I love Emma J. Virjan’s new beginning readers series, Pig in a Wig, that I had to flannelize the latest installment! The new book, What This Story Needs is a Munch and a Crunch, is perfect for summer. Pig in a Wig gathers all the things needed for a picnic. The kids love this silly rhyming series and I can’t wait to use it when my summer session begins!
I made a felt story to accompany a new beginning reader book and the kids love it! If you don’t know this story, you must acquire a copy. It’s Mo Willems-esque, teaches rhyming and is a hoot! Here is the Pig in a Wig, with a Frog and a Dog and a Goat on a Log, with a Skunk on a Trunk, and a Rat in a Hat, with a Mouse in a House and a Panda in a Blouse in all its glory…
This is one of my new favs–it reminds me of Pete the Cat! The story is so versatile to fit a number of themes: getting dressed, farm, animals, tractors, stories in rhyme, stories you can sing! I had to flannelize it! I made a Farmer Brown complete with all the clothes:
And I made a tractor with all the animals in their rhyming clothes:
This should come with a warning! I can’t get this song out of my head! Now you won’t be able to, either:
For more storytime ideas check out Katie’s Story Time Secrets, she’s hosting Flannel Friday this week. To find out more about Flannel Friday, check out the website, the Pinterest board, and the Facebook Group.
I’ve been looking for a saddle to use with my puppets for months. I couldn’t find one anywhere that would work, so I decided to make one. I used 1/2 sheet of tan felt, 1/2 sheet of dark brown felt, and two 2″ book rings to use as stirrups. I glued a piece of poster board underneath the seat of the saddle to reinforce it. The book rings help to let the sides hang down from the horse…or my friend Roy from Are You a Horse? (If Roy is busy, I use my girl puppet and call her Cowgirl Kate.)
This is one of my favorite stories. The kids just laugh out loud through the whole thing. I made a flannel story long ago, and now can use it with puppets and you can, too. I always begin the story by asking the children to sing “Happy Birthday” to Roy. I wrap up the saddle in a box and have my puppet open the box. I ask the children what his present is. Sometimes they don’t know. So I explain what a saddle is and ask them how it is used. Then, Roy follows the instructions on the tag: 1) Find a horse. 2) Enjoy the ride!
Roy goes out looking for a horse and encounters every other animal imaginable! He comes up to each animal and uses two descriptive adjectives. He asks each one, “Are you a horse?” Each one answers no, then gives Roy one description of a horse. At the end of the story when Roy finally finds a horse, he makes sure it’s a horse by checking each descriptive word. I adapted a little since I couldn’t find a red wagon, a cactus, or a sloth puppet. I went to the dollar store and bought a red ATV, a flower, and used my turtle puppet for the “slow” character until I have money for a sloth puppet. Here’s a cheat sheet so you can tell the story, too:
Puppet
Description
Horse Description
1
red wagon
squeaky and rusty
living thing
2
cactus
tall and prickly
animal
3
snake
wiggly and hissy
has legs
4
crab
skittery and pinchy
friendly
5
chameleon
change colors
can’t change color
6
owl
feathered hooty
doesn’t lay eggs
7
pig
fat and snorty
clean
8
sloth
furry upside down
fast
9
lion
romping and growling
eats grass
10
zebra
eating grass
doesn’t have stripes
11
horse !
I use the horse last and say, “Roy can’t find a horse anywhere. I might as well stop telling the story.” They yell, “HORSE!” and I keep it going a couple of times. When I finally look at the horse, I go down the list and ask the children if this is actually a horse. Is it a living thing? An animal? Has legs? Etc.
Here’s the punch line when he finally finds the horse…
I guess the directions needed to be more specific! Haha.
Even though there’s still snow on my lawn, spring is officially here. To celebrate, I’m breaking out my bunny stories. I recently made a flannel for The Little Rabbit Who Liked to Say Moo. The preschoolers love this story. I like to sing the wrong versions of Old MacDonald to gear them up for this one. In addition to making the farm animals, I made speech bubbles to promote pre-reading skills.
Little Rabbit said, “Moo.”
