Teddy Bear Pattern Flannelboard

A couple of years ago I found these great looking teddy bear cutouts at the dollar store.  They came in three colors: yellow, red, and blue.  I thought I could use them at storytime.  My first thought was to have the children color on them.  This did not work out.  The bears had some strange coating that did not allow crayons or pen ink to stay.  Then one day, while I was working on a teddy bear themed storytime, I thought to use them for a flannelboard.

I slapped magnets on the backside of the cutouts.  Then I used these colorful bears on my magnet board to create color patterns during storytime.  I made patterns such as

Red, Red, Yellow, Blue, Red, Red, Yellow, Blue, etc.

or

Yellow, Red, Blue, Yellow, Yellow, Red, Blue, Yellow, etc.

Of course, I kept the patterns pretty basic. I only had a finite number of bears to use while repeating the pattern.

These bears make a great addition to my flannelboard repertoire.  They worked out beautifully to introduce the math concept of patterns to my toddler storytime crowd.

Colors & Patterns Storytime

Storytime for 1-1/2 to 3 year olds:

• Opening - Skinnamarink, Sticky Sticky Bubblegum
• Book #1 – Lots and Lots of Zebra Stripes: Patterns In Nature by Stephen R. Swinburne
• Activity – Colorful World (action rhyme adapted from Let's Read! Storytime Crafts by Kathryn Totten)

Blue sky up above
(arms up over head)
White snow on the ground
(touch the ground)
Yellow sun overhead
(arms circle over head)
Pink and brown and beige toes on our feet
(touch toes)
Green plants all around
(turn in a circle)
Many colored butterflies
(flap arms for butterfly wings)
All sit down
(flap arms as you slowly sit down on floor)

• Flannelboard/Activity – Place colored squares into a pattern on the magnetic side of the flannelboard, be sure to have the children help you make the pattern as it repeats
• Book #2 – Snappy Little Colors by Kate Lee, et al. (pop-up)
• Activity – Fe, Fi, Fo, Fum See My Fingers, See My Thumbs (fingerplay from Mother Goose Time by Jane Marino)
• Closing - Rhythm sticks using "Goin' On a Bear Hunt" from Kids In Action by Greg and Steve
• Craft –Glue color squares into a pattern line (the same squares and colors used in the flannelboard activity)