Guess who is participating in Flannel Friday this week!?
I’ve had this flannel set for so long and recently started using it again. It’s been a total hit! I forgot how much the kids love to do this classic fingerplay with the extra verses. Because my felt board is black I made the birds blue so they would stick out more. We sing, “Two little bluebirds…” Aren’t familiar with this rhyme or extra verses? Check out our video first!
Here are the felt pieces I made and the verses I do with them. First I put up all the different objects. Then I bring out the two birds. They always start on the hill. We sing:
Two little bluebirds sitting on a hill
One named Jack and one named Jill
Fly away Jack, fly away Jill
Come back Jack, come back Jill
Then I ask where they should fly next. I let the kids direct the rhyme in that way. Here are the places we go.
Two little bluebirds sitting on a car
One named near and one named far
Fly away near, fly away far
Come back near, come back far
(Put one finger near your body and one finger outstretched)
Two little bluebirds sitting on a stick
One named slow and one named quick
Fly away slow, fly away quick
Come back slow, come back quick
(Really draw out the slow. The kids love this verse.)
Two little bluebirds sitting on a cup
One named down and one named up
Fly away down, fly away up
Come back down, come back up
Two little bluebirds sitting on a cloud
One named quiet and one named loud
Fly away quiet, fly away loud
Come back quiet, come back loud
Two little bluebirds sitting on a lily
One named serious and one named silly
Fly away serious, fly away silly
Come back serious, come back silly
(Make your best serious face for this verse – the kids crack up!)
I’ve been using this one right after we read Hooray for Birds! by Lucy Cousins which is one of my 2017 Favourite Storytime Picture Books.
Make sure to catch the entire Flannel Friday round-up here on Jbrary at the end of the week!
This is great! Just read Hooray for Birds! and did the finger play of the two little birdies for my Toddler storytime. The theme that day was, well, birds. Beautiful flannel set!
I also ready Hooray for Birds! at a PJ storytime and the kids had a lot of fun mimicking the bird sounds and motions.
Thanks so much! That book and felt are my two current favourites.
I have not heard some of those verses before! I haven’t used this rhyme with preschoolers because it’s so short, but with these ideas for extra verses I will!
Tell the truth, did you make them in black first, then realize they wouldn’t show on a black board? Because I have a black flannel board, too, and that’s totally what I would’ve done!
LOL, I was actually on top of my game for this one and made them blue first 🙂
Aw, Blackbirds is my favorite storytime song. The kids love, love, love COMING BACK LOUD.
Just made a set to use for my opposites themed story time on Saturday. Thanks for the ideas!
Yay! Hope the kids love it! I’ve been putting up all the pieces except for the birds first and then asking the kids where they should fly next. So the birds do a little tour around the felt board as we sing each verse.
Thank-you!! I took your advice – this was my biggest story time turnout so far and it went over well. 🙂
Two little blackbirds sitting on a wall
one named Peter, one named Paul
Fly away Peter, fly away Paul
Come back Peter, come back Paul
And sit on the wall
I use a lot of “Two Little…” rhymes in my storytime programs! I like to either make little craft stick puppets for kids to play along with, or sometimes I will use scarves and we pretend they’re butterflies, birds, fairies, etc. It’s a good way to add some movement for little wigglers. 🙂
I love those ideas! Both are a way to add interaction to the rhyme. Thanks so much for sharing!