Frozen Preschool Party featuring Olaf
Since this is the coldest February on record, I decided to celebrate with the cast of Frozen, or my preschoolers! I read Olaf’s 1,2,3 and then we had fun at a variety of stations:
Tag: Winter Stories
The First Day of Winter by Denise Fleming
This is a new-to-me story, even though it’s about ten years old. I just fell in love with it and so have all of my kids. I had to make a flannel to accompany it, so I could use the story in different ways. I made all the pieces featured in the story. This way we can each get a piece and count along as we sing. I also added animals to the story, some can be found in the picture book and others I added that can be found in our own backyards. The children gave me this idea after reading it to one particular class.
If you don’t know this one, I made a video!
For more storytime ideas, check out Storytime Katie’s blog. 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.
One Mitten
Kristine O’Connell George’s One Mitten has been sitting in my TBM pile for about two years now! I had a vision in my head that required prep work and never had enough time to do it. Recently I acquired funding for a die cut machine and the stars aligned!
I wanted to do this story as an interactive story, so I wanted each child to have one, yellow mitten. I bought a yard of felt, made a template, and sewed as many pairs as possible. (OK, you know me by now…my husband did all the sewing!) In the middle of the story, the narrator finds its pair hiding under the kitty cat. When I setup for storytime, I hid one yellow mitten under each carpet square.
When the child found the match in the book, I asked each child to look under their mat to see if they found anything. It was a huge hit! We kept our mittens on throughout the rest of the program and danced, wiggled, and listened. I collected them before craft time and prepped yellow lacing mittens with my new die cut!
For more storytime ideas, check out Cate’s Storytiming. She’s hosting this week’s Flannel Friday. To find out more about Flannel Friday, check out the website, the Pinterest board, and the Facebook Group.
Olaf’s 1, 2, 3 Flannel Story
With the popularity of Frozen, I decided to flannelize the counting story, Olaf’s 1, 2, 3! I plan on using this until the pieces melt. Between my in-house and outreach storytimes, these pieces will travel around the county during the month of January. I used my new die-cut machine for the snowflakes and handmade everything else:
For more storytime ideas, check out What is Bridget Reading? She’s hosting this week’s Flannel Friday. To find out more about Flannel Friday, check out the website, the Pinterest board, and the Facebook Group.
Ten on a Sled
Kim Norman’s Ten on a Sled is a perfect winter read aloud. I made a flannel set to use instead of the book so I can mix up the story with my in-house programs and outreach storytimes. This singable story is perfect to get the crowd rocking and rolling with you! Here’s a detail of all the animals on a sled:
The vocabulary is rich and introduces children to animals they may not have met before including a caribou, seal, hare, sheep, walrus, fox, squirrel, wolf, moose, bear. Each animal comes off the sled in an alliteration way: hare hopped, walrus whirled, bear bailed.
This song will be stuck in your head all day! I’m off to read the “sequel” right now called If It’s Snowy and You Know It Clap Your Paws.
For more storytime ideas check out Storytime ABCs, she’s hosting Flannel Friday this week.
Under My Hood I Have a Hat
I love Under My Hood I Have a Hat for winter storytimes. I made a flannel story so I can tell it to the children. I use a “Under My Hood I Have a Hat by Karla Kuskin “Cheat Sheet”” so I can use the original text for the story. I laminated a copy and keep it in my lap:
Of course, the children love seeing her underwear, which I decorated with purple sparkles!
Here’s a coloring page to use: Under My Hood I Have a Hat. I like to print this on heavy paper and use glitter paints!
For more flannel ideas, check out Let The Wild Rumpus Start. They’re hosting Flannel Friday this week. Merry Christmas to everyone, I’ll see you in 2014!
Mouse’s First Snow
I love Lauren Thompson’s Mouse series. They’re the perfect size for my 2s. I pretty much made the entire series in flannel stories so the children can match up what Mouse finds on each spread. This story, Mouse’s First Snow, features: a sled, skates, snow angel, snow house, snow ball, and snow mouse. I used glitter puffy paints so they sparkle! Next week is supposed to be our first snowfall in the northwest hills of Connecticut, so I’ll be breaking this one out!
To answer Lois’ question, here’s a video:
Here’s a craft for Snow Mouse. I plan on using glitter paints for this!
For more flannel ideas, check out What is Bridget Reading? She’s hosting Flannel Friday this week!
The Magic Snowman
The kids in my library beg for the magic snowman all year long. Even in the heat of the summer when the sun is beating all day they ask, “Did you bring the magic snowman?” When I remind them of the heat they say, “Well he is magic.” I use him during the months of December, January and February as a transition activity.
