Sunday 16 December 2012

Props for Snowman Rhymes



As promised here are the printable templates (JPEG format) to accompany the rhymes in the Snowman Storytime published last week.
 
Snowman's Buttons:
 
Snowman's Nose:
(edited from an original image from openclipart.org)
Snowman's Hat:
(edited from an original image from openclipart.org)


 


 



Friday 14 December 2012

Flannel Friday - Pete the Cat and the Santa Hat

A library can never have too many Santa hats and this week even Pete the Cat has a hat!


Pete the cat and his Christmas Hat
 
 
 
Our storytimers are BIG fans of Pete the Cat, especially the first book and the song I Love My White Shoes.  For the last storytime sessions of the year our four visiting Nursery classes and our Baby and Toddler Rhymetimers will be treated to a reading and a singing of Pete the Cat Saves Christmas. The Pete books are so popular in our library that folks have started putting reservations on them.
 
 
NOW you can see my poor sewing!
 
 
So, to mark the occasion, I made Pete a Santa hat. Just a triangle of red felt/flannel, some white trimmings, and a bare 2 minutes sewing (when gluing failed). I think you'll agree he looks very smart. Now, off to practise the song again from the MP3 file that the publishers have thoughtfully provided together with an information page and a Christmas event kit.
 
 
Although this book is fun, and I know the kids will love it because it's Pete, I still much prefer the first Pete book. Because of my enthusiasm for I Love My White Shoes I even spent too long making these in an earlier post.
 
 
Flannel shoes for Pete the Cat - I Love my White Shoes


I hope all you Flannel Friday-ers enjoy your last few storytimes of 2012!


A
MERRY
CHRISTMAS
TO
YOU
ALL!
 



Check out Courtney's blog, Miss Courtney Meets Bobo, for this week's roundup. Note that this will be the last Flannel Friday of 2012, and in January and February 2013 I'm taking a turn at being your Flannel Friday Fairy Godmother (FFFG). I'll include contact details when I have them, meantime you can contact any of the FFFGs at flannelboardfriday [at] gmail [dot] com.



Want to know more? Find out about Flannel Friday on the dedicated website. Features include past roundups, host schedule and how to participate.

Scan images of Flannel Friday posts on Pinterest.

Search for flannels and storytime ideas at Mel's Desk.

Discuss storytimes and flannel boards on the Flannel Friday Facebook Page.






Friday 7 December 2012

Flannel friday - Snowman Storytime


Towards the end of December we usually offer a Seasonal Storytime.  Last year the highlight was the Rudolph's Nose Game and rhyme.



Rudolph, Rudolph flannel game

This year the rhymetime crowd is younger, and I've found I need to bring the flannels to the children, which is why I devised a hand held flannel board. However, Rudolph is too big to fit on the board, which is only 12" across, and his antlers just aren't study enough to be handled by our wee ones!

I thought I'd adapt the idea of photo props to use the snowman rhymes we've been learning since we got our first fall of snow a week or so ago. Here is the result ...


 
 
... we have a natty trilby (from an image at Open Clip Art), a carrot nose and some coal buttons, each with a wooden handle.
 
The rhymes are adapted from Librarian Lisa's blog Snow Storytime.
 
... with hat and buttons
I'm a Little Snowman
(to the tune of 'I'm a Little Teapot')
I'm a little snowman
Short and fat
Here are my buttons,
Here is my hat.
When the sun comes out,
I cannot stay.
Sadly I just melt away.

... with hat and nose
The Natty Little Snowman 
(finger play rhyme)
The nattylittle snowman
Had a carrot for a nose.
Along came a bunny
And what do you suppose?
The hungry little bunny
Looking for some lunch
Ate that carrot nose
Munch, munch, munch!

The


templates

are ready to print in JPEG format, either for printing, or as patterns to cut from flannel or paper. I hope to make extras so that the kids and parents can play with them later.


If you like the idea of using photo props in your storytimes there is a fun roundup of photo prop ideas here.






Want to know more?

Find out about Flannel Friday on the dedicated website. Features include past roundups, host schedule and how to participate.

Scan images of Flannel Friday posts on Pinterest.

Search for flannels and storytime ideas at Mel's Desk.

