Flannel Friday: Lisa Can't Sleep!

This is a story I've been telling for years and it's always a hit; I use it with my toddlers and my preschoolers and for family bedtime storytime. It pretty much never fails me. 

I tried to find the original book, but I made this flannel while at another library and I didn't write down the source (bad librarian! No biscuit!). I'm guessing it's this one: 

And the good news is: you can buy a hardcover copy from a used bookseller for $223.20! What a deal! (Update! The book is now listed at $222.64 so get your copy today!)

Ok, so maybe the book isn't around anymore. But maybe you have it in your collection! And either way, the story is worth telling, I promise. 

It starts with Lisa going to bed. She pulls the covers up and puts her head down. But Lisa can't sleep so she calls out "MOOOO-OOOMMMM!! I need my bear!" So Mom brings Lisa's bear. 

Lisa grabs her bear, pulls her covers up and puts her head down. But Lisa can't sleep ... she wants her doll. 

Then she wants her dog...

And so on and so forth until she's got her bear, her doll, her dog, her sheep, her cat, her bunny, her duck, her lion, and her ball. 

But there's still a problem. Lisa calls her mom one last time and says "There's no room in the bed for me!" So Mom takes everything back except the teddy bear. Lisa hugs it tight, pulls her covers up, and goes to sleep. 

A few quick notes on the telling. These things work for me, but lord knows we all have different styles and methods and there are far far better storytellers out there, so feel free to make it your own.  

• I mime the pulling up of the covers each time and make sure my hands go higher and higher as the number of things in the bed increases.
• When I say "put her head down", I put my hands together and put my head on them. You know, the bedtime/sleep motion. I then lower my head and my hands together just a little bit before opening my eyes with a gasp before saying "But Lisa couldn't sleep!". I always put my head to the right when I do this. When Lisa finally does go to sleep, I put my hands and tilt my head to the left.
• I've alternated the object that Lisa first wants between the doll and the bear. Sometimes I'm feeling doll, and sometimes bear. Bear makes the most sense when I'm using it with a stuffed animal sleepover, but it can go either way.
• Speaking of which, another great benefit is that this story is as long or as short as you need. The lion and the ball may not make an appearance with the wiggly toddlers, but the kindergartners are usually willing to go along for all of Lisa's whims.
• Really milk the "MOOOOO-OOOOM!!!!" I even cup my hands around my mouth when calling out. It's everyone's favorite part. 

This week's Flannel Friday is hosted by Kathryn. For more information about Flannel Friday, visit the blog or check out Pinterest.

Flannel Friday Round-up!

Are you planning your fall storytimes? Well, strap yourself in because this week's round-up is going to make at least one of those storytimes a breeze. Ready? Ok, here we go.

First off, we have Danielle at Library Danielle who has ducks, frogs, and a lovely flannel to go along with Little White Duck. (Why do good books go out of print? This is the question we all ask ourselves when we see a super-cute flannel that we now want to make...)

Mel, over at Mel's Desk also has ponds on the brain with a flannel about a lily pond. The tune is familiar, and I do love reversible flannel pieces, I do, I do.

Kathryn, from Fun with Friends at Storytime, has some colorful ducks for a fun "what's missing?" game - always a good time with the kids - and bonus! a paper plate duck that's simple and adorable. Perfect storytime craft.

Speaking of games, Lindsey from Jbrary has a version of the Little Mouse game with ladybugs and fancy fringed rugs (could her next career be as a decorator...?) and an easy and helpful early literacy tip to boot.

And just like that: your fall "Pond" storytime is planned. Thank goodness for Flannel Friday!

Thank you to everyone who participated!

Learn more about Flannel Friday at our Facebook Page or on the blog.

Preschool Story Time 10/7/14

I'm going through my backlog of story times to put on the blog, so this one was from ages ago. Still good to have a record, though...

Opening Song: Oh Hey, Oh Hi, Hello

Book: Grumpy Bird by Jeremy Tankard

This was a good one to start with. The kids thought it was funny and I liked playing up my grumpy voice. 

Flannelboard Song: B-I-N-G-O

Book: Hooray for Hat! by Brian Won

I thought this would be a nice tie-in to grumpy bird, what with the whole grumpy theme going in this book, too, but it turned out to be too much of the same thing. Both good books, I think, just maybe not at the same Story Time. 

Dance: Silly Dance Contest

I sing this Jim Gill song a cappella, since I never play recorded music in Story Time. It works well to sing it, and I can modify the verses: jump, spin, clap, stomp, stretch, dancing slowly, dancing fast. I always thought it was weird that he didn't end with fast dancing on the recording, as that's always the favorite. 

Dance/Settle: Jump Up, Turn Around

Another Jim Gill classic that I love singing. I do the regular verse, then we do it with our hands in the air, our eyes closed, and holding our breath. I end by doing the regular verse very slowly then speeding it up verse by verse and ending with "Jump up, turn around, clap your hands, sit back down!" so it's a great settling down rhyme as well. 

