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.


 

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