Flannel Friday: Caps for Sale

Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina has been in print for over 50 yeras and was a storytime favorite of  mine when I was a kid going to library programs.

Even though it's an older book, it's super interactive and so clever.  (NOTE:  I just read the reviews on Amazon and a few people complained that the publisher cut some text and refrains so it's shorter than the book I remember from my childhood.  No complaints here though!)

This flannel works best with a helper to arrange the pieces while you read the book.

Caps for Sale:

A peddler (cap salesman) walks up and down the streets trying to sell the many caps he keeps stacked on his head.  He decides to take a nap against a tree one afternoon.

At this point, I would turn the flannel board around and have the storytime helper arrange the pieces for the next scene.

When he wakes up, his caps are gone.  He looks to his left, he looks to his right, he looks in back of himself, he looks behind the tree, and finally he looks up and what do you think he sees?

Every time he asks for the caps back, the monkeys mimic him - first he shakes his finger, then he shakes both hands, then he stamps his foot, then he stamps both feet, and finally he get so angry that he throws his own hat on the ground and the monkeys throw down their caps too.  

This whole part is really interactive with the kids.

This flannel is one of the sets I remade while on maternity leave.  Bigger and better!  My almost 3-year-old has been having a blast with personal storytimes:

Flannel Friday: Ten Eggs in a Nest by Marilyn Sadler

 This flannel accompanies the book Ten Eggs in a Nest  by Marilyn Sadler, though it sounds very similar to the flannel rhyme "Ten Fluffy Chicks" that has been done a lot over the past couple years.

That rhyme can be found here Ten Fluffy Chicks

Ten Eggs in a Nest: Gwen the Hen does not count her eggs before they hatch (smart hen!) and patiently waits.  Red Rooster, on the other hand, is so excited that as soon as one egg hatches, he struts over to the store to buy ONE worm with ONE coin for ONE baby chick.

Red returns home to discover that TWO more chicks have hatched so he heads back to the store to buy TWO worms for TWO more baby chicks using TWO coins.

This continues until...

 All 10 baby chicks have arrived

Red Rooster buys worms with coins (this adorable mini cloth bag is perfect for this flannel prop):

Young readers learn how to do (or review) simple addition in this begin-to-read book.  If you are trying to incorporate more STEAM or STEM elements into your storytimes, I think this is a fun way to do that.  

(Some more on STEAM:  http://www.steamedu.com/ or http://showmelibrarian.blogspot.com/p/all-things-steam.html)

Activity: Buy ONE worm with ONE coin

When I do this in storytime, I will probably hand each child ONE "coin" after I read the book.  Their adults will have to tell them it's ok, but after storytime they can use it to buy ONE worm from me (gummy worm). Our library attracts large groups of kids so I'll have to have additional staff around for this activity.

Bringing storytimes home to Grayden, my almost 3-year-old: