Flannelboard Fun with Music!
“Miss Carole” Stephens – Macaroni Soup!
www.macaronisoup.com
Children are born with their primary Learning Style:
auditory, visual or kinesthetic. While our primary Learning Style is how we optimally
process information, we all use the other learning styles as we process our
environment. As teachers and caregivers, we should provide learning opportunities for
all learning styles.
This workshop includes:
1. songs with felts on flannelboard visuals
2. an explanation in understandable, lay terms that helps participants
understand why using visuals is important
3. teaching techniques and tips to make using a feltboard and felt
shapes fun and easy for teachers and students of all abilities.
Making a flannel board is not hard – and much less expensive than buying one!
For the board, you can use a 22” x 16” bulletin board (corkboard) or foamcore board (mine are 15” x 20.) Purchase flannel big enough to cover your
board – a half yard should be plenty. Flannel comes in many colors and
patterns – basic blue or white is great for starters, then start to experiment!
Iron out any creases and cut to overlap the edges of your board by at least 3”.
Bulletin board: open your stapler to attach the flannel to the backside.
Foam-core board: use packing tape to attach on backside.
Think of many ways to use your board. Flannel is washable, and you can use
fabric paint to make a tree, a vine, or any permanent design on a board. You can
also use flannel with a pattern – I have clouds on blue sky for when we’re singing
about birds, kites, airplanes, etc. Make felt shapes to go with your favorite books and
songs – and try to have enough pieces for all children to place something on the board.
About the Presenter: Carole Stephens grew up in a house with a pre-school attached! She
graduated from Northwestern University with a BS in musical theater, acting in shows in Chicago
and New York City (even a stint on All My Children!) before going afloat as a cruise director in
the Caribbean. Carole hosted the nightly TV show “PM MAGAZINE” before settling down to
“mommy.” She created music classes to meet the needs of her 2 children, who are now twentysomethings! As MACARONI SOUP, she has been providing musical entertainment and education
for children 1 – 10 years old since 1989. Carole’s 8 CDs have won the Parents’ Choice, NAPPA,
I-Parenting Media, Mom’s Choice and Children’s Music Web Awards.
Carole is available for Kid Classes, Teacher Workshops, and Family Night Concerts.
Recordings: “Sticky Bubble Gum” SBG
“H.U.M. – Highly Usable Music!”
“Tiny Tunes” TT
“Stinky Cake” SC
“Dancing Feet!” DF
“BALONEY!” B
“Season Sings” SS … and the newest: “POLKA DOTS!” PD
Carole’s Blog: on the 16th of each month at PreKandKSharing.blogspot.com
Today I’ll demonstrate ways to use flannelboards and felt shapes. Don’t forget to go to my website’s SONG OF THE
MONTH PAGE (click the link “HERE” – to get to the archive) to see how some of the songs “look.” Make flannelboard
pieces for YOUR favorite songs – from “Old MacDonald” (animals) to “Twinkle Twinkle!” (stars)
Reasons for using flannelboards:
1. Visual cues: for visual learners, showing a flannel picture of what you’re about to present keeps them on task!
2. Participation: giving each child something to place on the flannelboard involves them actively in the song.
3. Presentation: in songs like “I Can Make A Snowman” the child becomes the teacher for a moment!
4. Decision making: children evaluate the felt piece they are given and decide when it is the appropriate time to
place it on the flannelboard – by color, shape, object, etc.
Resources: I get my foam-core board at a craft store. Flannel and felt squares: Michael’s, Hobby Lobby, JoAnn’s.
I got my easel at Office Depot, but I’ve seen them elsewhere.
Slowly/Quickly
PD
(spoken tickle – great for ALL ages!)
Slowly, slowly, very slowly creeps the garden snail
Slowly, slowly, very slowly up the garden rail!
Quickly, quickly, very quickly runs the little mouse
I Can Make A Snowman HUM
SOTM 3/08
tune: Mary Had Little Lamb
I can make a snowman, a snowman, a snowman
I can make a snowman,
Quickly, quickly, very quickly – all around the house!
My snowman will be __(red)____.
CUT: a snail and a mouse! I got my patterns from online
CUT: 3 snowballs of descending sizes of each color you
clip-art, then added details with Scribbles fabric paint.
want to present. Have the children close their eyes, then
Grandpa’s Farm
PD
We're on our way, we're on our way
On our way to Grandpa's farm.
sing. Have them open their eyes to identify the color! OR –
invite a child to come up front to make the snowman, insert
their name into the song: “Susie can make a snowman.”
