I’d say about 75% of the parental units were dads. I like that about Saturday story times.
Miss Mouse Hides Inside of Pockets
Miss Mouse was wearing her red and black dress. She showed us the large ♥ box of chocolates. Empty.
Miss Mouse: was hiding behind in pockets. This was cute! I’d never used them before and all the elements inside the pockets (save Miss Mouse) were items that start with the letter P: pickles, pjs, popcorn, etc. Who puts a pickle in a pocket? Pickle, pigs, pjs and popcorn all start with P!! Oh, and pizza too!
fingerplay: Clap. Clap your lap.
Book 1: Pouch by David Ezra Stein. I like this story. I had to fill in a few words to make it work as a read-aloud, but a great book. We hopped along in our seat every time Pouch hopped.
Fingerplay: Roll, Roll, Sugar Babies
Prop Story: Joey by Jack Kent. This is a lap story that a friend made for me years ago. Joey’s mom’s pouch expands as his friends show up. It’s great.
Song: Jack Be Nimble. Jumping seemed the only thing to do for this story time. (I still don’t have a source for this song…)
Prop Story 2: McGillycuddy Could by Pamela Duncan Edwards McGillycuddy visits the farm and learns his talents for running, jumping, hopping, and boxing aren’t as grand as laying eggs, growing wool, making milk… or is it? I have all the puppets for this, so I turned it into a prop story. (Isn’t it funny how I turn every story time into a farm animal extravaganza?)
Fingerplay: Hickory Dickory Dock
Flannel Story: Katy No Pocket by Emmy Payne
Fingerplay: Fee Fie Fo Fum
Book: Boing by Nick Bruel. This one doesn’t have a lot of words so I did some explaining. Cute. If my audience were filled with lots of young kids it wouldn’t have worked…
Finger story: Miss Cat and Mr. Dog
Book: If you’re Happy and You know it by David Carter.
This was such a fun story time. It was different and filled with things we hadn’t done in a long time!
My Red Umbrella by Robert Bright
I’m not sure I’ve ever read the book My Red Umbrella by Robert Bright. People were talking about it on the Flannel Friday Facebook page — and I’ve been meaning to present it — so this seemed like the right week to do so. It’s been around our library as long as I’ve been (1997) and I believe it was created by a volunteer. It seems some people have the umbrella grow as each animal joins the party. This flannelized version doesn’t grow with the story so perhaps this is more based on the book. This is one of my favorites; I love the opportunity for audience participation. And I love how the story builds on itself — we’re working on sequences!
The synopsis: A Little Girl goes on a walk and she wonders why she is carrying an umbrella on such a day as this.
Sunny, then a cloud appears in the sky...
So the girl gets out her Red Umbrella.
That is some umbrella!
Soon she comes upon a dog, it was wet and cold in the rain.
poor wet doggie
Come join me under my umbrella, there’s room enough here for both of us.
The two continue walking and come upon a
Kitty -- all wet and bedraggled
Come join us under my umbrella, there’s room enough here for all of us.
So the dog and cat and the girl continue and come upon a
Chicken and Rabbit...
Come join us under my umbrella, there’s room enough here for all of us.
And the dog and the cat and the chicken and the bunny and the girl continue and come upon a
Sweet lamb and...
...shivering goat.
Come join us under my umbrella, there’s room enough here for all of us.
So … the girl and the dog and the kitty and the chicken and the bunny and the pig lamb and the goat continue …
a pig
and a
Fox!
Come join us under my umbrella, there’s room enough here for all of us.
Wait a minute. Mr. Fox you have to behave under this umbrella. No funny business. Okay everyone, say it with me….
So … the girl and the dog and the kitten and the chicken and the rabbit and the lamb and goat and pig and fox continued on
and came upon a ….
a very big and very wet bear!
Oh boy was he big. But they squeeze him in and the girl and the dog and the kitten and the chicken and the rabbit and the lamb and goat and pig and fox and the bear continue on.
They all squeezed in!
They continue on and sing a song
Rain Rain Go Away! Come Again another Day!
And the sun eventually comes out … each animals walks away. And the girl decides she was really glad she brought her umbrella.
Flannel Friday stuff:
This week LQ is hosting the Flannel Friday Round-up. Round up archives and host schedule is at So Tomorrow. Next week the round up is at Story Time Secrets.
Visually scan all the Flannel Friday posts at Pinterest.
Talk about storytime and flannelboards at the Flannel Friday Facebook Page.
Follow Flannel Friday on Twitter with the #flannelfriday hashtag. (You don’t have to be on Twitter to check this out.)
Last but not least, if you’re a contributor, grab the blog button also available at Mel’s Desk!
Sheep Storytime 1.6.2012
Miss Mouse looking spiffy as a Lamb
Saturday Storytime
attendance: 30
Miss Mouse was wearing her lamb outfit
Miss Mouse: was hiding behind snowflakes. Purely wishful thinking on her part.