Flannel Story: Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes

I told this story to my Toddler group, too, and maybe it was just my crowds that day (I have both story times on the same day), but it seemed too complex for the Toddlers and too easy for the Preschoolers. I will have to try it again, because it's such a favorite story of mine. 

Dance: Head and Shoulders Knees and Toes

Book: Rrralph by Lois Ehlert

I thought this book was funny, but I wasn't sure it would work as a read-a-loud. Maybe I cursed myself with my second guessing, but it went right over my kids' heads. Perhaps I didn't read it right....? I think this book could be very successful if done properly, i.e., not by me. :-)

Fingerplay: I Wiggle wiggle wiggle*

Flannelboard/Stuffed Animal Story: Bear's Picture

I use flannel pieces and my stuffed animal menagerie to retell a version of Frank Asch's Bread and Honey. It brought down the house with my first grade class visit, but I think the final silly picture may have been too absurd or too scary for the littler ones. 

Closing Song: We wave goodbye like this

All in all, a "meh" story time. The kids were great listeners even when they weren't quite connecting to the material, so the session wasn't a total disaster. 

* I Wiggle wiggle wiggle
I wiggle wiggle wiggle my fingers
I wiggle wiggle wiggle my toes
I wiggle wiggle wiggle my shoulders
I wiggle wiggle wiggle my nose
I wiggle up at the ceiling
I wiggle down at the ground
I wiggle in a circle
And I put my hands down.

Preschool Story Time 12/2/14

Opening Song: Oh Hey, Oh Hi, Hello

Book: A Letter for Leo by Sergio Ruzzier

I thought this book was cute, but perhaps a little slow. I'm glad I decided to use it first, when the kids were most attentive. It was the only book that didn't get checked out at the end of the program. I still think it's a nice book, though. 

Fingerplay: These are my Glasses

I sang this one - it's a Laurie Berkner song. I to

ok a page from her book (haha) and asked the kids what was in their books. Princesses, vampires, and dinosaurs were the top answers. 

Flannel Story: Froggy Gets Dressed

Froggy never fails me. The kids liked guessing what he had forgotten to put on; I know I have their attention when they start trying to peek at the flannel pieces in my lap. 

Book: Pirate, Viking, Scientist by Jared Chapman

This book is hilarious and a pretty good interpretation of the scientific method. I tried to amp up the interest by asking the kids if they thought the experiments would work. I think I should have explained what pillaging and plundering were before reading it, though. Or maybe it would just work best with an older crowd. 

Dance: Silly Dance Contest

Dance: Bananas Unite

Settle: I clap my hands

Book: Is there a dog in this Book? by Viviane Schwarz

This was the favorite book by far. The kids loved it. 

Action Rhyme: Baby Shark

Book: George in the Dark by Madeline Valentine

This one was a quiet success. The kids were scared with George and brave with George and said "I'm brave, too!" when I finished. 

Story with Puppets: The Squeaky Door

It's nice when a story gets spontaneous applause from the parents. I have the perfect puppet for the "AAAAAHHH!" sound that Molly makes when the door creaks. I'm not sure I have enough hands to pull this story off as well as I would like to - I think next time I might hand out the animals to the kids to have them make the animal noises and just keep the girl puppet myself. 

Closing: We Wave Goodbye Like This

Flannel Friday: The Mitten

Inspired by the Jan Brett book, here is "The Mitten." 

Our little boy starts off with two white-as-snow mittens. 

When one of them gets dropped in the show, a rabbit takes interest...

... and crawls into the mitten.

An owl comes by and also takes interest...

... and squeezes into the mitten. A fox comes by...

... and squeezes into the mitten. Then a bear takes interest...

... and he, too, makes his way in to the mitten. Then along comes a mouse...

... who doesn't really fit, but the animals let him try. He ends up on the bear's nose...

... which causes the bear to SNEEEEEZE!!! and all the animals go flying out of the mitten and make their way home. And that's why the little boy has two mittens that look like this:

I have used this story with younger crowds (2-3 years old) and leave it at the flannel. The kids tend to love the giant sneeze and the fun sound effects I make for the animals making room in the mitten and crawling in.

With a slightly older group (4 or 5 and up), though, I start off by using the flannel to tell the story. Then I ask them to help me retell the story. I ask two children to be the mitten in the snow. They stand up and hold each other's hands. Then I ask for a volunteer to be each animal that crawls into the mitten and these volunteers fit themselves between my two mitten-ers. The mitten must expand, of course, until my two mitten-ers are barely hanging on (bursting at the seams, as it were).

The kids huddle together for the "aaaaahhhhh" then move out a bit then "aaaaaahHHHHH" again and finally "AAAAAAHH-CHHOOOOO!!!!" that sends all the kids flying around and back to their places. I help this along by calling out their animals and saying things like "Then the bear fell to the ground and trundled home" and "Then the mitten fell to the ground where Peter picked it up again to carry it home". It helps encourage them to settle down.

