Fun with Friends at Storytime

 

Here are my 2 little finger puppet Jack-o-lanterns for Halloween.  These are bigger than usual so that they fit on 2 fingers.  I cut a front and back using an Ellison diecut pumpkin as my pattern and just tweaked the bottom a little.  I did add a brown felt stem and my green vine is hot glued between the stems and to the top to keep that curly effect.  

Here's my rhyme:

Two Happy Jack-o-lanterns!

Two Happy Jack-o-lanterns ready for Halloween.

One named Jax and one named Jean.

Roll away Jax and Roll away Jean.

Come back Jax and come back Jean.

Two Happy Jack-o-lanterns say Boo! for Halloween.

One named Jax and one named Jean!

I do have other Halloween and Pumpkin rhymes Here and Here. Two Happy Jack-o-lanterns are so much Fun with Friends at Storytime!

Last year I made a large set of babies and blankets to play a Peek-a-Boo game with our youngest storytimers.  It was a big hit! Here's the link Peek-a-Boo Baby!   So this year I made a new set and a new rhyme for Halloween. These make me smile!!

We are combining Halloween and a Medieval storytime theme this year. Dressing up for Halloween is a great time to pretend to be a king or princess or knight in shining armor!  Miss Margaret had a cute prop of 5 jack-o-lantern shapes that are clothes-pined to a cute wooden fence. So, to use that prop and tie it into our theme I made up a rhyme and made this set of flannel children for our combination storytime.

As I was going through my fall theme tub, I found a cute pumpkin prop that I got a few years ago from a guest presenter from the Farm Bureau. I tweaked it a little and added the Jack-o-lantern to mine. Since then I found a cute set HERE.  



The pumpkins are up. The pumpkins are down.
The pumpkins, the pumpkins are all around.

The pumpkins are in. The pumpkins are out.
The pumpkins, the pumpkins are all about.

The pumpkins are low. The pumpkins are high.
The pumpkins, the pumpkins all say,  "Goodbye!"

This classic rhyme sung to the tune of the 'Farmer In the Dell' is fun. Give each child a pumpkin cutout on a popsicle stick to move as you sing the song.  I usually sing the song very slowly when I do it with toddlers.  If you make enough props, you could let the kiddos take one home as their home extension. I have offered a craft with my pumpkin/ Jack-o-lantern storytimes also. Here is a fun easy one that was very popular.  I printed the Jack-o-lantern pattern  on construction paper. Then I cut it out, including the facial features and covered the front with a piece of contact paper cut to fit. I put the paper piece on the back until we were ready for the craft time. Then the caregiver or older preschooler peeled the paper off and added glitter to the features. I do it 2 different ways. I usually use a pie pan or paper plate with glitter in it that the kiddos can either, pat their Jack-o-lantern on; or 'pinch' the glitter and sprinkle it over the features. The pinching of the glitter is a good fine motor exercise. I have wet wipes or wet paper towels for the glittery fingers. The kiddos really like this craft!




























Pumpkins and Jack-o-lanterns are so much Fun with Friends at Storytime! Check out the rest of the roundup @ Mel's Desk .  Have questions about Flannel Friday? Check out the Flannel Friday official blog.  Be sure to  join us on the Flannel Friday Facebook page.

Here's another not-a-flannel prop that I use when I do my pumpkin/Halloween theme. I cannot remember where I found this little rhyme. I've been using it for years! Anyway, I made two paper jack-o-lantern shapes and put black paper behind one and glittered white paper behind the other and then put them back to back and added a brown stem and green pipecleaner vine and green paper leaves. As I say the rhyme I start with the frown side and then turn it around for the happy face! It's always a big hit with the toddler crowd!

Little Pumpkin
I'm a little pumpkin, orange and round.
When I'm sad, my face wears a frown.
But when I am happy and all aglow,
watch my smile just grow and grow!



So much Fun with Friends at Storytime!

I have an adorable little Beanie Baby bat that inspired this theme for my Storytime. Last year when I saw this cute post by Amanda at Trails & Tales about Bats! I just had to make my own set.  I tweaked the rhyme by adding one more verse*.
5 Little Bats
1...
2...
3...
4...
*5 little bats were trying to behave
They hung by their feet upside down in a cave.
They slept all day until the fading of the light.
Then they woke and said, "We're hungry!" and flew into the night!
(alternate: Then they woke and said, "Happy Halloween" and flew into the night!)


Then I found an adorable song by Carole Peterson on her CD, H.U.M. - Highly Usable Music, All Year Long!; "Black Bat Farm".  I decided to make flannel pieces to go with it as I sang it. I don't use the CD because I don't sing the ghost verse.  But, it is still adorable!  It's a version of "The Green Grass Grew All Around".
Black Bat Farm
Carole Peterson - adapted by Kathryn Roach


There was a farm - *echo line*
A quiet farm -*
The quietest farm -*
that you ever did see...eeeeee!
A field is on the farm, the farm is dark and quiet
Chorus: And the black bats flew all around, all around
Oh, the black bats flew all around.
And in that field -*
There was a vine -*
the creepiest vine -* that you ever did see...eeee! The vine in the field, the field on the farm, the farm is dark and quiet
Chorus

And on that vine -* 
There was a pumpkin -*
the cutest pumpkin-*
that you ever did see...eeeee!
The pumpkin on the vine, the vine in the field, 
the field on the farm, the farm is dark and quiet...
Chorus





And on that pumpkin -*
There was a face -*
the happiest face -*
that you ever did see....eeeee!                
The face on the pumpkin, the pumpkin on the vine,
the vine in the field, the field on the farm, the farm
is dark and quiet...BOO!
Chorus
Happy Halloween!

I made the field with two sheets of felt and pieces of yarn glued on as rows in a plowed field.  The vine is green ribbon with some velcro under the pieces of felt glued to the 'B' and exclamation point.  I glued the ribbon so that the 'O's keep their shape.  I cut out 10 of the small black bats and added a few each time I sang the chorus until they were all up on the board. The caregivers and kiddos soon were singing the chorus with me and everyone liked the happy Jack-o-lantern face at the end. I also got quieter as I sang the last part, "the farm is dark and quiet"... pause... then I said, "Boo!" and we all laughed and sang the final chorus together. This was a really big hit! Turns out I am a batty old lady after all!  LOL!   
Bats are a lot of Fun with Friends at Storytime.
update: Check out the rest of the roundup @ Library Village.  Have questions about Flannel Friday? Check out the Flannel Friday official blog.  Be sure to  join us on the Flannel Friday Facebook page and enjoy the great Flannel Friday Pinterest boards too!