Tales for Twos & Threes, 10/7

Opening Song: Hello, how are you?

Song: If You'd Like to Read a Book

Book: The Busy Tree by Jennifer Ward, illustrated by Lisa Falkenstern (2009)
This story follows a tree through its life cycle, showing all of the animals and insects that make their homes around and inside it.  There are some great animal illustrations in this book, especially of the owl and the squirrels.

Rhyme: Blue is the Lake

Rhyme: This is Big, Big, Big

Book: Pumpkin, Pumpkin by Jeanne Titherington (1990)
This is a quick little story about the growth and carving of a pumpkin. It was the perfect short book to follow the longer first book I read.

Song: I'm a Little Teapot

Song: Head and Shoulders

Song: Hands Are For Clapping

Flannel Board Song: Five Little Pumpkins
They loved this one! I was a little uncertain at first, but they clapped so hard at the end. I've discovered that it helps to say The End at the end of a flannel rhyme or song so they know it's over. That seems to make a big difference.

Song: One Little Finger 

Song: Tommy Thumb

Flannel Board Song: Old MacDonald Had a Farm (a cappella)
I normally don't do two flannels in one story time, but I couldn't find all my farm puppets, so this was a backup plan. It worked fine - but I have to maybe cut out the dog and cat next time, because it started getting a little lengthy.

Song: ABCD Medley
One of the nannies (jokingly, I hope) asked me to learn Frere Jacques in Arabic. I do know it in Spanish, I could throw that out there, but I think Arabic is a reach for me!

Goodbye Song: We Wave Goodbye Like This

Now I'm off to do Baby/Toddler Lap Time!

Flannel Friday: Fall Post #4: Pumpkins

At long last, we come to the pumpkin post! This is my last official Fall flannel set, and it's going to be used quite a bit these next three weeks.

I came up with a little song, which is sung to the tune of Five Green and Speckled Frogs. It's probably the primary way I'll use my pumpkins.

Five little pumpkins round

sat on the cold, cold ground

Out there in my big pumpkin patch.

A mommy came walking by

picked one to bake a pie,

now there are four little pumpkins round.

 

Four little pumpkins round

sat on the cold, cold ground

Out there in my big pumpkin patch.

A mommy came walking by,

picked one to bake a pie,

now there are three little pumpkins round. 

Three little pumpkins round

sat on the cold, cold ground

Out there in my big pumpkin patch.

A daddy came walking by,

picked one to bake a pie,

now there are two little pumpkins round.

Two little pumpkins round

sat on the cold, cold ground

Out there in my big pumpkin patch.

A grandpa came walking by,

picked one to bake a pie,

now there is one little pumpkin round.

One little pumpkin round

sat on the cold, cold ground

Out there in my big pumpkin patch.

A little boy came walking by,

picked it to bake a pie,

now there are no little pumpkins round.

The family clipart I used is from kizclub.com, and here are my pumpkins: pumpkins.pdf

Other pumpkin possibilities are below:

Five Little Pumpkins Sitting On a Gate

Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate.
The first one said, Oh, my it's getting late.

The second one said, There are bats in the air.

The third one said, "But we don't care.
The fourth one said, "Let's run, let's run!

The fifth one said, "Isn't Halloween fun?
Then Woooooo went the wind
And out went the lights

And five little pumpkins rolled out of sight.

I learned to change witches to bats when I worked in a nursery school during college and have never gone back. I plan to do this as a fingerplay, rather than a song. It will probably work best with my preschool groups.


Mr. Pumpkin

Mr. Pumpkin,
Mr. Pumpkin,
Round and fat.
Round and fat.
Harvest time is coming.
Harvest time is coming.
Yum, yum, yum.
That is that!

[Source]

The tune is Where is Thumbkin. I plan to use this with my Lap Time groups as a simple song with a puppet. I have some popsicle sticks with Velcro on the end, so I can attach a pumpkin and hold it up as we sing. For my Halloween story time, I will change harvest time to Halloween.

Need more Fall ideas? Don't miss my posts about apples, squirrels, and leaves.

This week's Flannel Friday host is Anna at Future Librarian Superhero. Previous posts are gathered by Anne at So Tomorrow, as well as on Pinterest. Enjoy!

Gettin' Crafty Post #2: Popsicle Stick Bookmarks

For an introduction to this new series of Gettin' Crafty posts, visit Post #1.


On the heels of the pencil topper craft, I decided to start an ongoing craft series. The only problem I had was that I didn't really have much supplies lying around. But I wanted to begin right away, so I took stock of what was in my craft supply closets, and realized quickly that I had a billion craft sticks and lots of little gems and things.

Here is what developed:

Popsicle Stick Bookmarks

I Googled a little bit to come up with ideas, but ultimately, I went my own way.

Here are the supplies I laid out:

Large plain craft sticks

The big ones that look like tongue depressors worked really well because little hands could easily grip them and there was lots of surface area for coloring and gluing. I have no idea where this came from. I inherited them from the last children's librarian.

Washable markers

Washable or not, my manager still wasn't pleased about the kids getting marker on the tables. More on what I should have done in a moment.

White glue

Also messy. Also not my manager's favorite. Keep reading for details.

Assorted gems, buttons, and ribbon

These were all leftovers I inherited from the previous librarian as well.

I made a simple example, gluing a ribbon to the top of the stick, then a button over top of it. Then I made a second example using just markers, so parents of younger kids could see the simpler possibilities, if they didn't want to glue.

In all, at least 10 kids participated in the craft, and they got really into it. So into it, in fact, that we are still finding glue on the tables. What I should have done - and what I will do in the future - is lay down a tablecloth over the surface of the table to keep it from getting sticky. I have also done that with our small round tables, since kids - and adults!!! - have been coloring indiscriminately on the tabletops.

This is a great craft to do for library card sign-up month, or children's book week. Kids like to use their creativity, and they love the idea of making something they can use. It's also nice because it can be adapted to almost any holiday or season. I'm already considering repeating this project for Halloween or Christmas, with different stickable items.

Next time: Family Finger Puppets!

7 Singable Picture Books

 

	Today is Monday by Eric Carle The classic children's song is illustrated with various animals eating the different meals designated for each day of the week.
	The Babies on the Bus by Karen Katz The wheels on the bus go round and round, but it's being driven by a baby!
	Down by the Station by Jennifer Vetter An extended version of the traditional song, featuring many modes of transportation.
	Five Little Ducks by Raffi The Raffi version of this song is illustrated in bold colors.
	Five Green and Speckled Frogs by Priscilla Burris This version's illustrations add some sparkle and extra details to the traditional song.
	I Know An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly by Simms Taback Simms Taback brings this song to life with his colorful, folksy illustrations.