Flannel Friday: Five Pretty Sandcastles

I am your host for this week's Flannel Friday! The round-up will go up sometime later today -but in the meantime, here is my contribution, Five Pretty Sandcastles. I wrote this rhyme myself, but I suspect there are similar ones out there on Google.

Five pretty sandcastles standing on the shore.

The tide came in (whoosh!)

And then there were four.

Four pretty sandcastles standing by the sea.


The tide came in (whoosh!)

And then there were three.

Three pretty sandcastles standing by the ocean blue

The tide came in (whoosh!)

And then there were two.

Two pretty sandcastles standing in the sun

The tide came in (whoosh!)

And then there was one.

 

One pretty sandcastle just out of reach

The  tide came in (whoosh!)

but it stayed there on the beach!

The twist at the end is the key to success with this one. No one expects it, and I usually get a lot of applause afterwards. I used this one earlier this week at Baby/Toddler Story Time.

The PDF file containing full sized versions of the sandcastles is here, and the image I used for my tide is here. I forgot to take a picture of my "tide on a stick" and I'm not at work today, but here's what the sandcastles look like on my flannel board.

6 YA Novels About Summer Jobs

My Almost Epic Summer

by Adele Griffin

2006 | 192 pages | Young Adult

Bookworm Irene spends her summer babysitting and makes friends - and later enemies - with the lifeguard at the pond where she and the kids swim.

So Inn Love 

by Catherine Clark

2007 | 336 pages | Young Adult

Liza has her dream job working at the Tides Inn, but will she be in for trouble when fails to heed her roommate's advice of "no hookups?" 

 Dishes 

by Rich Wallace

2008 | 180 pages | Young Adult

Danny spends his summer in Ogunquit, Maine, where being one of the few straight guys working at Dishes makes him the odd man out.

 Dream Factory 

by Brad Barkley & Heather Hepler

2004 | 220 pages | Young Adult

When the Disney character actors at Disney World go on strike, teens, including Ella and Luke, step in to fill their positions.

Swoon at Your Own Risk 

by Sydney Salter

2010 | 356 pages | Young Adult

During the summer she spends working at Wild Waves water park, she must also deal with her unresolved feelings about her ex-boyfriend, Xander, and her romance expert grandmother's wild exploits.

 Marcelo in the Real World 

by Francisco X. Stork
2009 | 320 pages | Young Adult

Marcelo, who is on the autism spectrum, gets his first taste of the real world when his father hires him to work in his firm's mail room.

Baby/Toddler Story Time, 6/28

Opening Song: Hello, how are you?

Book: Where the Giant Sleeps by Mem Fox, illustrated by Vladimir Radunsky (2007)
This is a beautifully illustrated book about where each of the many fantastical creatures we know from fairy tales and folklore get a good night's sleep. I love Mem Fox, and she didn't disappoint with this book!

Song: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star (in English and Chinese, from from Chinese and English Nursery Rhymes by Faye-Lynn Wu, illustrations by Kieren Dutcher (2010))

Song: Moon Moon Moon

Book: Over in the Ocean in a Coral Reef by Mary Anne Berkes, illustrated by Jeanette Canyon (2004)
This book could be sung, but I was trying to cut down on the singing today, since I needed my voice for all three sessions. I love the colorful, illustrations that immerse the reader in the under sea atmosphere,  and the counting aspect is always great with toddlers.

Flannel Board Rhyme: Five Pretty Sandcastles
(Check back on Friday for my Flannel Friday post, featuring this rhyme!)

Song: The Wheels on the Bus
It was in the third session, during this song that two families came in and wedged themselves in on either side of me. (I sit on a set of wooden risers at the back of the room, and allow anyone who can't sit on the floor to occupy the far ends. I usually keep a pretty wide space, though, for flapping my arms and making gestures.) One of the adults was so close, she was actually almost in my lap, and they kept moving in on me from both sides! I was so claustrophobic, and I ended up having to stand up to finish the session.

Song: ABCD Medley

Song: Chickadee

Song: There's a Little Wheel a-Turnin' In My Heart (session 1 only)

Goodbye Song: Skinnamarink

Family Story Time, 6/27

I took a no-frills approach to this story time today - tried and true books and familiar songs. I wish I could say it worked, but... this was another chaotic (kids screaming and running, adults talking over me, etc.) Monday program.

Here is what we did. I don't have time to discuss each book this time around, but most were well-received, except the last one.

Opening Song: Hello, how are you?

Song: If You'd Like to Read a Book

Book: King Bidgood's in the Bathtub by Audrey Wood and Don Wood (1985)

Song: The Wheels on the Bus

Book: Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans (1939)

Song: Monkeys on the Bed

Book: Old MacDonald by Jessica Souhami (1996)
(We did this as a group sing-along.)

Song:  I'm a Little Teapot

Song: Boots

Book: Apple Pie Fourth of July by Janet S. Wong, illustrated by Margaret Chodos-Irvine (2002)

Song: ABCD Medley

Goodbye Song: Skinnamarink