Thursday, March 13, 2014

Three Years of Storytime Inspiration

Flannel Friday is celebrating its third anniversary. To celebrate, readers and participants have been asked to share favorite projects and posts that inspired them, stretched their artistic skills, or enhanced their professional development.

When I started thinking about how many times I was inspired by a post, I realized that I have used ideas from Flannel Friday more times than I could possibly list here. I always check Flannel Friday's Pinterest boards when planning a program. Sometimes I will use the an idea exactly as posted and sometimes I will change it to suit my program.

I've been inspired to make my own versions of various Flannel Friday ideas. One of my favorites is "Sam and the Acorn." I made it for a "Monster" family storytime but it was inspired by Sarah's "Silly Super Hero."  The parents laughed just as much as the children when I told this story.

I love using props when telling stories. Sharon's post about her "Magic Envelope" inspired me to make one of my own. As you can see I deliberately made it with a distracting pattern to help with the "magic." I used it for Halloween, making a Jack-O-Lantern. I plan to use it for a class visit this spring. I was thinking of either making a bicycle or using it to promote our summer programs.



In addition to finding ideas for storytime programs, I enjoy looking at the lovely felt pieces made by participants such as Bridget's "Chester" and Sue's "Grumpy Cat."

Flannel Friday has definitely caused me to stretch my artistic as well as my storytelling skills. I wrote a draw and tell story, "The Night Walk," for a family storytime program. After posting it for Flannel Friday, much to my surprise, this story became my most popular post ever. I was encouraged to write more such stories. The page listing the draw and tell stories has become the most popular section of this blog.

These are some Flannel Friday projects I want to make:
   "Magical Rainbow Stew"
   "Make-a-Pig Flannel"
   "Conejito"
   "5 Green and Speckled Frogs"

Participating in Flannel Friday has not only made me more creative but has vastly expanded my storytelling repertoire.

This week's Flannel Friday Round-Up is hosted by Anne of So Tomorrow.

3 comments:

  1. "Participating in Flannel Friday has not only made me more creative but has vastly expanded my storytelling repertoire" - wish I said that! Perfect. ~ jane

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  2. The Magic Envelope is such a great interactive activity! Another round of thanks to Sharon for sharing it.

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  3. Hooray for Magic Envelope. It was one of my very first FF posts. I'm glad it's worked for others!!

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