There are many ways to go with this song – teach primary
We're on our way, we're on our way
and secondary colors – and tertiary, too! Or ask for creative
On our way to Grandpa's farm.
thinking – what could we use to make a RED snowman?
Down on Grandpa's farm there is a black & white cow.
Down on Grandpa's farm there is a black & white cow.
The cow, she makes a sound like this: "moooooo!"
(apples, cherries, a stop sign!) There’s personal awareness –
who is wearing RED?
See the homemade book a school made for me!
The cow, she makes a sound like this: "moooooo!”
I’m a Little Seed TT
V.2 Noisy Pink Pig – snort snort
For felt shape patterns go to my SOTM 4/05
V.3 Fluffy White Sheep – baaaaaa!
V.4 Old Gray Mule - hee-haw, hee-haw!
CUT: a barn and animals (clip-art patterns!)
The Apple Tree
SBG SOTM 9/04
Way up high in the apple tree
One little apple smiled at me
I shook that tree as hard as I could
(tune: “Teapot”)
I’m a little seed in the dark, dark ground
Out comes the sun, yellow and round.
Down comes the cool rain, soft and slow
UP the seed begins to grow!
(curl up on the floor, then make a sun with arms overhead,
then wiggle fingers down for rain, pop up smiling!)
Book Buddy: The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss
Down came the apple,
CUT: brown dirt, green stem with leaves, yellow sun,
MMMmmm it sure looks good!
raindrops, flower head, small black “seed”.
(repeat with another “smiling apple”)
Two little apples under the tree
One for you, and one for me
Two little apples, crunch crunch crunch
Two little apples, let’s eat them for our lunch, YUM!
BOARD: a brown tree trunk –then sponge on green leaves.
CUT: apple felts (I use green, red and yellow, big and small)
and make a smiley face on 2 of the apples.
While the children are putting their apples on the tree, I
sneak my 2 “smiling” apples on near the top of the tree.
FLOWERS
SS
by Carole Stephens ©.2009
A flower has petals, a stem and some roots
With water and sun, from the ground it shoots
Flowers are red, as red as can be
Bring your red flowers to the flower-y sea.
V. 2 Yellow
V. 3 Purple
V. 4 Pink
V. 5 White
CUT: 4-5 different colored blossoms, enough for
each child to have 2 flowers.
Everybody Has A Face
SOTM 8/09
TT
(tune: Old MacDonald)
Everybody has a face, E I E I O
And on our face we have 2 eyes, E I E I O
With a blink blink here, And a blink blink there
Here a blink, there a blink, Everywhere a blink blink
Everybody has a face, E I E I O!
(repeat with mouth – kisses, nose – beep beep, and cheeks –
puff puff! If they’re up to it, add eyebrows – wiggle wiggle!
CUT: large circle of tan, beige or light brown felt – look for
the multi-cultural felts for different face colors. Add a shock
of hair if you like – or a complete do! Cut 2 eyes, 1 nose, 1
mouth. Optional add-ons: 2 eyebrows, 2 cheeks
Each Mitten Has a Mate
SS
tune: “If You’re Happy and You Know It)
Each mitten has a mate, has a mate
Each mitten has a mate, has a mate
It’s part of our game – find the one that looks the same
Each mitten has a mate, has a mate!
CUT: pairs of mittens, each pair a different color or pattern.
Put one of each pair on flannelboard. Give each child one of
the other mittens. Sing, and tap them on the head when it’s
their turn to make a match.
Little Mouse, Little Mouse B
SOTM 2/11
Tune: “Twinkle, Twinkle”
Little mouse, little mouse, come out and play
What color house are you in today?
Hide the mouse under a house while the children close their
eyes and sing. Turn the felt board to face you when hiding
the mouse. Turn the board to face out and let them take
turns guessing what color house the mouse is under! Ask
them to raise their hands and wait to be called on by name.
CUT: 4 or more felt houses in different colors, and one grey
mouse that will fit under the house.
SONG BUDDIES:
The Little Mouse Goes Creeping TT
Creepy Mouse/Sneaky Cat
SOTM 3/07
SBG SOTM 10/08
Other fun songs to add visuals to:
Pumpkin, Pumpkin SS SOTM 10/06
I’m a Little Snowman HUM SOTM 1/05
Each Mitten Has a Mate SS
Black Bat Farm HUM SOTM 10/04
LIKE ME: MACARONI SOUP
with MISS CAROLE
Questions? Need a Family Night
Concert or In-house field trip?
Call Carole: 847.384.1404
PATTERNS: