Do you want to know what other libraries have as far as flannel boards?  Would it be helpful? 

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Winton's Holdings

 

I have a simple house shape in flannel board with 6 other successively smaller house shapes, each one a different color, and a small red heart. The pieces are stacked like nesting dolls with the largest one on top, and the heart last. I use it as a storytime opener each week. The goal is to bring the children's focus to the front of the room, and also as a reliable ritual that is easy for the children to remember and participate in (we guess the next color before we remove each layer).

(Mary Gleason, Evans Branch, Irondequoit) 

 

Often, I give the children various pieces to be placed on the flannel board, and they help tell the story.  There are times when we are matching shapes, or putting items in groups, so that the activity is more participatory on their part. Know your audience. For the VERY young, I hold onto the pieces, (otherwise, the pieces may go into their mouths--YUCK!!!)

(Jane McManus, Winton)

 

Kitten's Lost Mitten

• Flannelboard
• 8 Ellison Mittens cut from felt
• 1 of each color: red, yellow, brown, green, black, pink
• 2 blue mittens

My poor little kitten lost her mitten,

And started to cry, "Booh-hoo!"

So I helped my kitten look for her mitten

Her beautiful mitten of BLUE.

I found a mitten just right for a kitten

Under my mother's bed!

But, alas, the mitten was not the right mitten,

For it was colored RED.

I found a mitten just right for a kitten

Under my father's pillow.

But, alas, the mitten was not the right mitten,

For it was colored YELLOW.

I found a mitten just right for a kitten

Under the laundry so clean.

But, alas, the mitten was not the right mitten,

For it was colored GREEN.

I found a mitten just right for a kitten

Inside a grocery sack.

But, alas, the mitten was not the right mitten,

For it was colored BLACK.

I found a mitten just right for a kitten

Under the kitchen sink.

But, alas, the mitten was not the right mitten,

For it was colored PINK.

I found a mitten just right for a kitten

Inside my favorite shoe.

And this time, it was just the right mitten

For it was colored BLUE.

 

Little Mouse

• Flannelboard
• 4/6 felt houses--each a different color*
• Felt mouse

Little Mouse, Little Mouse,

Are you in the ______ house?

**For variations: "Little (pick any animal), little (animal), playing hide and seek. Are you behind the (pick a color object) let's take a peek!" (Storytime Underground 6-2018) For another variation, cut a big red barn, with a door that flaps open. Hide a silhouette of any farm animal, or insect, and ask who's behind the barn door. (Flannel Friday 4-2019)

 

Wind

• A small square of blue paper for each child
• A white cotton ball for each child

Wind, wind, blow the clouds

Fast across the sky,

Blow the branches back and forth,

In the trees so high.

 

Leaves Are Drifting

• Paper Ellison leaves in various fall colors, one for each child

The leaves are drifting softly down,

They make a carpet on the ground.

Then swish! The wind comes whistling by,

And sends them dancing in the sky!

 

Pea Soup

• Small green pompoms
• A frying pan from the Dollar Store

One little pea jumped into the pot,

And waited for the soup to get hot.

Two little peas...

Finally, the soup got so very, very hot,

That all the little peas jumped out of the pot!

(Robin Benoit, Fairport, demonstrated the above at the J meeting 10-14-2009. She explained that when going to the Day Care Centers, she likes to have the children "take home" something tangible so that they can share the activity with their families.)

 

Little Cowboy

(Make felt cutouts of the articles of clothing-glue his head, hands, and feet onto the red flannel underwear-and dress him with this rhyme)              

 A cowboy dresses himself with care.

 He starts with long, red ______(UNDERWEAR).

 Out in the desert, you don't want to get hurt, 

 So the cowboy wears a strong wool ______(SHIRT).

 Deserts and prairies are the cowboy's scenes;

 To protect his legs, he wears sturdy blue______(JEANS).

 The cowboy bent, and ran, and knelt.

 To keep his pants up, he wore a leather ______(BELT).

 The coyote howls, the old owl hoots.

