Reading Super Stars!

I "FELT" like a Super Hero!

And this is how I did it!

It's all in the cuffs...really.

We did this project in the library well over a year ago but I never posted our felt super hero wrist bands/cuffs.  So here they are.  And look at the simple construction:

I visited my local  and very friendly Starbucks 

where they willingly provided about 60 of these. 

I had middle school volunteers helping the younger kids.

We used some simple clip art for patterns.

(stars, rainbows, smiley faces, moons,etc.)  

Lots of felt remnants.  Of course some 

of us kids used glitter!  Glue your design right 

onto the cardboard.  And there you have it.

This one size fit every kid and all of the middle schoolers.  

Warning: This Starbucks cup holder does not fit all adults! 

 Improvise because it is so much fun to walk around the library

 wearing super hero cuffs, or just to have them on your desk 

when the kids come up.  You can say....

Shhhh!  I am a librarian by day and...SUPER HERO AT NIGHT!

You may want to visit Lisa at Thrive After Three.  She's been posting some wonderful super heroes for story time on her blog.  And she's also the host for this week's round up.

Piper and I are happy to say that Flannel Friday keeps us creative.  Thanks to all!  

P.S. (Piper Script) I keep my super hero cuffs in my bed, under my pillow...just in case! 

Yes I Want to Build a...

                               Snowman!

Need I say more?  O.M.Gosh.  We love this guy.  He begged to be flannelized this past Monday.  I kid you not!  On the last day of March many parts of Connecticut woke up to a crazy snow storm.  Big fat flakes brought three inches of snow and everyone was singing the very popular song, Do You Want To Build a Snowman?, from Disney's hit movie - Frozen.  

Our Main Library had shown Frozen over the weekend to a packed house.  When I arrived at the little branch library on Monday with that new fallen snow I knew I had to do something with Olaf.  I "Google-imaged" him.  (Whoa, that's the strangest verb I ever wrote).  And I found that Disney had created a cut and paste Olaf...for free.  Yippee!  And thank you very much!

Disney's directions say "pose him however you want, there's no wrong or right way to build a snowman!"  

You know I love that freedom for the kids.  Okay, I confess, this one's mine!

I printed up 25 copies for our Prime Time with Mrs Breen and Piper, we already owned the music...so, let me just tell you...it was magic in the library.  Yup, yep, yes-sir-ree!  As the families entered the story time room at 6:30 pm the soundtrack was playing and twenty Olafs were on the craft table.  I decided to start with the craft - "yikes!  that's crazy, Mrs Breen!", I heard from one of the little ones!  We never do that!  While crafting, (I'm making up verbs tonight), they sang, "let it go..."  Yes,  I was in heaven!  Piper too.  We love it when the universe aligns for story time.  

Now just look at the snowman's parts - are they not made for Piper and Jane? This is how I make my felt pieces - in pieces!   So, I did it, I flannelized him today.  And I sang the whole time!  

I took the following photo with hopes that you could see the black backing on the white .  I did not back-up the branches, (arms and hair) with black. 

The very coolest part of this comical character in flannel is that he can be posed again and again and again.   You know I will the kids will just love that.   It's all good here at the library! 

We tried to sing head shoulder knees and toes...maybe, not so good! 

We'll practice!

We thank you for visiting our blog.  Here's another blog to check out:  from whole cloth witten by my niece, Cate.  Talk about the universe aligning...she made kid-sized Anna and Elsa capes and posted them on that same snowy Monday!  Total surprise for me...but you know, great minds run in a family think alike!  

Comments are always welcome ~ Piper & Jane

Maisy! Maisy! Maisy!

Off We Go!

     And yes...I'm talking heads.  If you caught last week's post - you'll get it!  Maisy's friends have heads that come off!  That's the only way they could get on the bus!  So here they are looking cute.  I generally back my pieces with black flannel, so once I thought about it ...I realized I could take their heads off.  Lucy Cousins creates her characters with bold black lines which lend themselves perfectly to this stained glass style I use in flannel.

To be clear, I didn't cut off their heads, rather, I never glued them on.  This means the heads are removable!  Pretty cool, huh? 

headless friends

And now take a look at the heads rolling along on the bus! 

...the heads on the bus go bump bump bump!

Here's the whole gang!  Note: removable bus door

                                              removable heads

                                              removable numbers for the bus stop post

I used these flannels three times this week and only once did someone say, "why did you do that?" I was placing Tallulah's head on the bus while quickly moving her body out of sight when a front row little guy, who was paying very close attention, caught the trick!  Busted!  So, I showed everyone, (kids and parents), how I created the pieces to fit on the bus.  It was genius.  It was perfect!

I tell this story with the bus in a hill-filled town!  I move the bus stop up or down on the flannel board when I change the number of the stop.  And then we... brrmm brmmm... the bus or eeek, eeek the breaks!  Oh, you may have noticed that Maisy's tail gets caught in the door - I decided to let that happen and see if it played out as funny.  Shall I say...daring creative risk here?!!  Just so you know - it was hysterical!  They loved saying "Ouch, my tail!" each time Maisy closed the bus door.  

P.S. (Piper Script): Since there's a Little Black Cat...maybe we can add a  Little Black Dog to the story?