Flannel Friday Roundup for December 12, 2014

We're a small, but mighty group during the last official roundup of 2014.

Lisa has turned a Frozen picture book, Olaf's 1, 2, 3, into a felt set. Perfect for those of you (like me!) who are doing Frozen parties for the hordes of children who LOVE the movie.

Kathryn shares two friendship posts: 10 Friends Today and Gossie & Gertie.

Jane brings us a Christmas themed flannel this week: Christmas Presents for Little Mouse and Me.

This is the last Flannel Friday Roundup of 2014. We won't be having a roundup on December 19 or December 26. Anne is hosting the 1st roundup of 2015 on January 2. Lisa is hosting the Valentine's Day Extravaganza Roundup. Look for it on January 9.

Important Links:
Flannel Friday Blog
Flannel Friday on Pinterest
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Follow Flannel Friday on Twitter with the hashtag #flannelstorytime.
Our November/December Flannel Friday Fairy Godmother is Anne.
Our January/February Flannel Friday Fairy Godmother is Sharon.

Flannel Friday: Bob by Sandra Boynton

My contribution for the 2014 Holiday Extravaganza comes from Sandra Boynton's board book Bob and 6 More Christmas Stories. While this book is a slightly larger board book, it's still too small to share in my preschool storytime. I was enchanted by Bob's story and decided to turn him into a felt set for my flannel board. I enlarged the illustrations to use as my patterns.

Mel has the roundup this week.

Important Links:
Flannel Friday Blog
Flannel Friday on Pinterest
Flannel Friday on Facebook
Follow Flannel Friday on Twitter with the hashtag #flannelstorytime.
Our November/December Flannel Friday Fairy Godmother is Anne.

Flannel Friday: What Do You Call a Baby...?

 Last November, I used author/illustrator Aaron Zenz as a storytime theme. I love his book Chuckling Ducklings and Baby Animal Friends. When he also published a book about animal moms and another about animal dads, I knew it would make a perfect storytime.

The idea for this magnet board activity was born out of desperation. I was looking for an activity and realized I had crocheted magnets of 5 of the different animals mentioned in Chuckling Ducklings and Baby Animal Friends: turkey, frog, bear, owl, and cat.

After reading the book, this activity works as a memory game. Some of the animals' baby names are easy (bear & cat), but the others are a little harder (turkey, frog, owl).

You can easily make a set for this activity by borrowing animals from your other sets.

Kathryn has the roundup this week.

Important Links:
Flannel Friday Blog
Flannel Friday on Pinterest
Flannel Friday on Facebook
Follow Flannel Friday on Twitter with the hashtag #flannelstorytime.
Our September/October Flannel Friday Fairy Godmother is Melissa (@melissaZD).

Flannel Friday: Halloween Ideas

In honor of this year's Halloween Roundup, I thought I'd reshare a few ideas that work well with the holiday. Without further ado, here they are. 

Five Little Monsters 

 

 

Pumpkin Trouble Guessing Game
(Five Little Pumpkins/Where's the Duck?)

 

Five Little Dragons

Five Little Bats 

Owls

Sue has the roundup this week.

Important Links:
Flannel Friday Blog
Flannel Friday on Pinterest
Flannel Friday on Facebook
Follow Flannel Friday on Twitter with the hashtag #flannelstorytime.
Our September/October Flannel Friday Fairy Godmother is Melissa (@melissaZD).

Happy Blogiversary to Me!

What Is Bridget Reading? turns 6 today!

When I first started this blog is was just a place to put the booktalks I created for my programming class. Over the years, it's grown into so much more. I review books, write up my programs plans, contribute to Flannel Friday,  and serve as a Flannel Friday host.

Today also seems like a good time to announce that I'll be serving as a Cybils Round 1 Judge for the poetry category again this year. I'm looking forward to reading, reviewing, and interacting with my fellow judges.

Flannel Friday: Mouse Count

This set was inspired by Mary. Like Mary, I used the patterns from Making Learning Fun.

I used this set in tandem with Mouse County by Ellen Stoll Walsh. After reading the book, I pulled out my flannel board. Kids really liked this set. It got a lot of giggles. I may add a snake to the set one day.

After our jar was filled up with mice, I took a moment to have the kids identify the colors.

Katie has the roundup this week.