Flannel Nursery Rhyme #1: Mary Had a Little Lamb
Flannel Board: Mary Had a Lot of Lambs
Book 1: Where is the Green Sheep? by Mem Fox. Afterwards, my Green Sheep came out and said hello. This is possibly my favorite book. It’s great for rhyming and the repetition is just wonderful for audience participation.
Fingerplay: Clap, Clap Your Lap.
Song: Jack Be Nimble
Book 2: Sheep in a Jeep by Nancy Shaw
fingerplay:Roll, roll sugar babies. We baa’d like sheeps, used our feet, and went super-sonic fast.
Flannel Nursery Rhyme #2: Baa Baa Black Sheep
Book 3: The Napping House by Audrey Wood
Song 2: Drivin in My Car by Ralph Covert. Everyone loves this one… even the dads.
Flannel Nursery Rhyme #3:Little Bo Peep
Book:If You’re Happy and You know it by David Carter.
Baa-Choo by Sarah Weeks
Baa-Choo by Sarah Weeks is an I Can Read book. I love using readers for flannel books. As we all know repetition is king for stories and readers use lots of repetition. Win. I won’t tell the whole story… just the highlights. It’s a really fun story.
Poor Sam the Lamb wants to sneeze. He has the Baa, just not the choo.
Baa - Baa - Baa. No Choo.
Gwen the Hen offers her feather to tickle his nose.
No Choo.
Sig the Pig tries black pepper and his electric fan...
No Choo.
Franny the Nanny Goat and her Kid kicked up dust...
Baa – Baa – Baaa … He almost has it, he’s so close… everyone does their thing to get Sam to sneeze and finally let’s it go.
BAAAAA – CHOO!
In fact he sneezes so hard, he blows all the animals off the flannel board. Sam is a grateful Lamb.
The End.
Piggy Wiggy by Christyan Fox
Piggy Wiggy by Christyan Fox is a delight. I’m not sure which of Christyan’s book this came from….
Piggy Wiggy is getting dressed, can you guess what he'll be?
He has red pants and a white shirt.
... and orange suspenders.
any ideas?
I love his crazy purple tie...
His lapel flower squirts water...
any guesses?
He's got a pointy blue hat....
look at those long green shoes!
hmmm, what could he be?
this red nose will probably give it away....
Did you guess?
Piggy Wiggy is dressed up like a clown!
Apple-y Delicious Redux
A little slow on the apple uptake, here. But I have some apple flannels to share — one was borrowed from Flannel Friday and one was shared last week.
1) 5 Little Apples — not one, not two, but three 4 other participants have shared this. Katie, Katie, Anna, and Anne have all shared their version.
5 Little Apples hung on a tree
The farmer wasn’t there
So guess who came to eat?
A caterpillar … munch munch munch
I plan on using puppets for the caterpillar, bird, pig, horse, and crow. I hope we have enough finger puppets, if not they’ll look pretty gi-huge-o compared to my apple tree.
5 Little Apples Sitting in a tree
The apples were made from red pom-poms with a piece of brown cord glued in to look like a stem.
2) Last week Melissa shared The Mouse and the Apple by Stephen Butler. Based on the shape of Mouse, I always thought it was a long lost Leo Lionni book. It’s nice to know the origin of this story time favorite. The flannel predates my employment (1997) at this library.
Since Melissa shared the story last week, I won’t get into too much detail, but Mouse wants that apple hanging in that tree and his friends try to help.
I love that elegant line of the goose
But, perseverance pays and Mouse get’s his apple. Munch Munch Munch.
Must be a honey crisp.
This week I have the round-up. Watch this blog for Flannel Friday contributions.
Owl Story Time 9.29.11
Pajama Storytime
attendance: 15
Miss Mouse was wearing her jammies. She’s was a little put off that we woke her up — but acknowledged that she knew about Pajama story time. She wasn’t too happy we were doing a story time about owls.
Miss Mouse: was hiding behind the green leaf
It's a pretty book
fingerplay: The Owl (I found this online…)
There’s a wide eyed owl (thumbs and forefingers around eyes)
With a pointed nose (forefinger makes a v at end of nose)
Two pointed ears (forefingers extended up from head)
and claws for toes (Fingers and arms bent in front of chest)
when he sits up in the tree (point to tree)
and he looks at you (point at a child in the group)
he flaps his wings (fold arms into arm pits and flap)
And he says “whooo Whooo”.
Book 1: Cock-a-Doodle Hooooooo by Mick Manning (make sure you get all 7 o’s or Worldcat will never find it.)
Fingerplay: Roll Roll Sugar Babies
Book: Wow! Said the Owl by Tom Hopgood
Song:I know a Chicken by Laurie Berkner
Prop Story 1: Owl Babies by Martin Waddell (I have three baby owl puppets, purchased for this very reason.)
Fingerplay: Clap . Clap Your Lap.
Prop Story 2: I’m Not Cute by Jonathan Allen (rabbit, fox, and squirrel owl joined mamma owl and baby owl)
Book 3: Knock Knock Who’s There by Tad Hill (get it, Whooooo’s There?)
Book 4: Who’s in the Forest by Phillis Greshator. This is a beautiful board book. Fun too.
