Three Little Kittens Flannel

Flannel story I made to go along with the nursery rhyme “Three Little Kittens” :

Three little kittens,
They lost their mittens,
And they began to cry,
Oh, mother dear,
We sadly fear
Our mittens we have lost.
What! Lost your mittens,
You naughty kittens!
Then you shall have no pie.
Meow Meow Meow
You shall have no pie.

The three little kittens,
They found their mittens,
And they began to cry,
Oh, mother dear,
See here, see here,
Our mittens we have found.
What! Found your mittens,
You darling kittens!
Then you shall have some pie.
Meow Meow Meow
You shall have some pie.

The three little kittens,
Put on their mittens,
And soon ate up the pie;
Oh, mother dear,
We greatly fear
Our mittens we have soiled.
What! Soiled your mittens,
You naughty kittens!
They began to sigh,
Meow Meow Meow
They began to sigh.

The three little kittens,
They washed their mittens,
And hung them out to dry;
Oh mother dear,
Look here, look here,
Our mittens we have washed.
What! Washed your mittens,
You’re such good little kittens.
But I smell a rat close by!
Meow Meow Meow
I smell a rat close by!

Bear Squash-You-All-Flat Flannel

This week I made a flannel story to go along with the tale “Bear Squash-You-All-Flat,” a Russian folktale I found in Judy Sierra’s Silly & Sillier: Read Aloud Tales from Around the World. The story starts with Whiskery Mouse who finds a mitten and decides to make it his home. One by one, along come Croaker the Frog, Hoppity Hare, Frisky Fox, and Sneaky Wolf who all join Whiskery Mouse and live in the mitten. But then Bear Squash-You-All-Flat shows up. When he tries to get in the mitten, he destroys the little house! All the other animals run away. The end. My group really enjoyed The Enormous Turnip flannel story I told last week, so I think they’ll really enjoy this one too as they are both cumulative tales with repeated phrases.

The Enormous Turnip Flannel

Next week, my storytime theme is going to be “In the Kitchen” and everything is going to be about food! I’ll post about the entire storytime after it happens, but to give you a sneak peak, here’s the flannel story I’ll be doing…. The Enormous Turnip! It’s a Russian folktale about a grandpa who tries to pull his enormous turnip out of the ground, but needs help. One by one grandma, granddaughter, dog, and cat try to help. It is not until little mouse joins them that they are finally able to pull it out! I made the pieces myself, but they are largely based off others that I found pictures of online.

“Aiken Drum” Flannel

For my first Fall Family Storytime, my theme is going to be Names (I will have a post detailing the entire storytime after the fact). My flannel for this storytime goes along with a unique version of the song “Aiken Drum” from the Wiggleworms Love You CD. Below are the flannel pieces, the face, and the lyrics. I can’t wait to use it!

Aiken Drum
Wiggleworms Love You

There was a man lived in the moon
In the moon, lived in the moon
Was a man lived in the moon
His name was Aiken Drum

He played upon his maraca, maraca, maraca
He played upon his maraca
His name was Aiken Drum

His head was made of a frying pan…
He played upon his tambourine…
His eyes were made of birthday cake…
He played upon the jingle bells…
His nose was made of a piece of cheese…
He played upon his rhythm sticks…
His mouth was made of a banana split…
He played upon his instruments…

“The Greatest of All” Flannel Story

Starting in the fall, I will be leading a weekly evening family storytime which I’m really excited about! It will be aimed at ages 2-6 and their families so I’m expecting a wide range of ages. I haven’t completely planned out anything yet, but I’ve started gathering ideas. I’m not sure what my themes will be yet, but I do know some stories I want to use so I’ll make sure they fit in somewhere!

One story I know I want to tell is “The Greatest of All.” It is a Japanese folktale that I first learned in undergrad when I took a Children’s Lit class and had to do a storytelling project. I based my telling off the version in the picture book, The Greatest of All by Eric A. Kimmel. When I used it for my class project I just told the story, but it always stayed in my mind in a box labeled “great for flannel.”

The story is about a young girl mouse who wishes to marry the humble field mouse. However, she lives with Papa mouse in the Emperor’s palace so Papa thinks she deserves to marry the greatest of all. Papa proceeds to ask Emperor to marry his daughter. Emperor explains that he is honored but he is not the greatest. Sun is greater than him because when Sun beats down even an emperor must hide from it. Papa goes on to ask Sun to marry his daughter, but Sun leads Papa to Cloud. Cloud sends him to Wind, and Wind sends him to Wall. Wall explains that he is not the greatest either. The greatest is a field mouse who can tunnel through him. Papa finds the humble field mouse and says he can marry the daughter.

Field Mouse, Daughter Mouse, Papa Mouse.

Top: Cloud, Wind. Bottom: Emperor, Wall, Sun.