Important Links:
Flannel Friday Blog
Flannel Friday on Pinterest
Flannel Friday on Facebook
Follow Flannel Friday on Twitter with the hashtag #flannelstorytime.
Our September/October Flannel Friday Fairy Godmother is Melissa (@melissaZD).

Flannel Friday: "Who Is Tapping At My Window?" by A. G. Deming

I was inspired to make this felt set by Katie over at Storytime Secrets. Katie created a Google Drive Presentation, but I opted to go with my favorite medium...felt!

The window is a clipart image. I used clipart or coloring sheets to make the following pieces: ox, coon, loon, cony, and raindrop.

I borrowed the others from the following sets:

• Cat from "I Planted a Whistle" by Jack Prelutsky
• Rat from "Goodnight Mummy" by Roger Stevens
• Fox & Hare from Conejito by Margaret Read MacDonald 
• Pony from nursery rhyme animals (a set I'm still working on!)
• Dog from Hey Diddle Diddle 
• Frog from Beatrix Potter's Animals
• Bear from If You Give a ... by Laura Numeroff

Older kids loved guessing the next animal based on the rhyme. Younger kids liked making the animal sounds for the animals they knew. This was a very successful set. I used it for my seasons & weather storytime over the summer. 

Kelly has the roundup this week.

Important Links:
Flannel Friday Blog
Flannel Friday on Pinterest
Flannel Friday on Facebook
Follow Flannel Friday on Twitter with the hashtag #flannelstorytime.
Our September/October Flannel Friday Fairy Godmother is Melissa (@melissaZD).

Flannel Friday Roundup for September 5, 2014

Here's your Flannel Friday Roundup for the week.

(I'll check in again on Saturday morning to make sure I haven't missed anyone.)

Lisa shares apple activities for the flannel board just in time for fall! 

Kathryn is re-sharing a post from the spring based on the book Kite Flying by Grace Lin.

Laura debuts with her first ever Flannel Friday post. She's turned Clip Clop by Nicola Smee into a set for her flannel board.

Mrs. Todd has a puppet for us this week: Richard Scarry's Huckle puppet.

Abby has a fabulous idea for Library Card Sign-Up: felt library cards.

Kathryn has a new post for this week: a set based on the book All God's Critters by Bill Staines.

We have another debut this week: Cassandra with Birthday Cake in the Oven.

Welcome to Flannel Friday, Laura and Cassandra! Thanks to all for contributing this week.

Kelly has the roundup next week.

Important Links:
Flannel Friday Blog
Flannel Friday on Pinterest
Flannel Friday on Facebook
Follow Flannel Friday on Twitter with the hashtag #flannelstorytime.
Our September/October Flannel Friday Fairy Godmother is Melissa (@melissaZD).

Hunger Games Trilogy Party for Teens

This event was a request by my teens. They like fandom events and I aim to please.

Pinterest was a tremendous help in planning this event. Check out my Hunger Games Event board.

Upon arrival, teens helped themselves to refreshments and made up their own Hunger Games names using three different name generators I found online (details on my Pinterest board). The names were pretty awful, but it was fun.

Refreshments were themed. We enjoyed Peeta chips and dip, Prim's Goat (not really) cheese, a selection from the Mellark Bakery (bread, turnovers, and cupcakes), Finnick's Fish (goldfish crackers), Girl on Fire Red Hots, Coal cookies (oreos), and mini cornucopias (bugles).
 

While we were eating, I also gave teens a choice of Hunger Games Trivia or Jeopardy. They picked Trivia so I asked them a few questions while they finished up with their names and snacks.

After that we did two Cornucopia Challenges. Many thanks to the wonderful ladies at Amity Middle School for first coming up with these and then sharing them with the world. My teens loved this!

We also played quarterstaff which really just ended up being the teens hitting each other with pool noodles.

Other ideas I had but that we didn't have time for or the teens weren't interested in were knot tying, edible plant identification, sardines, Hunger Games Would You Rather, and Fire, Beast, Tribute.

I also did a Hunger Games Read-Alikes Display with booklist.

I kept the decor simple. The refreshment table with its foam flames was the most elaborate thing I attempted. The tables had the district symbols on them as a runner. I put a few quotes from the books and a couple of movie stills on the doors.

 

Life Size Sorry for Teens

After we had such fun with Life Size Clue last fall, I knew I wanted to do another life size game in the summer.

I was inspired by this picture and also this one on Pinterest to host Life Size Sorry for my teens.