This is based on Carole Peterson’s song, “I Can Make a Snowman” from H.U.M. Highly Usable Music. It is sung to the tune of “Mary Had a Little Lamb.” You can find her version of a flannel activity here.
Print out the Magic Snowman template on white computer paper. (I used this snowman.) Cut out the snow balls using a razor blade. Laminate him. Create a white folder by folding a piece of 12 x 18″ in half. Load the folder ahead of time with four colors (make sure you know what they are). You can get creative by making a rainbow (this is the biggest hit!) or you can browse the craft store and purchase a variety of fancy and glittery scrapbook paper.
The first time I use this with a group of children I ask them if they can help me with a magic trick. I ask, “Do you think we can change this snowman’s color?” Of course they yell, “YES!” I tell them there are three magic things we need to do to make sure the Snowman changes color.
- We have to close our eyes.
- We have to think of the magic color. (If everyone isn’t thinking of the color, the trick won’t work.)
- We have to sing the Magic Song.
I always practice once with them before the snowman does his trick. The kids will always yell out colors you don’t have loaded which is why I created the Rainbow color. I tell the children to think of one of their favorite colors and you won’t believe their surprise when they open their eyes. On occasion I am not quick enough with the color change, so I make the snowman disappear. “You can’t pick invisible as a color!” I laugh and say. That gives me time to do it again and they love it!
All You Need For a Snowman Magic Bag
I’m so excited to have this as my first Flannel Friday post!
I love kicking off my winter storytimes with a bit of magic. I created a “Magic Bag” to use for this snowy story. This bag is pretty fancy, and I have to give my husband credit for it! His engineer-mind created a beautiful bag with a secret pouch, perfect to hide two snowmen friends! You can get the same effect with two paper double-bagged grocery bags if you can’t sew (just hide the finished snowmen in between the two bags). Here’s how to make the story magical:
You’ll need:
- Four 8.5×11″ white sheets of felt (4 large snowballs, 4 medium snowballs, 4 small snowballs, 8 mini-snowballs, 2 newspaper scrolls, 4 sneakers, 2 hats to turn into rainbow hats)
- 1/4 sheet of dark blue felt (8 ear muffs, 4 button eyes, 4 mittens)
- 1/4 sheet of light blue felt (4 scarves, 2 fanny packs)
- 1/4 sheet of red (4 overalls, 4 skis)
- scrap piece of black (2 hats, 2 belts)
- scrap piece of orange (4 carrot noses)
- 1/4 sheet of light brown (2 brooms, 2 moustaches)
- 1/4 sheet of grey (4 ski poles, 2 goggles)
Ahead-of-Time Directions:
- Create two complete versions of each Snowman Friend. Use felt glue or hot glue to put each Snowman Friend together.
- Hide the completed Snowman Friends in the secret pouch before storytime (I keep mine closed with a black Velcro tab). If you use the grocery bag trick, hide the Snowman Friends in between the two bags on the side closest to you. When you pull them out it will appear to the children that you’re reaching inside the bag.
- Take the rest of the pieces of the Two Snowman Friends and put them in a baggie. These are the pieces you’ll hand out to the children to create the completed snowmen.
Storytime Directions:
- Tell the children that they can help you perform a magic trick today. Ask them if they think they can help you. “Have you ever made a snowman before?” Show them your bag, making sure they inspect it to make sure it’s empty. Tell them that you’re going to pass out pieces of the snowman and at the end of the story you’re going to mix it up, sing a special song and pull out a finished snowman.
- Pass out the pieces of the two Snowman Friends you made. I always have more than enough for this story, you can hand out pieces to parents, daycare providers, etc. If you have any extra pieces, keep them next to you and add them when it comes time in the story. It’s important to tell each child which piece they have for this story so they’ll know when to come up.
- Read each page of the story and ask the children to come up at the end of the page with their item.
- When you get to the end of the story and you’ve collected all the pieces, tell the children that you must sing a special song while you shake the bag to get all the pieces to melt together. I use my own version of Carole Peterson’s “I Can Make a Snowman.” It goes like this: I can make a snowman, a snowman, a snowman. I can make a snowman, my special snowman friend. Then pull Snowman Friend One of out the bag. Enjoy the gasps and giggles.
- Peek in the bag and pull up some of the pieces. “Oh, no. There’s enough to make a second snowman friend. Would you like to do it again?” Repeat the song, then pull out Snowman Friend Two (make sure to point out the moustache–it always gets an extra laugh!
Here’s a video: