Five Little Valentines

Last week while I was working on a draw and tell story for Valentine's Day, I also wrote this rhyme. I was going to save it for next year's Valentine's Day Flannel Friday but knowing me I will totally forget about it. I decided to use it for this week's Flannel Friday contribution.

 

Five Little Valentines

Linda Meuse

Notes from the Story Room Blog

1/31/14

 

Five little valentines waiting to be given.

One is silver, tied with a purple ribbon.

One is gold, shining like a light.

One is red, bold and bright.

One is white, with lace all around.

The last one is pink, and plays a musical sound.

 

Joe took the silver one to give to his mother.

Mary took the gold one to give to her teacher.

Tom took the red one to give to his dad.

Kate took the white one to make her sister glad.

Scott took the pink one for little baby Sue,

For the music that it played would make her laugh and coo.

 

 

I used the shapes function in Microsoft Publisher to draw a heart template. I made mine about 6 inches high and about 6 inches across. The "lace" one is slightly larger. I used materials that I had on hand. I used markers on card stock for three of the hearts. I do not have silver or gold markers so I used silver paint and a purple marker for one heart and cut the other heart out of gold paper from a pad of metallic paper that I had. (The paper was a bit too small so I had to glue on another piece for the tip of the heart). You can also make them out of felt. I would use metallic paint on white felt to make the gold and silver hearts.

 

This week's Flannel Friday Round-Up is hosted by Lisa of Thrive After Three.

Something Special - A Valentine's Day Draw and Tell Story

Something Special - A Valentine's Day Draw and Tell Story

by Linda Meuse

Notes from the Story Room Blog

Usually Harry liked having two sisters and a brother. There was always someone willing to play. However, sometimes it made things harder. Valentines Day  was one of those times. His brother and sisters seemed to think of better things to give their mom than he did. Hugh, the oldest, was giving her a heart-shaped balloon (1). Sarah made a beautiful heart-shaped pillow for her (2). Lisa was giving her a heart-shaped box of candy (3). Harry only had a card with a heart on it (4). He wanted to give his mom something else as well. It had to be something special.

Harry walked downtown to to look at all the store windows (5). They were decorated for Valentine's Day. Maybe he would get an idea. He walked up the street to the jewelry store (6). There were lots of pretty things in the window that he was sure his mom would like. Harry was also sure that the money he saved was not enough to buy anything there. He walked past more stores but didn't get any ideas (7). He walked up another block (8) and there it was, the perfect present. He had enough money to buy one. It was pretty and reminded him of spring. He knew his mom would like it too, so Harry ran into the store and bought it (9).

Drawing sequence:

1. Draw first heart-shaped petal.

2. Draw second heart-shaped petal.

3. Draw third heart-shaped petal.

4. Draw fourth heart-shaped petal.

5. Draw stem.

6. Draw first half of right leaf.

7. Draw second half of right leaf.

8. Draw first half of left leaf.

9. Draw second half of left leaf.

This week's Flannel Friday is hosted by Mel of Mel's Desk.

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.

From Felt to Prop

I have a confession to make.  In the 15 years that I had a flannel board, I never once made a figure out of felt.  I truly admire those who have the patience and dexterity to create the lovely pieces I have seen on Flannel Friday.  In my previous position, I was the only youth services librarian so I was responsible for everything including programs and collection development for both children and teens.  I also had to spend time on the adult desk.  My creative time was limited so I learned to be very efficient at what I did.  I found that buying several yards of craft weight interfacing at a time and a good set of markers enabled me to make numerous story sets rather quickly - copy, trace, outline, color and cut.

My current library has a magnet board so figures are still easy to make - copy, color, laminate and cut.  However, now that I work part-time, I don't always have a chance to get things laminated.  This is partly my fault because I tend to think of things I want to do for a program at the last minute (I once changed my entire storytime program the day before).  So lately I have been making quick and easy props.

I would like to thank Erin of Falling Flannelboards for suggesting "Four Candy Hearts" from Storytime Magic and Meghan from Busy Crafting Mommy and her colleague Elizabeth for writing "Six Little Hearts." I made props for both of these rhymes.  I'm posting what I did even though most people have probably already done their Valentine's Day programs.  This one's for those last minute folks like me. 

For "Four Candy Hearts" I traced the heart pattern on neon cardstock. I added an edge to make it look more like candy.  I outlined the heart and wrote the words with marker and then cut out the heart.  It bothered me that the rhyme only had the words for three hearts so I did a little "research."  I just happened to have a bag of candy hearts available so I went through it looking for a phrase I liked. I selected "Sweet Thing."  I pasted the appropriate lines of the rhyme on the back of each heart.  I also numbered each heart so I would have them in the correct order. No memorization required.

For "Six Little Valentines" I used some envelopes I had and Microsoft Publisher.  I made 5 small hearts and one large heart and printed them out.  I found clip art for each of the animals and after making sure they would fit in the envelopes, printed them as well.  I wrote the appropriate phrase on each of the small hearts and pasted one on each animal.  I used a metallic marker to embellish the large heart.  I glued the figures to cardstock and cut them out.  I "addressed" the front of the envelopes and pasted the appropriate lines on the back of each one.  I numbered them like I did the hearts.  Each animal was in the envelope to start and I pulled it out as I read the lines.  I ended the storytelling part of my program with this rhyme.

This week's Flannel Friday Round-Up is hosted by Library Quine at http://loonsandquines.blogspot.com/2012/02/flannel-friday-roundup-for-10th-feb.html.