I went low cost and low tech with the layout. The Sorry game board was much easier to set up than the Clue board was. I always turn the game board into a table in Microsoft Word. It makes it easier for me to gather my supplies and lay the board out.

 
The game board itself was pieces of cardstock (8.5x11). The slides I marked using circles, rectangles, and triangles of construction paper. The start bays, safety zones, and homes were all made using construction paper.
 

 

Pawns were made by blowing up a clipart image from clker.com and coloring them. Ideally, I wanted 4 pawns and 1 captain for each color. The pawns move and the captain draws the cards and directs them. We ended up with just enough teens to have the pawns. I drew the cards for all colors and they decided amongst themselves how to move.

Prizes were boxes of movie candy.

This event was lots of fun and simple to set up. We played almost twice in two hours. I look forward to playing it again soon.

Flannel Friday: Clifford, Clifford, Where's Your Bone?

This an inspired by Flannel Friday post. I was looking for a flannel board to add to my Clifford storytime back in March and came across Erin's idea for Clifford, Clifford, Where's Your Bone? Erin used laminated pieces for her flannel board and I decided to go with felt.

I edited a coloring page to use as a pattern for the dog houses. I borrowed the following items to hide under the dog houses:

• Carrot, Corn, & Beans from "Gopher in the Garden" by Jack Prelutsky
• Chick from Chook, Chook, Chook, Chook, Chook
• Turnip from Lunch by Denise Fleming
• Bone from Doggy, Doggy, Where's Your Bone?
• Button from Pete the Cat

Like Erin, I asked the kids as we uncovered each item if Clifford could eat it. The first time around I matched the color of the doghouse to the item hidden under it. The kids caught on quick and I had to mix things up!

Kathryn has the round up this week.

Important Links:
Flannel Friday Blog
Flannel Friday on Pinterest
Flannel Friday on Facebook
Follow Flannel Friday on Twitter with the hashtag #flannelstorytime.
Our July/August Flannel Friday Fairy Godmother is Lisa (@lmulvenna).

DIY T-Shirt Workshop for Teens

This program grew out of the wants of my teens. When we did the Pinterest Crafts event in April, several of them were disappointed not to be doing a t-shirt craft.

I perused Pinterest and came up with four different ideas: tie-dye with paint spray, bleached out, crayon& sandpaper, and textured designs.

The paint spray was made from acrylic craft paint and water. Four parts water to one part paint ended up being the perfect mixture for the spray bottles I picked up at the local dollar store.

Some of the teens saturated their shirts in paint. Ideally, it's supposed to look more airbrushed than tie-dyed. I mentioned that you have to rinse regular tie-dye and some of them then rinsed their saturated shirts out with interesting results.

The bleached out shirts used bleach pens. I looked into making bleach spray, but thought the pens would be easier to control. Good ventilation is needed for this!

Crayon and sandpaper is pretty easy. Draw a picture with crayons on sandpaper and then iron it on to a shirt.

The textured designs were simply dipping textured plastic balls (picked up at the dollar store and Wal-mart) in acrylic craft paint and then stamping them on the shirt.

This was so much fun, I repeated it at 2 other branches for kids. We only did the paint spray and texture designs at these events.

Where Have I Been?

Apologies for the sparse posts during the summer. I have 3 more events to go before my summer events are truly over. This summer has kicked my butt! 161 events over eight weeks and accomplished in 36 days.


Everyone had fun, but both program attendance and reading contest participation were down at my branches. I've been following the discussion of a summer reading revolution on the Storytime Underground Facebook group and various blog posts. I'm really considering making some changes next year.


I've been so busy this summer, I haven't had a chance to post my storytime and school age event plans to my wiki yet. I used these storytime themes this summer: colors, weather/seasons, plants, numbers/math, water, movement/sound, five senses, and animals. For the school age (7-12), here's what I did: Leo the Great/Airplane Science, Cryptozoology, backyard Naturalists, It's Mathematical, Sink or float, Build It (Life size Angry Birds), Candy Science, and Animal Partnerships.


I did 2 events per month for teens this summer. Blog posts will be forthcoming: Chocolate Wars (borrowed from Kelly Jensen) DIY T-Shirt Workshop (ideas from Pinterest & prompting from my teens), Life Size Sorry (inspired by pictures on Pinterest), movie night, Mythbusters (borrowed from the Iowa Summer Reading Program workshops), and Hunger Games Party.


