Karen's Valentine's Day Surprise

This story can be told two ways, either as a draw and tell story or as a board story.

Karen’s Valentine’s Day Surprise

Linda Meuse

1/25/13

Notes from the Story Room: http://meusenotes.blogspot.com/

Note: This story can be told two ways. Draw hearts following the placement sequence for a draw and tell story. Use precut heart figures for a board story. Make sure to use material that will allow the figures to stick on top of each other. Another option is to simply glue the figures onto each other with a glue stick.

“Oops,” said Karen. She had been in such a hurry that she had dropped her bag of Valentines and it landed upside down spilling all her valentines onto the floor. (1) She quickly scooped them all up and put them back in the bag. She went downstairs, had her breakfast, and started out the door to catch her bus. Her mom called after her, “Have a good day, Karen. When you get home there will be a special Valentine’s Day surprise waiting for you.” All the way to school, Karen wondered what the surprise could be. She had no idea. When she got to school, Karen had to wait until it was time to give out her valentines. Finally the time came when she could give out valentines to all of her classmates. Not all of the valentines were for her classmates. She had a special one for her teacher. (2) She even had valentines for the school nurse and the school librarian. (3) Then she gave out her valentines to her classmates. (4) Karen got lots of valentines from her friends. (5) Her friend Mary gave her a pretty one that she had made just for Karen. (6) Karen had a great day at school but was happy to go home to see her Valentine’s Day surprise. Can you guess what it was? It was a cute little puppy for Karen to love. She named it Val for it was her own special Valentine.

Drawing/Placement Sequence
(1) Draw/place largest heart upside down.
(2) Draw/place next largest heart on top of the first heart
(3) Draw/place hearts for ears
(4) Draw/place hearts for inside ears and paws
(5) Draw/place hearts for eyes and nose
(6) Draw/place heart for tail

Pattern for Draw and Tell Version

Board Version

(I would use colors with a greater contrast. I'm stuck at home awaiting knee surgery so I had to use what I have at home.)

Template for Heart Figures

(I used "Autoshapes" in Microsoft Publisher to make the hearts.)

This week's Flannel Friday Round-Up is hosted by Sarah of Read It Again! Everything about Flannel Friday can be found here.

Winter Fun with Friends

This cut and tell story is easy to guess. To make it a little less easy, it is cut upside down.

Winter Fun with Friends

A Cut and Tell Story by Linda Meuse

Note: The snowman is cut upside down to make it a bit more difficult to guess. Fold plain white paper in half lengthwise. Lightly trace the cutting pattern on one side. Heavier paper is recommended if you plan to do the optional drawing activity.

It was a sunny day even though there was snow on the ground. Chip had an idea but he needed friends to help. He put on his jacket, hat and gloves and went around the corner to his friend Ron’s house. (Cut from 1 to 2). One friend was not enough so Chip and Ron went to Sarah’s house (Cut from 2 to 3). Sarah joined them but they needed more friends so they went down the street to Alice’s house (Cut from 3 to 4). Alice came along with them to Tim’s house (Cut from 4 to 5). Tim and the others then walked down the block and around the corner to Joe’s house (Cut from 5 to 6). Joe had a very big front yard with lots of snow which was perfect for Chip’s idea. The six friends spent the afternoon rolling, pushing and lifting (Cut from 6 to 7). Everyone worked together and finally they were finished (Cut from 7 to 8). “Thanks everyone,” said Chip. “We have probably made the biggest one in town!” Indeed, it was the biggest one in town. Can you guess what the six friends had built? (Turn the snowman right side up.)

Optional drawing activity: Tell the children that this snowman is too plain. Ask them what he needs and draw the items (eyes, nose, buttons, etc.) as they are suggested. Color in the hat and stick arms to complete the snowman.

Cutting Pattern

Optional Finished Snowman

This week's Flannel Friday Round-Up is hosted by Katie of Story Time Secrets. Complete information about Flannel Friday can be found here.

Porter Penguin's Adventure

I wrote the following for an upcoming family story time program on penguins.

Porter Penguin’s Adventure

by Linda Meuse
January 11, 2013

Note: This story was written to be told using magnet or flannel board figures.

Porter Penguin liked living near the South Pole. (Place penguin on board.) There was always something to do even if it was very cold where he lived. (Add hat and scarf to penguin.) He liked to ice skate. (Add skates.) Sometimes he would play ice hockey with his penguin friends. (Add hockey stick and puck.) He also liked to ski up and down hills of snow. (Remove skates, stick and puck. Add skis and ski poles.) Porter liked sledding even more than skiing. (Remove skis and poles and add sled.)

As much as Porter liked his home in Antarctica, he was curious about other places. (Remove sled, hat and scarf.) He had heard that it was warmer “up north.” (If desired, insert a geography lesson here.) One day he decided that he had enough of the cold and was going to explore someplace new. He jumped into the ocean and swam and swam. The water became warmer and warmer. Finally Porter saw a sandy beach. He swam over, got out of the water, found a shady spot and had a nice long nap.

When Porter woke up there were children playing on the beach. He joined them in a game of catch with a beach ball. (Add beach ball.) That was fun! More children came and they all went over to a field to play baseball. (Remove beach ball. Add ball and bat. An alternative could be a soccer ball if desired.) Porter had never played this game before. It wasn’t easy for him because he couldn’t run very fast. The children didn’t care because they were having fun with their new penguin friend. Next they took him to a water slide. (Remove ball and bat. Add water slide.) Penguins are very good at sliding and splashing so Porter really enjoyed this. (Remove water slide.)

Porter had a great time at the beach that day learning many new things but he missed his snowy home. So the next morning Porter said goodbye to his new friends and jumped back into the ocean to swim home. When he got home he told his penguin friends about his adventure. He had brought something back with him that he could use at home. The ocean is cold where he lives but penguins are made for the cold so he will have no problem using his brand new – surfboard! (Add surfboard.)

 

 

 

 

 

This week's Flannel Friday Round-up is hosted by Storytime ABC's. Complete information about Flannel Friday can be found at http://flannelfridaystorytime.blogspot.com/.

There Was a Little Penguin

While searching for penguin ideas for my upcoming family story time program, I came across a penguin version of the well-known "There Was a Little Turtle" rhyme on the Storytime ABC's blog (1/27/12). I loved the idea but decided to change some of the animals. Thank you Storytime ABC's for a great idea.

There was a little penguin

Who waddled when she walked.

She swam in the ocean,

And climbed on the rocks.

She snapped at an albatross.

She snapped at a seal.

She snapped at an orca,

Giving out a squeal.

But they were all much too big

To make a penguin meal,

So she jumped into the ocean

To catch some tasty krill.

The penguin, seal and orca figures are from Microsoft Publisher. The albatross is from Arthur's Clip Art. All of the clip art was put into Microsoft Publisher where I flipped some of the images and made them all the size I wanted. I drew my own krill after looking at several drawings. It is obviously much larger than it should be but I needed to make it big enough for everyone to see.

This week's Flannel Friday Round-up is hosted by Lisa of the Libraryland blog. Complete information about Flannel Friday can be found here.