Evening Family Story Time #5 - Valentine's Day

Family Story Time - Valentine's Day Stories & Crafts
Monday, February 6, 2012, 6:30 - 7:30 p.m., Attendance: 21 (11 children, 10 adults)

Program -

Books:  Be Mine, Be Mine, Sweet Valentine by Sarah Weeks
             Love, Splat by Rob Scotton

Prop Rhymes:  "Six Little Valentines"
                        "Four Candy Hearts"

Paper Cutting Story:  "Squirrel Gives Her Heart"

Draw & Tell Story:  "Claudette's Valentines" from Frog's Riddle & Other Draw-and-Tell Stories by Richard Thompson

Crafts:   Heart Puzzle (Template from Simple Fun Stuff)
             Heart Art from Easy to Make Art Activities by Paula Corbett
             Valentine Puppet from Crafts for Valentine's Day by Kathy Ross
             Woven Valentine from Art for All Seasons by Jo Ellen Moore

Notes:  I only read two books because the focus for this program was more on the crafts.  I have an easier time finding Valentine's Day crafts that I like than I do books.  Since I have not come across a Valentine's Day story that I like so much that I would purchase it for my personal storytelling collection, I use what is available at the library.  Most books are either too young or too long.  Love, Splat was a bit long for the youngest children and Be Mine, Be Mine, Sweet Valentine was a bit young for most of the others but I had them guess the rhyming word behind the flap which held their interest.  The hit of the program was the draw and tell story.  The parents really liked that as well.  Everyone enjoyed the crafts. I put some cut paper and foam stick-ons on the tables for the children to use to decorate their puppets.  My sample was quite plain compared to the ones the children made. 

Squirrel Gives Her Heart

Story:

Squirrel Gives Her Heart

Squirrel was very busy. She was making the biggest and best Valentine heart she had ever made. It was almost as big as she was. She was so excited and could hardly wait to give it to her friend.

Finally she was finished. She had made the most beautiful big and sparkly Valentine she had ever seen. Now she was ready to give it to a friend. But squirrel had lots of friends and didn’t know which one to choose. The big heart would be perfect for deer who was her biggest friend. But then she thought about her other friends whom she also liked very much. Raccoon would certainly enjoy having a sparkly heart. So would her friend chipmunk. She should also give one to her friend bird and she couldn’t leave out her smallest friend mouse. Squirrel was worried. She didn’t have enough paper to make everyone a Valentine. Yet she didn’t want to leave anyone out. What should she do?

Squirrel thought and thought. Suddenly she knew what she could do so that everyone could have a sparkly heart just the right size for them. Can you guess?
 
Squirrel cut up her sparkly heart. She took her scissors, folded the heart in half and carefully cut around the edge to make a big open heart for deer. Then she cut some more to make an open heart for raccoon. She made a medium-sized one for chipmunk and a slightly smaller one for bird. All that was left was a teeny-tiny solid heart which was just the right size for her smallest friend mouse.
 
Squirrel was very happy and so were her friends when she presented each of them with their own special Valentine’s Day heart.


Notes:  This story can be told as either a paper cutting story or as a board story.  The basic concept of cutting concentric hearts was inspired by a paper cutting story from Paper Stories by Jean Stangl. 
 
Paper - For plain paper cutting delete the adjective sparkly from the story.  For more ambitious paper cutting use glitter glue over the area to be cut out to make it sparkly.  Just make sure the area inside the heart is completely covered and that it is completely dry before folding the paper in half (so it won’t stick together). Be sure to do this well ahead of time for it takes some time for the glue to dry, particularly if you get carried away like I did.  (I put the paper on a towel and used a hair dryer so I could have my sample for Flannel Friday rather than Flannel Saturday.)   You can also use a metallic marker to give your heart sparkle.  I used both for the sample.  The paper can be any paper that can easily be cut when folded in half such as copy paper. My sample is made from thin construction paper.  Fold the paper in half (sparkles on the inside and fold on the left side) and draw half a large heart onto this side.  (Make sure this is done on the fold edge so that when you open it up you have a complete heart.)  Draw the the four smaller (half) hearts inside it.  These will be your guidelines for cutting out the hearts.  You can make templates to trace around if you wish.  I made my pattern using Microsoft Publisher.  Cut out the large heart and open it up to show the big heart squirrel made.  (If you wish, you can cut the large heart out ahead of time.)  Refold it to cut out the additional hearts. You should end up with four open hearts and one small solid heart.  Open each heart up to show which heart squirrel gave to each animal.


Board - If you tell this as a board story you will be making hearts that fit inside each other.  I use paper to make magnet board figures which is easy to cut.  Cutting the hearts from felt will be more difficult due to the thickness of the material so I recommend sharp scissors.  (The hearts can also be drawn on craft weight interfacing which is easy to cut and sticks to a feltboard.)  With felt you can decorate the edges with puffy paint as well making the pieces sparkly with glitter glue.  You also have the option of adding the animals mentioned in the story to the board.  The story would work with a very large heart alone which would probably be easier to make than a smaller one.  The other option would be to make a smaller heart with pieces that can be placed next to each animal.  Heart templates can be made with a simple drawing program.  Use clip art for the animals or use animals from other sets that you might have.  You can substitute whatever animals you have for squirrel's friends.

 
Examples:
 

Template using Microsoft Publisher

 Use black marker on half of the heart so it will show through the copy paper for tracing the pattern.

I cut the template so I could trace it onto construction paper. 

I would use this for board pieces as well.

I used this to show where to cover the inside with "sparkle."

The inside with sparkle.

The large heart cut out.

All of the hearts cut out.

Happy Valentine's Day!

 

This week's Flannel Friday Roundup (Mushy Gushy Valentine's Day Extravaganza) is hosted by Anna of Future Librarian Superhero.  Past and future roundups are listed here and our Pinterest boards are here.