In the midst of this, like a good librarian, I was also planning (selecting would be a better word as the planning comes later) my fall storytime schedule and special events. For storytime, I'm going with an alphabet theme. I've never done this before and am really looking forward to it.


Here are the special events I have lined up for kids this fall: Pete the Cat Party, Life Size Candy Land, Preschool Dance Party, Frozen Party, Little Women event (December 25 this year marks the 20 year anniversary of the release of the film starring Winona Ryder), Adventures in Fairy Tales, Origami & Games, Elephant & Piggie Party, Harry Potter Party, and Kaya: An American Girl Event.


Here are the teen events I'm planning (thanks to input from my teens): Once Upon a Time, Sherlock Party, Minute to Win It, and Movie night (with popcorn, s'mores, and cocoa bars...thank you Pinterest!)


So faithful readers, I'll soon be back to a regular blogging schedule with program plans, book reviews, and Flannel Friday posts. I hope you have survived the summer as well!

Flannel Friday: Chicken Finger Puppets

Another set of crocheted finger puppets! It's chickens this time. In case you missed the others, here they are: elephants, mice, and rabbits.

I use these for farm and chicken themed storytimes. Birds and poultry are two more themes.

Here's an original rhyme to use with the puppets:

"This Little Chicken"
This little chicken ate a worm
This little chicken found a bug
This little chicken said cluck cluck
This little chicken laid an egg
This little chicken flew the coop
-written by Bridget Wilson, September 2009

I used this pattern to make these finger puppets.

Katie has the round up this week.

Important Links:
Flannel Friday Blog
Flannel Friday on Pinterest
Flannel Friday on Facebook
Follow Flannel Friday on Twitter with the hashtag #flannelstorytime.

Our July/August Flannel Friday Fairy Godmother is Lisa (@lmulvenna).

One Gorilla: A Counting Book by Anthony Browne

What it is: a counting book that focuses on primates

What I thought: Gorgeous illustrations...such detail and color. My favorite is the gorilla and the lemurs. An interesting addition to counting concept books.

Storytime Themes: Numbers, Monkeys

(Candlewick, 2013)

Bear and Bee by Sergio Ruzzier

A hungry bear wants some honey. The only problem is the bee. Bees are terrible monsters...or are they?

What I thought: Bear and Bee was a perfect book to share at my Teddy Bear Picnic in the fall. I love that Bear doesn't really know what a bee is. Reminds me of The Woods and Ferocious Wild Beasts. Bear and Bee's dialogue is reminiscent of Elephant and Piggie's. I love that Bear and Bee are both wearing shoes. The illustrations are colorful and appealing.

Storytime Themes: Bears, Unlikely Friendships

(Disney Hyperion, 2013)

Look What I Can Do! by Nancy Viau

In the forest, baby animals are growing. Trying new things and learning new skills aren't always easy, but they press on.

What I thought: A lovely book about growing up. I love the illustrations. It's hard to pick a favorite. Kids will enjoy identifying the animals in the story.

Storytime Theme: Baby Animals

(Illus. Anna Vojteeh. Abrams, 2013)

Dream Friends by You Byun

One little girl has fantastic, magical dreams of a friend. What adventures they have...but only in her dreams!

What I thought: A fantastic book, fresh and new. Would pair well with Clara & Asha and Red Knit Cap Girl. I love the illustrations. So imaginative and vibrant. They remind me of the anime film My Friend Totoro. My favorite illustrations are hide & seek and in the forest (mushrooms).

Storytime Themes: Dreams, Friends, Imagination 

(Nancy Paulsen Books, 2013)

Flannel Friday Roundup for June 27, 2014

Here's your Flannel Friday Roundup for June 27. We only have 5 contributions this week. I assume everyone is in the throes of summer reading. I know I am...I had 18 events and saw 419 people this week!

Inspired by Flannel Friday Posts:

• Madigan with Baby Faces inspired by Melissa
• Mollie with Five Little Fireworks inspired by Tara
• Me with a Ladybug inspired by Lisa

Original Posts:

• Katie with a Red, White, & Blue Sensory Bin for Babies (I found this post interesting in light of my upcoming 5 Senses storytime later this summer.)
• Kathryn with Butterflies

There won't be a roundup on July 4. Happy Independence Day! Please save contributions for the July 11 roundup. Katie has the July 11 roundup.