 On his feet, he wears leather ______(BOOTS).

 It isn't yellow, so it's not a banana;

 Around his neck, he wears a soft ______(BANDANA).

 A cowboy is a cowboy, and that is that!

 On top of his head, he wore a ten-gallon ______(HAT).

 He's all dressed from head to feet,

 And now our cowboy can't be beat!

 

SPRING

The wind told the grasses 

And the grasses told the trees.

The trees told the bushes,

And the bushes told the bees.

The bees told the robin,

And the robin sang out clear:

Wake up! Wake up! Spring is here!

          --author unknown  (PUBYAC 12-16-2009)

 

WINTER

(sing to: Mary Had a Little Lamb)

I don't want to wear a _______

Wear a _________

Wear a _________

I don't want to wear a _______

It's not that cold outside.

(coat, hat, scarf, mittens, boots)

Aachoo...

Guess I'd better wear a coat

Wear a hat

Wear a scarf

Guess I'd better wear my mittens

And wear my boots

'Cause it's really COLD outside!

          --Jan Irving (PUBYAC 1-2011)

 

Snowball, Snowball

Snowball, snowball,

Cold and round!

Behind which mitten

Can you be found?

 

COLOR CLOWN: Basically, you make a clown shape with each piece being a different color:

head=circle

body=rectangle

arms=skinny rectangles

legs=skinny rectangle of another color

hands=mitten shape

feet=quadrilateral

eyes=smaller circles

nose=triangle

mouth=half circle ears=two half circles

hat=triangle heart=heart

 

Put a nose-less Rudolph on the board, and put different colored noses on him while the kids help complete the rhyme.  For ex:

Rudolph, Rudolph, what will the children think if you fly by and your nose is PINK?

Rudolph, Rudolph, you're such a silly fellow. Who will know it's you if your nose is YELLOW?

Etc with other colors, and then-

Rudolph, Rudolph, the children are in bed, I know you're ready because your nose is RED.

          --ACLA YouthServices wiki

 

Why the Sun Was Late:

It starts with the fly landing on a dead tree, which topples with a crash. The fly thinks he did it, and tries to push two boys out of another tree. When a boy swings at the fly, he instead knocks three squirrels out of the tree, which startles four snakes, who slither off into a herd of five elephants, who rush madly into a hill, knocking six eggs out of a nest. The mother bird says "Now my heart is broken, too. Never, never, never shall I sing again." Without the bird's song, the sun is not awakened. The Great Spirit has to look into it, and retrace the story, until he comes to the fly, who is too embarrassed to answer and just buzzes.

               --Benjamin Elkin, (PUBYAC 05-21-2010)

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There are alternative texts and patterns, but here is, hopefully, a link for one or the other. Nobody is saying you have to purchase your felt pieces. The sites linked are just to give you an idea. If you have talented volunteers, they may be willing to make flannel board stories for you at home.

A-Hunting We Will Go

The Bear Went Over the Mountain

The Big Red Barn

Brown Bear Brown Bear

Bug in a Rug

The Carrot Seed

Dear Zoo

Dog's Colorful Day

Down By the Cool of the Pool

Down By the Station

Five Green Apples

Five Green Speckled Frogs

Five Little Ducks

Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed

Five Little Monkeys Swinging in a Tree

Flip Flap Jack

Go Away, Big Green Green Monster

Goldilocks and the Three Bears

Hush, Little Baby

I Went Walking

In the Small, Small Pond

In the Tall, Tall Grass

Is Your Mama a Llama?

Lisa Can't Sleep

Little Cloud

Lunch!

Mrs. Wishy Washy

Monkey Face

The Napping House

Old MacDonald Had a Farm

Old Mother Hubbard

One Duck Stuck

Owl and the Pussycat

Rainbow Fish

Runaway Cookies

Silly Sally

The Surprise Garden

Three Little Pigs

The Turnip

Very Hungry Caterpillar

We're Going On a Picnic

The Wheels on the Bus

Who Is Tapping at My Window?

Who Took the Farmer's Hat?