Discuss storytimes and flannel boards on the Flannel Friday Facebook Page.


This week's Flannel Friday Roundup can be found at Cate's fabulous blog - Storytiming!









Sunday 18 November 2012

Flannel Friday Roundup - November 23rd 2012

GREETINGS FROM SCOTLAND!

Here is the November 23rd 2012 edition of the Flannel Friday Roundup coming to you from bonnie Scotland. I'm honoured to be your host this holiday week (for those of you celebrating American Thanksgiving).


Loch Kinord at Muir of Dinnet, Scotland
As it's been Thanksgiving this week in the USA it's not surprising that many of our Flannel Friday-ers have been thinking about food!

Miss Courtney Meets Bobo gives us her adaptation of Lunch, from the book by Denise Flemming to use with a colourful flannel set.

Sandwiches are a great way of using up leftovers, and Sandy shows us some new props and a great Let's make a Sandwich rhyme at Storytime Sparks . Also with donuts/doughnuts for desert!

No doubt the hen had food on her mind too, and Miss Mollie shows us a lovely flannel set to use when telling the story of The Little Red Hen at What Happens in Storytime.

Lisa brings us an irresistible combination of food and trains with her Toot,Toot flannel and rhyme at Lisa in Libraryland

We have another transport based flannel board activity with a fun song and story from Maureen at Strong Start called Long Way Home.

Anne from SoTomorrow has a flannel Tic-Tac-Toe game that you could do as a group activity which would also make a cute gift.   

Storytime Katie has some flannel pumpkins with an hands-on activity for making faces on pumpkins and, as the pieces aren't permanently attached, can be used for 5 Little Pumpkins too.  

Miss Sarah has some great tips for making flannel pieces multi-use - very handy when things get busy! Thanks Sarah!


If you're new to Flannel Friday you might need to know that Flannel Friday is an online event in which participating bloggers post a description of a flannel board, puppet, prop or storytime activity on their blogs on a Friday. All the participating posts are gathered into one spot in a link roundup (here at Loons and Quines this week, but it rotates between the participants) and then shared in a more visual way on the Flannel Friday Pinterest boards. It is a way of sharing ideas, encouraging new techniques, and building community among children’s library staff around the world.


Want to know more?

Find out about Flannel Friday on the dedicated website. Features include past roundups, host schedule and how to participate.

Scan images of Flannel Friday posts on Pinterest.

Search for flannels and storytime ideas at Mel's Desk.

Discuss storytimes and flannel boards on the Flannel Friday Facebook Page.

 



Restoring Calm to Rhymetime

Restoring calm to an excited group of storytimers can be quite a challenge. In our library service we follow a recommended format for our Baby and Toddler Rhymetimes where a calming song or rhyme precedes a closing song.  After an active rhyme, involving the glittery Lycra(c) especially, the children can be too enthused to settle down readily, and so a calming song is the order of the day.





Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star

My favourite for most ages is Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star, as almost every child knows it, and for many it is their favourite from a very early age.  There are a variety of theories as to why this tune is so popular, and many are brought together in the concluding paragraphs of this newspaper article (I was thrilled to read that the leading authority, Dr Katie Ovary, is a senior lecturer at Edinburgh College of Art).

Anyway, my storytimers seem to love it, and we ring the changes sometimes by shouting a verse as loudly as we can (hamming it up with hands over ears), and then restoring calm by whispering a verse as quietly as we can.


Ali Bali, Ali Bali Bee

A Scottish song recommended in our training uses a similar tune, Ali Bali, Ali Bali Bee, and also features in my favourite Scot's Rhymes book, Katie's Coo. I haven't used the song that often and will make a point to use it more in the future.


Cross, Cross, Line, Line

In Baby Rhymetime sessions I like to use Cross Cross, Line Line (aka Criss Cross, Applesauce). In looking for a link to the words I realise that I've revised the words somewhat, so I've included my version in it's entirety.

