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Going to the Campsite Flannelboard

Going to the Campsite Flannelboard Written by Anne Clark Can be done as a call and response
Going to the campsite, Going to have a good time! I wonder what I’ll do? Maybe __________ pull item out of bag and add to flannelboard
Examples: go waterskiing, ride my bike, have a campfire, climb a tree, hike the mountains, etc.


This set of bulletin board cutouts is by Creative Teaching Press (the Woodland Fun set) from Staples. Fair warning: these pieces are huge! We are also planning on using them for an Outdoor Explorers program in summer 2020 so they will be decorations in that program and then we will reuse some of the pieces for a summer themed storytime tub in 2021.
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I Went Hiking Flannelboard

I Went Hiking Have the audience ask you what you saw  after you say “I went hiking.”
I went hiking. Audience: What did you see? I saw a ____________ (show animal)
This is a really flexible activity that can be done with stuffed animals, puppets, or laminated bulletin board cutouts (as shown here). You can also have the kids make the sound or move like the animal to make it a more interactive activity.


These pieces are from a Teaching Tree door decor kit from Dollar Tree.
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Here is the Cookie House

Here is the Cookie House Adapted from “Here is the Beehive” (traditional) Here is the cookie house. Where are our gingerbread friends? Hidden inside where nobody sees! Wait…Here they come…1, 2, 3!  

A similar gingerbread house is available from Amazon. The one pictured is by Fringe dog toys and I cannot find a current seller. 



P.S. I know the rhyme is not perfect, so please feel to suggest some revisions in the comments!
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The Gears in the 'Bot

Gears in the ‘Bot Tune: Wheels on The Bus
Hide the gears throughout the room and have the children hunt for them. Then use this song to collect them back. Have the children put the gears back on the flannel board as their color is called. Change the words to match the colors.
Blue gears in the ‘bot, Go round and round, Round and round, Round and round, Blue gears in the ‘bot Go round and round, All through the day.

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Build a Face Chart

A long time ago, I bought this Build a Face chart from (I believe) Discount School Supply. I cannot find any notes that have the store or manufacturer or the item name, but if you happen to know a source for this, I will happily edit it into this post. 
Ever since I got it, I've been collecting ideas to use with it. Here are some in case someone else out there has this item or something similar. It would be simple enough to make something similar out of felt as well. 

I Look in the Mirror
I look in the mirror and what do I see?
I see a happy face smiling at me.
I look in the mirror and what do I see? I see a surprised face looking at me. Source
I Have a Happy Face Tune:  “I’m A Little Teapot”
I have a happy face, Just watch me grin. I have a great big smile From my forehead to my chin. When I’m upset And things are bad, Then my happy face Turns to sad. ---Jean Warren Source
What's On A Face? Here's a face, Now let's begin It has two ears, a nose and chin.

A mouth, two eyes, with a…
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Kitty Gets Dressed Magnetboard

I spotted this very cute Learning Weather Magnetic Activity Set on sale and knew it would be cute for storytimes. In lieu of adding it to our storytime tubs, I've decided to add it to my stash of preschool visit activities so I can put together a visit more efficiently. I don't do many of these visits due to the nature of my current position being more administrative/project-management than a traditional children's librarian job so it's nice to have a few go-to activities handy.

The kitten backgrounds are not magnetic on their own, FYI, so I plan to laminate them and use magnets temporarily to keep them up on our storytime easel.

There are lots of ways to use this set. I love its versatility! I did write an activity to go with it that I'm calling "Kitty Gets Dressed"

Kitty Gets Dressed Tune: Frere Jacques WINTER It is snowing, it is snowing. What to wear? What to wear? Kitty needs a warm coat, Kitty needs a warm coat On today. Repeat with snowboots, mittens, a…
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Come to Play, Big White Snowfriend

Come to Play, Big White Snowfriend!
Inspired by Ed Emberly’s Go Away, Big Green Monster
Adapted by Anne Clark
Place all of the magnetboard pieces below in order, starting at the bottom and working your way up (See picture) If necessary, omit some to fit your space better. J Big white Snowfriend has 3 big belly buttons, 1 soft green scarf,
1 snazzy red bow tie,
1 goofy black smile,
1 crunchy orange carrot nose,

2 rosy pink cheeks,
2 coal black eyes,
And 1 warm wool hat.
Big White Snowfriend has come to play! Yay! Pause and ask the kids what kind of things would be fun to play with a snowfriend. Possible suggestions: sledding, skiing, ice-skating, snowball fights, etc. After a few, continue…
Oh no! all the snow is melting, so… Goodbye, warm wool hat, etc. (say goodbye to all of the pieces in the reverse order that they were placed, starting with the hat at the topand ending with the buttons on the bottom)
And please come back next winter! See you then, old friend!
The snowman magnets are …
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Browsing at the Library

Earlier today, I saw a post in the Storytime Underground Facebook group, that someone was looking for a draw and tell story about books, libraries, etc. I don't know of any so I thought I would try writing one. In the spirit of encouraging library staff to write their own original material, here's a rough draft, you could embellish this any way you like.

It's called "Browsing at the Library," and the finished image is a line drawing of a book, enjoy! There are two versions: one with detailed drawing instructions (page 2) and one with just the images and text (page 1)


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Letter Monster Magnet board

Letter Monster Magnet Board

Letter Monster wanted to read.
He thought if he ate letters, it was all he would need!

On Monday he ate A B C.
"MMMM, they taste so good to me!"

On Tuesday, he chomped D E F G. 
"Eating letters is fun as can be!"

On Wednesday, he nibbled on on H I J K.
"More letters, more letters, is what I say!" 

On Thursday, he feasted on L M N O
"Letters are so good, you know!" 

On Friday, he swallowed P Q R S T U.
"I think letters are good for you!" 

On Saturday, he gobbled V W X and Y
"I'm almost finished," he sighed. 

On Sunday he slowly ate the Z.
Then he fell asleep and caught some more zzzzz's.  

Source notes: This is an activity left by one of my former coworkers. The only source note left with it was an email address so I Googled the words and found them on Dr. Jean's site, with the patterns to make it is a file folder story. There is also an alternate version with different words from Dr. Jean. That second …
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Five Green and Speckled Frogs Prop Rhyme

Recently I was at our local Dollar Tree picking up supplies for another program. I like to wander around and just see what catches my eye that could be useful for storytime or to build a different program around. I spotted these little frogs in the bath toys and thought they would be perfect to do a prop version of Five Green and Speckled Frogs with!

I plan to set them on the magnetic shelf our storytime room's easel has, but they could easily sit on the edge of a table or a book cart, whatever you have handy. When the frogs jump into the pool, just push them off. 
The frogs come in a set of 3 for $1 per set. So I now have 6 frogs! I will store the 5 for this rhyme together and the 6th one will go in my random animals box for when I need miscellaneous animals to fill out an idea, as in Little Gnome Hide and Seek. 
In addition to the frogs, Dollar Tree has very similar ducks.
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