POUCH! David Ezra Stein

I wanted to do a Mother's Day story time theme this week in preschool story time, but not an in-your-face Mother's Day theme. Pouch! is one of my favorite stories to tell with our Folkmanis kangaroo puppet and her joey, so I thought it may be fun to change it up a bit and add a felt element to my storytelling.

The Set-Up:

 

Puppets: 

In addition to the felt kangaroos and joeys, I used my small puppets to help tell the story. For this story: a cardinal finger puppet, a baby rabbit finger puppet, and a bumblebee glove puppet.  

 

 

I hand sewed a little contrasting fabric pouch on each kangaroo mommy with just enough room to fit the joeys.

 

 

 

 

 

Throughout the story, Joey yells "Pouch!" and jumps back into his pouch each time he's frightened. I needed the ability to quickly pull Joey out and then put him back into his pouch, so I decided to attach each joey to a craft stick. This made the joeys sturdy enough to push and pull and gave me a handle to make Joey jump.

 

 

All in all, a simple and effective way to re-tell a beloved story.

This week's Flannel Friday round-up is hosted by Kathryn over at Fun With Friends at Storytime.  For more information about Flannel Friday, check out the official blog. 

 

 

 

Happy day,

Miss Lisa

 

 

 

 

I'm Not Cute!

I adapted Jonathan Allen's book I'm Not Cute! into a short puppet skit for my preschool storytime. It was very easy and the kids loved the hugging parts.

I didn't have all the animals in the book, so I used puppets on hand and it still worked out great. Use puppets that have arms, legs or wings you can get your hands into so they can really hug!

Puppets:
baby owl finger puppet
Mama owl puppet
kangaroo
bat
beaver

Props:
a small nest (or you can simply cup your hands into a nest)

One day, baby owl took to the woods. Walking along the trail, he ran into kangaroo. "Hello, baby owl!" she called. "Aren't you the cutest thing? You're so cute and cuddly!" (kangaroo hugs baby owl) And she hopped away. "I'm not cute!" baby owl cried out. "I am a scary and sleek hunting machine!" and baby owl continued walking. Next he saw bat swoop down from the sky and land on the trail in front of him. "Hello, baby owl!" said bat. "Oh, you are so cute and so fluffy!" (bat hugs baby owl) And bat flew back into the sky. "I'm not cute!" baby owl cried. "I am a scary and sleek hunting machine!" and continued following the path before him. He came upon beaver. "Hello, baby owl!" beaver said. "You are sooo cute! and sooo sweet!" (beaver hugs baby owl) and beaver hopped into the stream and swam away. "I am not cute!" baby owl cried. "I am a scary and sleek hunting machine!" and off he went, kicking stones down the trail.

He bumped into Mama owl. "Hello darling," she said. "Mama, it's not fair!" cried baby owl. "Kangaroo, bat, and beaver all think I'm cute, cuddly, fluffy, and sweet--and I AM NOT! I AM A SCARY AND SLEEK HUNTING MACHINE!"

"Of course you are," Mama owl said. "You aren't cute or cuddly or fluffy or sweet."

Baby owl thought for a moment. He started to cry. "I am cute!" "I am cuddly, and fluffy, AND SWEET!" he shouted.

"Oh, baby owl," said Mama owl, "you're tired. Let's put you to bed." Mama owl took baby home and tucked him into his nest. Soon, he was fast asleep.

"Baby owl," Mama whispered, "you are cute, cuddly, fluffy, and sweet . . . for a scary and sleek hunting machine, that is. And I love you."

THE END