Cross, cross, [finger draw a diagonal cross on baby's back]
Line, line [draw two parallel lines from shoulder to waist]
Fingers creeping up your spine [walk fingers up baby's back]
Over here [tap one shoulder]
Over there [tap the other shoulder]
Fingers mussing up your hair [ruffle up the hair on the top of baby's head]
Tight squeeze [cuddle]
Cool breeze [blow onto baby]
Now we've got the shi-i-v-ers! [cuddle and a gentle shake]


Some other rhymes I've used are:

  • Ten Little Fingers
  • Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, Turn Around

 

Other Rhymes


Of course, sometimes we need to ring the changes and I searched the Flannel Friday storytime resources search from Mel's Desk for inspiration.

I found that Kay, of Storytime ABC's, has a lovely leaves rhyme that's great for autumn/fall storytimes called Leaves are Twirling, sung to the tune of Frère Jacques, in her Fall Leaves are Falling Flannel Friday post.


A wider Internet search found these ideas which I might try:



Do you have a favourite calming or transition rhyme? If so, please do share in the comments below.


 

Thursday 18 October 2012

Flannel Friday - Hand-held Flannel Board



May I introduce my latest innovation - a hand-held flannel board! It has a retractable handle on the back to make it easy to bring flannels up close to storytime participants. I've found it to be perfect for small groups of storytimers (I use it for my Baby Rhymetimes).

Our Baby Rhymetime groups are quite small (they vary from 6 to 24 participants), and we all sit on doughnut cushions on the floor around a colourful play mat. I've found my flannel board to be too high when placed on a table, and too likely to be pulled over when placed on the floor.  My solution is this round, hand-held version which I mentioned briefly in my Five Fancy Goldfish post.


Five Fancy goldfish

... and I've have also used it with finger puppets and these sets of "Five Little ..." things.




It was very simple to make, although the innards look a bit 'Heath Robinson' or (my favourite new word) stringpunk! It cost almost nothing to make, consisting of:

  • 2  polystyrene/syrofoam pizza packaging discs (about 12" across) - or a circle of stiff cardboard
  • Sheet of thick polystyrene/styofoam (mine was reused packaging) 0.5" - 1.5" thick
  • Handle and wrapping off a shampoo duo pack
  • Flannel
  • Hot glue gun
  • Duct (Duck) tape.


Materials for a hand-held flannel board

I've made a slide show (below) so you can see how easy it was to make. Unfortunately the slide show needs Flash Player, so doesn't display on iPads etc.
It looks a little skewed to the side in my preview, but can be seen better if you open it up in a new window.







This is how I store all the little pieces ...


Storing finger puppets

Leave if a comment if you need any further information.







Want to know more?

Find out about Flannel Friday on the dedicated website. Features include past roundups, host schedule and how to participate.

Scan images of Flannel Friday posts on Pinterest.

Search for flannels and storytime ideas at Mel's Desk.

Discuss storytimes and flannel boards on the Flannel Friday Facebook Page.


This week's Flannel Friday Roundup can be found at Molly's fabulous blog - What Happens In Storytime.







Monday 15 October 2012

American children's authors popular in the UK

Which American children's authors ARE popular in the UK? That was a (paraphrased) question posed by Anne from SoTomorrow in response to my comment on Goodreads that Dr Seuss was not as popular in the UK as the US.

US/UK flag by klainen - English language flag.


On this point I was aware that my own views are probably not indicative of folks in the UK generally as I've probably spent too long immersed in all the great US books recommended by my fellow Flannel Friday-ers and because of the six years I lived in the USA (years when my children were reading children's books for school and leisure).  I thought a more objective answer might be found in the recognised published statistics.

PLR (Public Lending Right) lists are published annually in the UK and show which authors and books were the most popular in UK public libraries. The following list shows the most borrowed children's authors in the UK in 2011 taken from a sample of UK libraries.

1. Daisy Meadows
2. Jacqueline Wilson
3. Francesca Simon
4. Julia Donaldson
5. Mick Inkpen
6. Adam Blade
7. Terry Deary
8. Fiona Watt
9. Roald Dahl
10. Lauren Child 

11. Ian Whybrow
12. Enid Blyton
13. Lucy Cousins
14. Janet & Allan Ahlberg
15. Eric Hill
16. Tony Ross
17. Michael Morpurgo
18. Jeanne Willis
19. Vivian French
20. Jeremy Strong

To my knowledge (and surprise) not one of those authors is from the USA. A closer examination of the titles borrowed does throw up some US authors; Maurice Sendak with Where the Wild things Are, Stephenie Meyer with Breaking Dawn, and Jeff Kinney Diary of a Wimpy Kid:The Last Straw, and Louisa May Alcott with Little Women appears in the children's classics list.
 