Important Links:
Flannel Friday Blog
Flannel Friday on Pinterest
Flannel Friday on Facebook
Follow Flannel Friday on Twitter with the hashtag #flannelstorytime.
Our May/June Flannel Friday Fairy Godmother is Anna (@opinionsbyanna).
Our July/August Flannel Friday Fairy Godmother is Lisa (@lmulvenna).

Flannel Friday: Ladybug

This week's post is yet another inspired by post. My inspiration this week was Lisa of Libraryland. She posted her Little Red Bug last June and I thought it was adorable.

I used shapes in Microsoft Word for patterns. Big wiggle eyes complete the set. The six black spots are removable.

Mollie and Katie have both made ladybugs as well and I love the rhyme they use.

I'm your host this week.

There won't be a roundup on July 4. Happy Independence Day! Please save contributions for the July 11 roundup

To find out who has the roundup on July 11, please visit the "This Week" section of the Flannel Friday blog.

Important Links:
Flannel Friday Blog
Flannel Friday on Pinterest
Flannel Friday on Facebook
Follow Flannel Friday on Twitter with the hashtag #flannelstorytime.
Our May/June Flannel Friday Fairy Godmother is Anna (@opinionsbyanna).
Our July/August Flannel Friday Fairy Godmother is Lisa (@lmulvenna).

Hug a Bull: An Ode to Animal Dads & I Love Ewe: An Ode to Animal Moms by Aaron Zenz

The author and illustrator of Chuckling Ducklings & Baby Animal Friends is back! This time he's educating us about animal dads from geese to bulls and animals moms from cows to sheep.

What I thought: I can't say how much I love Aaron Zenz. His art, his stories, and the sneaky way he educates us on animal names be they baby, mom, or dad. I'm in awe of skill with colored pencils. I like all the illustrations in both books, but I'm especially fond of the last pages that review the animals the mom or dad names.

I like Aaron Zenz so much I put him on my fall storytime schedule as a theme. Check it out here. 

Storytime Themes: Animals, Moms, Dads

(Walker Books, 2013)

Divergent Party for Teens

I hosted a Divergent Party to celebrate the release of the movie.

Teens took a faction quiz as they arrived. (This was partly for fun and partly to sort them into teams for a later game.)

I plated Veronica Roth's Divergent Playlist during the party.

From here on, I had an activity for each faction.

For Abnegation, we talked about our volunteer experiences.a

For Erudite, we played Divergent Trivia (Jeopardy style).

For Dauntless, we gave each other temporary tattoos. Teens really liked this...helped them get ready to attend the movie premiere the next day.
 

For Amity, we made Faction Duct Tape Bracelets. 

For Candor, we played Would You Rather...? and Truth or Dare. I found suggestions for both games via Pinterest.

And of course, what party would be complete without Faction Refreshments. Here's what I served:

• Gummy worms & animal crackers (Amity)  
  Oreos (Candor) 
•  Dark Chocolate Kisses (Erudite) 
• Spicy Nacho Doritos, Cheddar Jalapeño Crunchy Cheetos, & Cherry Sours (Dauntless)
• cheese & crackers (Abnegation)

 
And for reference, here's my Pinterest Board for this event. 

Flannel Friday: The Lonely Bus Driver

This is an inspired by Flannel Friday post. My inspiration was Shawn of Read, Rhyme, Sing. Back in September, she posted her version of The Lonely Bus Driver. I loved it and and the post inspired me to plan a bus themed storytime for the spring.

I used clker to find templates for the faces. The bus was a coloring sheet I adapted. Puff paint details as usual.

Hannah has the roundup this week.

Important Links:
Flannel Friday Blog
Flannel Friday on Pinterest
Flannel Friday on Facebook
Follow Flannel Friday on Twitter with the hashtag #flannelstorytime.
Our Flannel Friday Fairy Godmother is Anna (@opinionsbyanna).  

Teen Pinterest Crafts

My teens were the ones who voted for this event. I was all for it...I love Pinterest. The hardest part of planning was finding projects that could be completed within 2 hours.

I had 4 crafts planned:
Button Bracelets

 
Paperclip Bookmarks

 
Marble Magnets 

 
Crayon & Sandpaper T-shirts


We ended up shelving the crayon and sandpaper t-shirts. We're doing those this month as part of our DIY T-Shirt Workshop.

I also tried out a recipe from Pinterest for the event: Trix Krispies. They were a hit.