Flannel Friday: Lost and Found

This has been the most fun storytime game! It is so simple and the kids have a ball. My storytime theme was "Lost and Found" and I wanted to sing the old popular song, "Oh Where, Oh, Where Has My Little Dog Gone?"  I found this little felt board piece of a cute dog in my folder of random felt pieces (retired preschool teachers and guest readers often give these to me). I cut out felt shapes in different colors, and bam! the game was created. I had no idea it would be such a huge hit. 

But then...one of the books I used for storytime is "Found" by Salina Yoon, which features a toy bunny. 

It's a very sweet story and I wanted to make a connection with the book and the game, so I cut out a simple bunny shape (a template from the internet, which I cannot find now) and colored it to look like the bunny in the story. Then I could use either the dog or the bunny depending on the books I was reading. 

I turn the felt board around, hide the bunny or dog behind a shape, turn the board to face the kids and we sing the song, or we try to sing the song, the kids get so excited they just start choosing shapes right away! Lift the shapes as they name them until you find the character. The children are thrilled when they find it. Turn the board around and repeat - mix the shapes up, hide the character and sing again. The kids go crazy with delight. One little boy came up to me after the storytime and told me, "That was so much fun."

You can adapt this game to any book character. I used the dog shape for some of the storytimes and the bunny shape for others. I just changed the word in the song from dog to bunny. I also use the words "so short" and "so long" instead of "cut short" or long.  The idea of cutting a dog's tail or ears bothers me. 

Oh where, oh where has my little dog gone?

Oh where, oh where can she be?

With her tail so short

and her ears so long

Oh where, oh where can she be? 

My pieces are fairly large: the square is 4 1/2 inches, the heart is 5 inches across. The triangle and square are so light the kids can actually see the outline of the dog or bunny behind them. And sometimes I let a little piece of a paw or ear show at the edge of a shape and the kids love that.

You can also use this felt board for storytimes about shapes or colors. It will take you about 10 minutes to make the entire set, and you and kids will love it.

Find more awesome flannel ideas at Library Lalaland.