 


 

Book recommendations, book reviews, quotes, book clubs, book trivia, book lists


I suspect that looking at the earlier archived lists will bring up some Eric Carle titles, and surely E.B. White's Charlotte's Web must feature? Once the latest author list is published it will no doubt include Suzanne Collins.

As to what MY personal Children's list would include, that is a whole other post!

Sunday 14 October 2012

Library Display for Early Years

I've been wanting to introduce a storytime-centred display into the library for some time. However, with no blank wall space, finding a location for said display was going to be a challenge.

I really wanted a visual way to:
  • increase the language-richness of the early years area (see post on 'Supporting Early Literacy Environments in the Library' course)
  • introduce a conversation prompt for storytime attendees, and
  • promote our rhymetime & storytime programmes.

The logical choice was a bulletin board type display which, because of lack of wall space, would have to be suspended from the ceiling above a slatted bay end panel.

I opted for a 'Reading Tree' with the tree top painted on poster board, lightweight and easy to hang, with a trunk extending down the centre of the end panel (minimizing the loss of book display space). I made it double-sided - one side for our public programmes, and one side for visiting nursery classes.



It would be great to decorate the tree according to the seasons and the themes of our storytime programmes, sometimes using examples of our craft activities, but otherwise using a picture to match the theme. Next week our baby storytime will feature owls, so this owl will be our first visitor.  Of course it will look so much better with some made by the children. 





Every item will be clearly labelled, and a header added to the top. I'm still undecided as to whether to mount each item on an image of an open book, or not - what do you think?  As ever, your suggestions are very welcome!








Friday 5 October 2012

Baby Rhymetime at Halloween


I was going to skip Halloween for our Baby Rhymetimers as they are so young (most are under one year).  However, because the little ones so love peek-a-boo games, I thought they'd probably enjoy some Woo-ooh and BOO! and adapted this action rhyme to use along with a couple of ghost finger puppets.

Two Little Ghosties


Two Little Ghosties
 

Two little ghosties (hold up 1 finger on each hand)

Looking at you (point)

One named Woo  (put right hand on child's left shoulder)

And one named Boo (put left hand on child's right shoulder)

Fly away Woo (fly right hand behind back)

Fly away Boo (fly left hand behind back)

Come back Woo-ooh (bring right hand back)

Come back.....BOO!!!!! (Bring left hand back, and only say loud enough to startle if you think your little one will enjoy it)


I can't take all the credit. That goes to Peggy Drake who contributed the unadulterated version of this rhyme to a Halloween post at The Perpetual Preschool entitled Two Little Ghosts back in 1998.

Oh, I almost forgot. The template for the ghost finger puppets comes from Crack of Dawn Crafts blog.  She has hundreds of adorable designs for finger puppets - ninjas, gingerbread people, germs - all brilliant!

Update: The finger puppets and rhyme were very popular at Baby Rhymetime - lots of smiles and chuckles! This is a rhyme I definitely recommend!


Want to know more?

Find out about Flannel Friday on the dedicated website. Features include past roundups, host schedule and how to participate.

Scan images of Flannel Friday posts on Pinterest.

Search for flannels and storytime ideas at Mel's Desk.

Discuss storytimes and flannel boards on the Flannel Friday Facebook Page.


This week's Flannel Friday Roundup can be found at Miss Mary Liberry's fabulous blog .

  

Monday 1 October 2012

Award Winning Books – pets and friendship


Often pets and toys are used to help children learn about the way in which friendships work. Here are some books which do just that.


