Programming for Very Young Children - Monday, February 12, 2007 Meeting Notes
Present:
Amy Schardein, Kenton County Public Library; Joan Johnsen, Campbell County Public Library; Pamela Healy, Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County; Anna Hughes, Campbell County Public Library; Sarah Schaff, SWON Libraries
Today's Topic: Flannel Boards!
- We All Go Traveling By Written by Sheena Roberts and Illustrated by Siobhan Bell: you can simply pick three or four items from the flannel board patterns in this book and let the kids put up the pieces as they see fit!
- Snowman Flannel Board - the kids loved it and you can make new snowman pieces every year! Let the children build a traditional snowman first and then get creative! You may want to use this Flannel Board at the end of Storytime since the kids have so much fun with it.
- Christmas Trees - Make three felt Christmas Tree cutouts that are plain on the back and decorated on the front. Talk about all the trees in the forest that are waiting to be chosen, and how a family takes a tree home, decorates it, and turns it from a "regular" tree into a Christmas tree! Let each child choose a tree to flip over and "make" into a Christmas tree.
- First Day of Winter - Take the December page from the calendar, paste felt on the back, and use it to talk about the first day of winter. Using the flannel board patterns listed below, create a snowman!
- One Little, Two Little, etc... Use counting rhymes and take away or add pieces to the flannel board as you go! Some examples are bright kites, clouds (you can use quilt batting for this), boots, and birds.
- Clothesline: Cut out the shapes of shirts, dresses, pants, etc., and have children clip them to a clothesline (can be a string tied between two chairs) using clothesline pins.
- Little Bo Peep has Lost Her Sheep: Hide animals behind flannel board pieces, so you can lift up the trees or the fence and find more animals - be sure to add in silly things, too!
- Baa Baa Black Sheep: Use different colors for different sheep, and use unraveled yarn in different colors to quickly change the sheep's coat!
- Mother Goose: Always a favorite!
Discussion
- If you're looking for good ideas, here are some great websites to try!
- Stiff felt, usually found next to the regular felt in most stores, works and sticks even better than the regular stuff.
- Sewing vs. Puffy Paint: What do you do?
- Hit the Flannel Board or blow on it to make the pieces fall off! You can do this with Humpty Dumpty, Birthday Cakes, and Lots of Pumkins, for instance.
- An easy flannel board solution is to decorate a box with flannel on one side, and cut holes in the other sides to play peek-a-boo; this way, you have on piece for everything - including storage!
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