Light Box!
I just discovered that early childhood educators (including parents) are using light tables. So cool! Teach Preschool tells you how to make your own. Check out my collection of light box ideas on Pinterest. I've been experimenting with some things around the house (this picture doesn't do justice to the light effect). More great ideas on Teach Preschool including how to make your own plastic color discs.

Hot Cocoa
Another flannel based on someone's great craft/math activity. I will be able to use this in storytime and the classroom. First I will put a few marshmallows in the first cup, and we will all count together. I'll do the same with the second cup then ask, "How many marshmallows altogether?" After we count each total, we will say this rhyme with our answer (based on the rhyme Mrs. Wood used in her classroom activity):

Seven marshmallows in my cup.
Drink it up! Drink it up!
Yum! Yum! Yum!

The Tallest Smallest Snowman

I got this idea looking at a snowman craft project on Kindergarten Lessons. Snowmen were built to form a child's name-one ball per letter. John's snowman was built with four balls, etc.  The site suggests counting balls and comparing height. I am going to do a variation of that activity in my three-year-old classroom, but I am going to do this flannel at my library storytime:

The Tallest Smallest Snowman
by Shawn Wolf

Joey built a snowman that was very, very small.
But the snowman wished that he was very, very tall.
So Joey rolled some snow, and made a great big ball.
Then he gave it to the snowman, and hoped it wouldn’t fall.

“More!” said the snowman, and that wasn’t all,
“I want to be very, very, very tall!”
So Joey rolled some snow and made a great big ball.
Then he gave it to the snowman, and hoped it wouldn’t fall.


“More!” said the snowman, and that wasn’t all,
“I want to be the tallest snowman of them all!”
So Joey rolled some snow and made a great big ball.
Then he gave it to the snowman, and hoped it wouldn’t fall.


“More!” said the snowman, but Joey said, “That’s all,”
Then the tallest snowman’s parts began to slip and fall.
As the snowman crumbled, Joey heard him call,
“Now I am the very smallest snowman of them all.”

Princess Frog (no, not that one)
I'm pulling books for fairytale storytime, and I can't wait to do one of my favorite puppet plays base on the book My Froggy Valentine by Matt Novak. I adore unconventional princess stories, and this one works perfectly well without reference to Valentine's day. I use puppets because we have a lot of frogs, but it could easily be a flannel board story. Princess Polly searches for her prince, but cannot find the right one. In the end, it is she who must change to find her perfect prince.

The Star
I work at a public library and teach at a Lutheran preschool, so I get to do a lot of different material--especially at holiday time. I made up a super simple star flannel board story rhyme. The kids loved it so much, we made them each a set as a Christmas gift.

You'll need several felt stars in a variety of colors. You'll also need a baby Jesus. Since I was in a hurry (as usual) and the space available for hiding something behind a star is limited, my baby Jesus is simply a circle with a smiley face. If you tell them it's Jesus, it's Jesus. Here's the rhyme:

The wise men travelled very far,
Is Jesus under the (color) star?

That's it. I just read Little Owl and the Star, A Christmas story by Mary Murphy. I wish I had it the day I introduced the rhyme. In the book, Owl has a waiting feeling and befriends a star in the sky. Owl and star encounter three men on camels and later some shepherds, "Follow us," said the star. And they did. When owl arrives at the stable and sees the smiling baby, the waiting feeling disappears, and the star fills the world with light.