I've found it helps to do this story last in the storytime and go directly into the goodbye song. It definitely ends the session on a good note.

Flannel Friday: Two-sided Pumpkins

I do the rhyme "Five Little Pumpkins" every year around Halloween and then don't touch it again till the next year. Last year I made five pumpkins out of orange paper, colored and laminated them, and put some velcro on the back.

They were functional, but I felt they were a little lackluster.

This year, I decided to make something more fun so I made five two-sided flannel pumpkins.

At the beginning of the rhyme, I put up the five pumpkins on the felt board as pumpkins:

Then as each one speaks in the rhyme, I turn them over to reveal their jack-o-lantern side:

The story-time crowd went "oooooh" when I flipped the first one and the kids enjoyed it so much that we did the rhyme twice.

Here's the version of the rhyme that I use:

Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate
The first one said "My, it's getting late"
The second one said "There is magic in the air"
The third one said "But we don't care!"
The fourth one said "Isn't Halloween fun?"
The fifth one said "Let's run, let's run!"
OOOOOOOOO went the wind
and OUT went the light
And the five little pumpkins rolled fast out of sight.

Thanks to the Silly Librarian for the inspiration!

Story Time Staples: Opening and Closing Songs

Kids like routine (although if that is the case, then why does my newborn son keep trying to change things up??) so I use the same opening and closing songs every week for my story times. I have a weekly Baby Time, a Toddler Time, and a Preschool Story Time and I use different songs for each age group.

Baby Time (6 weeks to 18 months)

Opening Song: "Good Day, Everybody!" (I learned this one from my first boss years ago and have no idea where it comes from! Anybody know?)

Good day, everybody! Good day, everybody! 

Good day, good day, good day!

Let's smile, everybody! Let's smile, everybody!

And chase those blues away. 

Repeat with clap, stomp, bounce, and hug. 

I like this one because we start off waving (something many babies can do with caregiver help) and then tickle tummies on "chase those blues away." It makes the babies giggle and we start the session on a happy note. 

Closing Song: "Pat a cake"

Pat a cake, pat a cake, baker's man 

Bake me a cake as fast as you can. 

Pat it and roll it and mark it with a B. 

And put it in the oven for baby and me!

Most parents know this one and are happy to chant along with me. Every time I get new kids in baby time, I encounter different opinions on what you do first (pat it or roll it), but we stick to the pat then roll so after a few weeks we are all chanting together. 

Toddler Time (18 months to 3 years)

Opening Songs: I use three songs to get the toddlers settled and ready to read. They are, in order, "Oh Hey, oh Hi, Hello", "Hello children" and "Shake My Sillies." 

"Oh Hey, oh Hi, Hello" is from Jim Gill's album Jim Gill makes IT Noisy in Boise, Idaho. You can hear the song here, though I only sing through the original version twice rather than all the fun variations that Jim does. (Pause for a moment to celebrate the genius that is Jim Gill. Not a week goes by that I don't use a song of his. Brilliant brilliant man.)

"Hello Hideo" is a song I learned from my first boss, again. You beat a rhythm on your thighs and chant: 

Hello, children, hideo, hideo hideo

Hello, children, hideo

Hideo de ay, HEY!

And on the "HEY!" you raise your arms high over your head. We then say hello to the boys, the girls, and the grownups. This one is fun because everyone is tapping out the beat together and the children love the "HEY!" part. It's one of the first things I see them learning and repeating each week. 

"Shake My Sillies" is a classic song. There's the Raffi version, of course, which is timeless. We shake our sillies, clap our crazies, yawn our sleepies, and then shake our sillies one more time. 

I find by the end of this three song routine, everyone is with me, quiet, and ready to listen. 

Closing songs: "If You're Happy and you Know It" and "Hands say Thank you."

We sing "If you're happy and you know it" right after the flannelboard story (the last thing I do each story time) and we clap, stomp, and wave goodbye. Everyone knows this one enough to sing along and I transition from the waving right in to: 

My hands say thank you with a clap clap clap

My feet say thank you with a tap tap tap

Hands clap clap

Feet tap tap

Rooooollllll your arms and wave goodbye!

(I get lots of drama going on the roooollll part). 

Preschool Story Time (ages 3 to 5)

Opening song: I start with the "Oh Hey, Oh Hi, Hello!" song. With my kids, just twice through this song is enough to settle them down enough to read the first book. The few times I have tried to add another song here, I get the feeling the kids are eager for the song to be over so they can hear the story!

Closing song (to the tune of "The Farmer in the Dell"):

We wave goodbye like this! We wave goodbye like this! 

We clap our hands for all our friends, 

We wave goodbye like this!

Do you have a favorite song to open or close story time?