Flannelboard: Eclipse

If I come up with more rhymes and songs to go with this set, the post will be updated to reflect that. If you have ideas for other ways to use the set, please share!

Flannelboard

This was just a quick modification to my spaceship flannelboard that I used for my eclipse storytime. Reusing parts from old flannelboards is always a great option when you can do it!

Songs, Rhymes, Games, and Fingerplays

"Where is Bright Sun?"

Bright sun, bright sun, we’ll find you soon.
Are you behind the (color) moon?

Source: I made this up myself!

Storytime: Eclipse (Sun and Moon)

Books

Sun & Moon: A Giant Love Story by Lisa Desimini

Sun and Moon by Lindsey Yankey

What the Sun Sees/What the Moon Sees by Nancy Tafuri

Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me by Eric Carle

Sun and Moon Sisters by Kho Lê

Whose Moon is That? by Kim Krans

I have a backlog of other storytime posts to get to, but I wanted to share the eclipse one while it is still relevant! My library is not in the path of totality, but we are getting over 99% coverage with the eclipse coming up on Monday. As such, a lot of the people in the area are very excited about the eclipse. I thought it was only fitting that I do a Sun and Moon themed storytime in celebration. I was even able to find one book that has an eclipse as a central part of the story: Sun & Moon: A Giant Love Story! The rest of the books are simply about the sun and moon. I found a lot of songs about the sun and moon and modified lyrics to some of them to be more eclipse related. For those songs and other extension activities click read more.

Ukulele: Snuggle Puppy Chord Chart

I'm starting a baby storytime soon and one book I'm very excited to use for it is Sandra Boynton's Snuggle Puppy. Of course, I wanted to learn how the song for the book went and the next step was to learn how to play it on the ukulele! This song uses some new chords that the other songs I've outlined so far do not:  A, A7, and D, in addition to the G chord that you already know. Here are the fingering charts for those chords:

Fingering charts from Coustii

Since I am now in the habit of making cute chord charts for all the songs I play in storytime, I had to make one for Snuggle Puppy too, even if it was a lot harder to fit the whole song on one page! The book does not have the repeat at the end of the chorus the second time it is sung, so that's how I made my chord chart so caregivers could read along with the book while I play.

Source: Snuggle Puppy song lyrics are by Sandra Boynton and the music is by Eric Stolz. Thank you to Christy Shink on the Librarians with Ukes Facebook group for providing me with the chords!

It's a little difficult to read the chords in the jpg image, but they are much clearer in the pdf version. Feel free to download the pdf from my Google drive and use it for your own storytimes if you would like!

Flannelboard: Cats

If I come up with more rhymes and songs to go with this set, the post will be updated to reflect that. If you have ideas for other ways to use the set, please share!

Flannelboard

I used this flannelboard for my cat storytime. I loved Stack the Cats so much that I based the cats for my flannelboard off of the illustrations for the book! I'd love to make even more cats in this style at some point so I can do the whole book as a felt story.

Songs, Rhymes, Games, and Fingerplays

“Five Little Cats”

Five little cats playing near the door, one ran inside and that left 4.

Four little cats underneath a tree, one heard a dog bark and that left 3.

Three little cats wondering what to do, one saw a little bird and that left 2.

Two little cats sitting in the sun, one ran to catch his tail and that left 1.

One little cat looking for some fun, he saw a butterfly and then there were none!

Source: Narrating Tales of Preschool Styorytime

Flannelboard: Robots

If I come up with more rhymes and songs to go with this set, the post will be updated to reflect that. If you have ideas for other ways to use the set, please share!

Flannelboard

I used this flannelboard for my robot storytime. I really love how this one turned out and if I have time in the future I might make more robots in a similar style for a robot counting flannelboard as well!

Songs, Rhymes, Games, and Fingerplays

“Where is Robot?”

Robot, robot, we know you’re here!

Are you behind the (color) gear?

Source: I made this one up myself!

Another "Mouse in the House" variation, which are always popular with my group!

Storytime: Cats

Books

Stack the Cats by Susie Ghahremani

Where is Tippy Toes? by Betsy Lewin

Cat Nap by Toni Yuly

Is There a Dog in This Book? by Viviane Schwarz

They All Saw a Cat by Brendan Wenzel

Quackers by Liz Wong

After this storytime, Stack the Cats became one of my new favorite books! It's a counting book, but it has so much more than just the standard one to ten. Other math concepts, like division, are included in the way the cats are stacked! A cat theme is very easy to find books for. In addition to Stack the Cats, I really enjoyed They All Saw a Cat for discussing how different animals and people have different perspectives on the same thing. We may see a cute and cuddly pet where a mouse may see a fierce and frightening predator!

For extension activities click read more.

Ukulele: Picked a Berry Chord Chart

I made another chord chart for a song I used my berry storytime (write-up coming soon™) so, as promised, I am sharing it with all of you! This is a sweet little song about picking berries. You can add additional verses with different berries in them. Strawberry, blueberry, and raspberry are all great options!

The song is to the tune of "Oh My Darling Clementine" which is in 3/4 time as noted in the bottom corner of the sheet. Keep that in mind when you choose a strum pattern. when I play it, I use D-DUDU.

Feel free to download the pdf from my Google Drive and use it for your own story times!