Wanted: The Perfect PetWanted: The Perfect Pet by Fiona Roberton
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A humorous tale of longing and friendship. One the one hand, Henry wants a dog more than anything in the world; on the other, duck needs a friend. Duck sees Henry's advert for a pet in the paper and decides that this is his opportunity to get a friend. He tries, with hilarious outcomes, to be the perfect pet that Henry longs for. I won't spoil the ending, but just say that both learn a great deal about compromise and friendship before the book ends. I adored this book, loved the ways in which duck tries to make himself more acceptable to the boy with egg box, old socks and string. This book provides scope for some great extension activities - I loved it!
Award:
IRA (International Reading Assn.) Children's and Young Adults' Book Award winner - Primary Fiction category



Not Norman: A Goldfish StoryNot Norman: A Goldfish Story by Kelly Bennett
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A fun tale about a boy who is given a fish for his birthday when what he really wants is a cat or a dog. He sets about talking up his fish so that he can offload his fish on someone else. The plan fails and the two share a number of experiences that bring boy and fish together. Eventually the boy gets the opportunity to swop his fish, but will he? The illustrations are simple and humorous and enhance the story.
Awards: 
Booktrust Book of the Month for August 2005 (UK)
Texas Institute of Letters Friends of the Austin Public Library’s Best Children’s Book for 2005.
CBC (Children's Book Council) Children's Choice
Oppenheim Toy Portfolio 2006 Gold Medal
A FamilyFun Magazine Best Children’s Book for 2005



Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken IdentityKnuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity by Mo Willems
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Trixie now goes to school and one day takes Knuffle Bunny too. Things don't quite go as expected when another child has a similar bunny. A nice tale of jealousy and friendship. Not as charming (for me) as the first book, but still worth sharing as a read aloud as well as a one-to-one.
Awards: Caldecott Honor 2008


View all my Goodreads reviews

Sunday 30 September 2012

British Books Challenge (September's picture books)

I've read some cracking British picture books this month. The ones I've mentioned here would make great read alouds at storytime.


I love stories with strong female characters, but I find there just aren't enough of them. This first book is certainly one that demonstrates that young princesses don't have to conform to their traditional stereotype.


The worst princessThe Worst Princess by Anna Kemp
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A excellent updated fairy tale. Decked out in canvas high-tops, this strong-willed young princess wants excitement and adventure and is disappointed by the role her 'Prince Charming' expects her to play. To combat the boredom she experiences at his court, she hatches a plot with the winsome dragon and proves once and for all that she is the worst princess (and so what)! The rhyming text is amusing and full of little asides designed to make the adults and older children in your audience snigger!
Shortlisted for the Roald Dahl Funny Prize 2012.


In the UK we celebrate Older Person's Week in the first week of October. This book is the perfect choice for my Multi-Generational Storytime to be held next week. Unfortunately there is no cover picture on Goodreads, but I think this charming video of the author, Judith Kerr (of Mog fame), will more than make up for it. These grannies certainly don't conform to their stereotypes either!





The Great Granny Gang by Judith Kerr
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A fun story about capable and courageous grannies who thwart the thieving 'hoodies'. I'm not totally happy with the demonising of hoodie wearers (thinking of those extra shy children who like to hide within their clothing). However, the grandmas are amazing; they have unexpected skills, talents and strengths, not least their ability to work together, and their capacity for eating cake!


Finally a book about our more typical younger visitors.

What Shall We Do With The Boo Hoo Baby?What Shall We Do With The Boo Hoo Baby? by Cressida Cowell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Various animals try to calm the baby in nice repetitive text. There is lots of opportunity for a young audience to join in with their animal noises. The animals try a number of activities; feeding, bathing and playing to quieten the baby. All work for a time, but then the "Boo-hoo-hoo" starts again. Thankfully they eventually they find the solution.
This would have been a 5 out of 5 if I hadn't found the layout of the text a little confusing at times, and would prefer a version in one language just so the text is easier to read.

View all my Goodreads reviews

Read more British book reviews on the British Books Challenge blog.

Boggiesta - blog housekeeping time

Well, Bloggiesta is back again with Bloggiesta Ole! The Fall 2012 edition is happening from September 28th through to the 30th - and time is swiftly running out.



Bloggiesta is a 3-day blog-a-thon where participants endeavour to complete as many things on their to-do lists as they can. You can learn all about it from Suey at It’s All About Books and sign up to participate at Danielle's  There's a Book blog.


