0 Toddler Storytime - Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving! (A little late or really early for next year!)  In the spirit of the holiday, I would love to share my Thanksgiving story time with you.  I would also love to report that it went fabulously, but alas it only had its moments.  Whether it was the pouring rain or the close proximity to the holidays, turnout this week was small.  Some activities just do not go as well without a nice size group of little ones.  But, as always I charged forward and shook my wings and tail feathers.

Books I read...

Happy Thanksgiving, Biscuit By Alyssa Satin Capucilli

 

The Five Silly Turkeys By Salina Yoon 

The First Thanksgiving By Nancy Davis

 

Unfortunately, the selection of Thanksgiving books for toddlers is not the best...  But, there are many silly rhymes that hopefully make up for it.

How it went...  (Oh no..)

My usual routine for story time is a couple activities and a book.  I repeat this until we have read all three books.  This normally works great!  But, the group was so small that I had to skip around and omit quite a bit.  Although the group grew a little over the course of the story time, the vibe was just off.  Sometimes story time just doesn't go as planned.  And that is alright!  Little ones have bad days, you have bad days, and all sorts of unforeseen things can happen to throw a story time off course.  I am learning that you just go with it!  The little ones don't know you missed a rhyme or shortened a book!

Here are the highlights:

We had fun with a couple turkey songs/rhymes..

Hello Mr. Turkey

(To the tune of “If You’re Happy and You Know It”)
Hello Mr. Turkey, how are you? (clap, clap)
Hello Mr. Turkey, how are you? (clap, clap)
With a gobble, gobble, gobble (hand under chin, wiggle fingers)
And a wobble, wobble, wobble (shake body)
Hello Mr. Turkey, how are you? (clap, clap)

(Thank you Sunflower Storytime for the song!  I love it and used it last year for story time too!  But a word of caution..  Be prepared to wobble like a turkey by yourself if you have a small, shy group.  You have been warned!)

Did You Ever See a Turkey? 

(To the tune of “Did You Ever See a Lassie?”)
Did you ever see a turkey, a turkey, a turkey,
Who struts around the farm yard with feathers so bright?
With red ones and orange ones and yellow ones and brown ones,
Did you ever see a turkey with feathers so bright.
(I managed to make a prop out of popsicle sticks again!  I love them!  I made two different sets of turkey feathers for this rhyme.  The first were red, orange, yellow, and brown.  The second was cow print, rainbow, polka dots, and sparkly.  The little ones loved the turkey with his fancy feathers!  Thank you Miss Sarah for the idea! Turkey clipart found here.)

Turkey Pokey

You put your wing in.
You put your wing out.
You put your wing in,
And you shake it all about.
You do the turkey pokey
And you gobble all around.
That's what it's all about.
…Drumstick……Tail feathers…

(Shout out to Miss Sue for this great version of Hokey Pokey!)

I also had not one but two flannel stories for them during Flannel Time! 

Old Tom Turkey

(When I say gobble, gobble, gobble - tilt your head from side to side! 
When I say quack, quack, quack - flap your arms!)
Old Tom Turkey lived on a hill.                    Quack, quack, quack
Gobble, gobble, gobble                                 Gobble, gobble, gobble.
If he’s not gone, he lives there still,         Goodbye now friend, it’s time to go.
Gobble, gobble, gobble.                                Quack, quack, quack
A duck came by and said hello,                  Gobble, gobble, gobble.

(Thanks again Sunflower Storytime for the idea!  I made this set last year and was excited to use it again this Thanksgiving!) 

Turkey and Stuffing
(To the tune of “Where is Thumbkin?)

Turkey and Stuffing

Turkey and Stuffing.

Pumpkin pie,

Ten feet high!

We were so much thinner,

Before we ate our dinner

Me-oh-my!  Me-oh-my!

(Check out my Flannel Friday post for more about this poem!)

