Baby/Toddler Lap Time, 8/26

Opening Song: Hello, how are you?
 
Rhyme: This is Big, Big, Big (twice)

Rhyme: Dance Your Fingers (twice)

Book: Sleepy, Oh So Sleepy by Denise Fleming (2010)
I've started revisiting successes, and this book is definitely a great one. I used it in one of my first lap times ever, and the simple concept and rhythm made me want to read it again.

Song: I'm a Little Teapot

Song: Clap Along With Me

Song: Mary Had a Little Lamb

Song: You Are My Sunshine

Book: Subway by Anastasia Suen, illustrated by Karen Katz (2004)
Great author/illustrator combination! I love the simplicity and repetition of Suen's language combined with Katz's characteristic bright, patterned illustrations. This book also seems to have the power to stop babies from crying!

Song: Wheels on the Bus

Song: ABCD Medley

Song: Chickadee

Goodbye Song: We Wave Goodbye Like This

Tales for Twos and Threes, 8/26

This story time was great. I had fun, the kids had fun, and the adults had fun. This combination of books, songs, and rhymes is a winner!


Opening Song: Hello, how are you?

Song: If You'd Like to Read a Book

Book: Kitten Red, Yellow, Blue by Peter Catalanotto (2005)
Mrs. Tuttle has a special way of telling apart the 16 calico kittens she recently gave away to the various helpers in her community. I'm working on adapting this to the flannel board, but it requires more cutting than my hands are interested in doing!

Rhyme: Blue is the Lake (three times)
(Original source: Mel's Desk)

Blue is the lake
Hold arms out in a circle in front of you
Yellow is the sun
Move arms, still in circle, overhead
Silver are the stars when the day is done
Wiggle fingers overhead
Red is the apple
Make a round ball with your fingers in front of you
Green is the tree
Hold arms up like branches
Brown is a cookie for you and me
Rub tummy!

Rhyme: This is Big, Big, Big (twice)

Book: Bark, George by Jules Feiffer (1999)
This book is always a huge hit, and it went especially well today because many in the group had not heard it before.

Song: Old MacDonald Had a Farm

Song: I'm a Little Teapot

Song: Turn Around

Flannel Board Rhyme: Five Enormous Dinosaurs 

Song: One Little Finger 

Song: Tommy Thumb

Song: The Wheels on the Bus (Raffi)

Song: ABCD Medley 

Goodbye Song: We Wave Goodbye Like This

Flannel Friday: Fall Post #1: Apples

I've made all my Fall flannel board items - leaves, squirrels, acorns, pumpkins, and apples - and now it's time to decide what to do with them. Today I'll focus on the apples.

Anne posted her flannel board for 5 Little Apples last week, and I guess great minds think alike, because I've had the same rhyme sitting in my email waiting for me to do something with it for the last couple of weeks! (My original source is here.) Here is my interpretation. (I put the animals up in any old order while I was taking photos, so they're not in the same order as the original rhyme. I don't think it matters. I also changed "the farmer didn't care" to "the farmer wasn't looking.")

Five little apples

Hung in a tree

The farmer wasn't looking.

So guess who came to eat?

A caterpillar! Munch munch munch!

Four little apples 

Hung in a tree

The farmer wasn't looking.

So guess who came to eat?

A horse! Munch munch munch!

Three little apples 

Hung in a tree

The farmer wasn't looking.

So guess who came to eat?

A pig! Munch munch munch!

Two little apples 

Hung in a tree

The farmer wasn't looking.

So guess who came to eat?

A bird! Munch munch munch!

One little apple

Hung in a tree

The farmer wasn't looking.

So guess who came to eat?

A scarecrow! Munch munch munch!

Now the tree is bare

There are no more apples there
But when next fall comes around
Guess who'll be there!
The caterpillar 
The horse 
The pig
The bird
And the scarecrow!

(I'm a sucker for all the animals coming back at the end. It's a great way to review vocabulary, and also brings a nice happy ending to the rhyme, rather than leaving it hanging with an empty flannel board.)

I also found this cute apple rhyme that might be simpler for younger groups:

Five little apples hanging in a tree
The juiciest apples you ever did see
The wind came by and gave an angry frown
And one little apple came tumbling down...
Four little apples...etc.


And another possibility, to the tune of Farmer in the Dell (found here):


Five apples sat on a gate, 
five apples sat on a gate. 
Heigh dee ho, dee high dee ho, 
Five apples sat on a gate. 
The first apple said, "Hello", 
the first apple said, "Hello"... 
Heigh dee ho, dee high dee ho, 
Five apples sat on a gate.... 
(continue counting apples down to one)
(I think it might make more sense for the apples to say goodbye, if we're counting them down. I'll have to practice it both ways and see how it goes.)

How will you use your apples this Fall? Feel free to share your favorites below.

Don't miss this week's Flannel Friday round-up, hosted by Mollie.

Update, 8/27/11: Here's the clipart I used for Five Little Apples. Most of it came from pamsclipart.com. Enjoy!