Flannel Friday Round Up for October 20

Hey, y’all!  Welcome to the October 20 Flannel Friday Round Up.  Have a great flannel to share?  Drop your link in the comments and I’ll add it!

Wendy at Flannel Board Fun shares a great “Wheels on the Bus” flannel.  I can’t get over how adorable this bus is!  This flannel has everything for your favorite traditional verses, including a super-cute horn, wipers, and crying baby.

Amy at One Little Librarian shares her “Five Little Monsters Came to School” flannel.  This adorable set features some of your favorite Sesame Street monsters (which I know would definitely be a hit at my library) and simple counting.

I didn’t have time to write up a new Flannel Friday post this week, but you can check out some of my past entries in the archives here.  Thanks to everyone for sharing this week!

New or looking to learn more about Flannel Friday?  Check out the blog or join the Facebook group.  For more inspiration, check out the Flannel Friday Pinterest boards, or look for conversations and links on Twitter using the hashtag #flannelstorytime.

Flannel Friday: Blue Square House

It’s Friday, which means it’s time for a long overdue Flannel Friday entry.  My goal is to eventually share all of the flannel stories that I’ve created, so with that in mind, I’m starting at the beginning of my flannel arsenal, alphabetically speaking.  Interestingly enough, I’ve yet to create a flannel that starts with “A.”

What You Need

The pieces for this set are pretty simple:  a square, a triangle, a rectangle, a circle, a star, and a crescent.  I created all of the pieces from simple clipart shapes that matched what I needed, sized to fit on top of each other like a house.  The most important thing is matching up the colors, because the rhyme relies on naming the shapes and colors while you build the house.

The Story

This rhyme was taught to be by one of my fabulous coworkers, Lara Barrett, at another branch of our library.  It goes like this:

I live inside a blue square house

With a green rectangle door.

It has a red triangle roof,

But look outside – there’s more!

In the morning when I wake up

The sun is in the sky:

A bright and shining orange circle

Way up high.

And when it’s time to go to bed

There’s a single yellow star

Beside a big white crescent moon

Looking down from so, so far.

Shapes and colors, come with me.

Let’s count how many we can see!

Credit:  Lara Barrett, W.O. Haggard, Jr. Library (Plano Public Library)

Tips for Use

I start by putting up the different shapes all over the board, in no particular order, while we name the colors and the shapes.  Then we sing the song and put the house in the correct order.  At the end, we count the shapes together as we take them back off the board again.  We’ve also used this as a transition in our sensory story times.  For those groups, we hand out shapes to each of the children who want to participate, and they get to bring them up as we get to the their shape in the song.  The house doesn’t always look like a house, but it’s a great way to get everyone involved!

Can’t Get Enough?

This week, our host is Kate McBright at Felt Board Magic.  For more information about Flannel Friday, visit the website here, join the Flannel Friday Facebook group, or check out the Flannel Friday boards on Pinterest.  Happy Friday, everyone!