Cow came over and asked Little Rabbit why he was saying Moo. Little Rabbit said that he liked to. Cow asked Little Rabbit if he could make any other sounds. Little Rabbit said, “Baa.”
Sheep came over and asked Little Rabbit why he was saying Baa. Little Rabbit said that he liked to. Sheep asked Little Rabbit if he could make any other sounds. Little Rabbit said, “Oink.”
Pig came over and asked Little Rabbit why he was saying Oink. Little Rabbit said that he liked to. Pig asked Little Rabbit if he could make any other sounds. Little Rabbit said, “Hee Haw.”
Donkey came over and asked Little Rabbit why he was saying Hee Haw. Little Rabbit said that he liked to. Donkey asked Little Rabbit if he could make any other sounds. Little Rabbit said, “Quack.”
Duck came over and asked Little Rabbit why he was saying Quack. Little Rabbit said that he liked to. Duck asked Little Rabbit if that was his favorite sound. Rabbit thought about it for a minute and said, “No, this is my favorite sound.”
You can also use puppets for this story and use a lap board to put up only the speech bubbles.
Here’s a craft to use (you can color, paint, dot, etc.): Little Rabbit Craft
Here’s a video of how to do a one-person puppet show with this story:
If you don’t have all the puppets from the book, watch this clip to see how you can change the story to fit your needs:
One of my toddlers’ favorite stories is Nicola Smee’s Clip Clop. I have been using the book for a couple of years now and recently made a flannel and a puppet story to use with them as well.
For the flannel story I created a horse that is big enough to take up all the space on my lap board. I made enough cats, dogs, pigs, and ducks for my biggest crowd and pass them out before I read the story. By the end of the book the horse is totally covered with farm animals!
I made a puppet version of this story, too. I use my horse puppet as Mr. Horse, and finger puppets from my collection for the other farm animals. As each animal asks to get on horse, I add a clothespin and slip the finger puppet on top of it.
I make this version of the story more interactive. Each time a farm animal gets on Horse I have the kids clap their knees and as Horse gallops. We go faster each time, until all the animals fall off Horse at the end!
One of my New Year’s resolutions is to use my puppet collection more in storytime. As I was poking through the clearance isle at my local department store, I saw red tupperware bins on blowout. “This would be perfect for a farm!” I thought. So I bought the 18-gallon bin and brought it home. I used white fabric paint (the same paint I use for my felt animals) and decorated the bin to be a barn. Each of the four sides is identical. It didn’t take very long and it dried pretty quickly!
Now I have a barn to use in storytime…and for all for my outreach visits, too!
Here are some stories I plan to use:
Clip, Clop by Nicola Smee (horse, cat, dog, pig, duck)
The Busy Little Squirrel by Nancy Tafuri (squirrel, mouse, bird, cat, dog, frog, owl)
Mother, Mother I Want Another by Maria Polushkin Robbins (mouse, frog, pig, duck, donkey)
I Went Walking by Sue Williams (cat, horse, cow, duck, pig, duck)
Mr. Gumpy’s Outing by John Burningham (children, rabbit, cat, dog, pig, sheep, chicken, calf, goat)
Ten Red Apples by Pat Hutchins (horse, cow, donkey, goat, pig, sheep, goose, duck, hen, farmer)
Here are some songs I plan to use:
When Pigs Get Up in the Morning by Kimbo from Circle Time Songs & Games (pig, duck, sheep, cow)
Down on the Farm by Greg & Steve from We All Live Together v.5 (rooster, cow, pig, dog, horse, turkey, donkey, people)
There’s a Dog in School by Carole Peterson from H.U.M. (dog, cat, duck, bunny, kids)
Old MacDonald by Notso Swift from Mother Goose Rocks (cow, pig, horse, duck)
Say Good Day by Carole Peterson from Music for the Very Young Child (cow, pig, dog, chicken, kids)
Down on Grandpa’s Farm by Raffi from One Light One Sun (cow, hen, sheep, dog, horse)
Here are a couple more ideas…the possibilities are really endless!
Oh my goodness! I just changed the way I’m using these. Check out my Revised Puppet Bins post:
