Flannel Friday

I use the flannel board for my story time usually for 5 Little Monkeys, and sometimes I’ll use it for other songs like Old McDonald or The Itsy Bitsy Spider, but I haven’t used it very often for storytelling.  I can’t quite figure out how to hold a book, put up flannel pieces and tell the story at the same time.  As I was working on a storytime plan for my sensory storytime, I found a great book that would work really well with a flannelboard – Clip-Clop by Nicola Smee.  This story has great a great refrain that kids can repeat, “clip-clop, clippity-clop” with characters that are well-known in the barnyard – perfect for a farm themed storytime.
My flannel board pieces are not beautiful by any means, but without a pattern, I think the pieces came out pretty well!  I used the simple pictures from the book to draw patterns on paper and then cut them out in the felt.  I also used a black Sharpie marker to draw the outlines around the animals, which makes them look much more like the illustrations.
I haven’t gotten a chance to use it in storytime yet , but I’m planning on using it for an outreach storytime coming up and a sensory storytime in October!