In Suey's words

"Bloggiesta is your chance to:
  • spiff up your blog
  • try something new on your blog, fix something, add something or delete something
  • catch up on reviews, Google Reader, email, or anything else that's out of control
  • work and party together with other bloggers
  • learn new things from blogging experts
  • join several mini challenges and win prizes [mini challenges are now closed] 
  • have fun for three days blogging and connecting with your blogging friends!"

To join in all you need to do is write a post about Bloggiesta and include your to-do list and link up your post.

As I've only one day in which to do it my to-do list is going to be pretty short.

  • Update the reading challenges page on my blog
  • Add an September update to the Award-Winning Books Challenge The September challenge was taken off line early, so waited until Monday to add an update to the October update.
  • Prepare an October update for the same Posted an October update, but as an alternative to, rather than in addition to, a September update.
  • Add a September update for the British Books Challenge 2012
  • Prepare an October update for the above. It is prepared - an update on butterfly books - but I'm having second thoughts about the value of spending time on the updates for this challenge.
  • Write up and schedule at least one of my outstanding draft posts on my Loons and Quines storytimes blog and one on my CPD blog, Library Quine FAIL!
  • and finally comment on the progress and success of at least two other Bloggiesta participants via #bloggiesta. Left comments at  Lit and Life and Jenny Elise.

Update: I made a major mistake with this Bloggiesta by not signing up for it a lot sooner. When I checked out the instructions over one week before the start, I found that all the mini-challenges were closed. I'll set a calendar notification to check up on this 8 weeks and 4 weeks before the start of the challenge next time (March 29th - 31st 2013 for the main challenge).
N.B. The Bloggiesta Challenge now has a dedicated site at Bloggiesta.com



Once completed I intend to take a Flannel Friday sabbatical for a few weeks and dedicate some time to writing up my CILIP Chartership Portfolio after a year of working on various professional development challenges. Then towards the end of the month I'll be taking what I hope will be the trip of a lifetime to Vietnam and Cambodia. Wish me luck!

 

Thursday 27 September 2012

Flannel Friday - Hand Washing

I love the new directions into which partnership working can take lead you. This week I've had the opportunity to work with a nurse to introduce pre-school children to proper hand washing.

Thanks to some crowd-sourcing with my Flannel Friday Facebook friends and some shared resources I've come up with what I hope will a fun yet educational Storytime.

 
I'm including the story of Mrs Wishy Washy and, if I have the courage, will dress as the determined lady herself. Thanks to previous posts and ideas from Storytime Katie and Storytime ABC's, and the templates from Making Learning Fun, I made this reversible flannel board set from laminated paper and card.

 
Mrs Wishy Washy - templates from Making Learning Fun
 
 
I also wanted a flannel board prop with an action poem or song to help demonstrate the hand washing process, and with a little help from my friends this is what I came up with. The hand is from Open Clip Art Library, and the germs were cut freehand and dotted with various colours of puffy paint (then reverse printed onto another 'germ' of similar shape).
 
 
 
 
ALL THE LITTLE GERMS
 
All the little germs, dirty and mean,
Hiding on your palms, (point to where they're hiding)
Where they cannot be seen.
Wash them, (rub hands together)
Scrub them, (rub knuckles together)
Rinse them away. (whisk hands across each other)
Then we'll have clean hands, (hold hands out palm up)
Hip, hip, hooray! (jazz hands!)
 
... Hiding between your fingers,
 
... Hiding behind your hands,
 
... Hiding on your thumbs,
 
... Hiding under nails,
 
... Hiding on your wrists,
 
 
 
There are a few too many germs on the hand in the photo, but you no doubt get the idea.
 
Try as I might I couldn't come up with a line that would scan to say 'on the backs of your hands', except 'behind your hands' - perhaps you can?
 
 
 


Want to know more?

Find out about Flannel Friday on the dedicated website. Features include past roundups, host schedule and how to participate.

Scan images of Flannel Friday posts on Pinterest.

Search for flannels and storytime ideas at Mel's Desk.

Discuss storytimes and flannel boards on the Flannel Friday Facebook Page.


This week's Flannel Friday Roundup can be found at Storytime Katie's fabulous blog .
 
 

 
 
 


 
 
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