For a special Thanksgiving treat, I planned a turkey craft.  Super simple and toddler friendly, I think these turkeys are adorable!  All we used were paper plates, paint dobbers, stickers, and precut shapes.  Gobble Gobble!

And that was my Thanksgiving Story Time!  With colder weather approaching, I am sure there will be more story times with smaller numbers.  But, we will make the best of it and continue to shake our sillies like we are always a full house!

Detail: Toddler Storytime - Happy Thanksgiving

0 Flannel Friday - Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!

While planning my toddler Thanksgiving story time, I was completely stumped on what flannel story to include.  I really wanted to step out of the box and pick something that the little ones wouldn't guess!  So... I crossed turkeys, pilgrims, and Indians off my list.  What did that leave?  Well, actually not much.  But it did make me look in other places for inspiration.  And inspiration struck in the form of a song my boys sung in preschool.  There are many websites that use this song and there appears to be slightly different versions.  I could not find the exact same wording as my boys' song, so maybe they made it up themselves. 

 

The song goes like this...

 (To the tume of "Where is Thumbkin?")

 

Turkey and stuffing,

Turkey and stuffing,

Pumpkin pie,

Ten feet high!

We were so much thinner,

Before we ate our dinner.

Me-oh-my!  Me-oh-my!

 

 

This is how the flannel set works..

Turkey and stuffing,

Turkey and stuffing,

 

 

Pumpkin pie,

 

Ten feet high!  (This is where it gets fun!)

 

We were so much thinner,

Before we ate our dinner.

Me-oh-my!  Me-oh-my!

(I didn't make a flannel for this section of the song. 

I plan on holding my belly like I am super full from eating too much!)

 

I think the little ones will be super excited to see the pie magically grow!  To accomplish this, I made two pie crusts and glued them around the edges like a pocket, leaving the top unglued.  I glued the bottom of the pumpkin pie filling to the inside of one of the pie crusts.  I rounded the top of the pumpkin and added a dollop of whipped cream.  When dry, the pumpkin can be folded down and hidden in the pie pocket until needed.  I used this pie and this turkey as templates.

 I hope you enjoy my flannel song!  --  Miss Kristie

 

And as a Thanksgiving Bonus, Miss Sue is sharing her felts that go along with I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie, by Allison Jackson.  This Thanksgiving book really is fun to share at Thanksgiving.  Allison Jackson does a great job maintaining the natural rhythm of the original song too, so the book can be sung!  There are scads of versions of this flannel board out on the internet and a good search will bring up a lot of additional activities to print as well.  This is just to show another technique when making felts - usually Miss Sue uses puffy paint on her felt, but in these earlier days, she used Sharpie markers in all colors to do the shading and detail on the felt.  I especially like the salad!

 

Detail: Flannel Friday - Thanksgiving

0 Flannel Friday - Five Apples in a Basket

Fall is in the air and we are gearing up for new cooler weather story time themes!  It is just about time to put away the summer flannel stories and bring out new fall flannel sets!  To start us off right, I found the funniest apple rhyme and flannel set from Future Librarian Superhero via Falling Flannelboards.  As soon as I read it, I knew I needed to include this in a story time!  I am not sure if the little ones will completely understand it, but I am positive the moms will love it!  (And we can't forget about entertaining the moms once and awhile!)

Five Apples in a Basket

The first apple in the basket was bright and shiny red.

 The second apple in the basket said, “My, what a cozy bed!”

The third apple in the basket said, “Make room for me you pair!”

The fourth apple in the basket said, “Please move over there!”

The fifth apple in the basket said, “Oh dear, oh me, oh my!  This basket looks like a pastry–I think we’re in a pie!”

 

And, just for fun, I added a crust to put on top of the apples at the end!

 

To keep it easy, I used clipart to help make the pie and apples. 

 

I can't wait to use this set in a couple weeks!

 

Detail: Flannel Friday - Five Apples in a Basket