Storytime Swap 2012: Cookies, Shapes, and Colors Galore!

I had the privilege of participating in two different swaps for the First Annual Storytime Swap. (Find out about the swap here and see more items from the swap here.)

For my first swap, I shared this fun activity set with Amy: Shapes + Colors Memory Game.

I found the idea on one of Amy's Pinterest boards. Since she had it pinned, I figured she liked it. :0)  So I crossed my fingers ~ hoping she hadn't made it yet ~ and I went for it! 

I made the set exactly like the one from the original blog post. It was made from felt and wooden disks. Then I searched a few stores to find a drawstring bag to hold the wooden felt set. 

Wooden set with drawstring bag

After making the wooden set, I decided to make a couple of all-felt ksets for Amy to use during storytimes. I thought they could be used with songs, fingerplays, and even as the memory game on the flannel board.

Felt set

Here are the directions for both the wooden set and the all-felt set:

First you will need circles:

The wooden circles are 1 1/2". Twelve circles per set.

The felt circles are 2". Twenty-four per set.
They are diecut from tan felt and two are glued
together to make them sturdy enough for
repeated use by little ones.

Next, you will need 6 basic shapes ~ I used circles, squares, stars, hearts, rectangles, and triangles. The shapes are cut from colorful felt ~ I used rainbow colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple. 
You'll need 2 of each shape for each set.

I used diecuts for some shapes and free-hand cut the others.

The sets (whether they are wooden or all-felt) are glued together with Tacky glue.

Wooden set

Felt set

And that's it. Very simple and quick to make!

Wooden set
(see above for felt set)

Once the sets are dry, they are ready for a fun game of Cookie Memory.

Place all cookies ~ shape side down ~ on the flannel board.
Have a child turn over two cookies.
If they don't match...

Turn the cookies back over on the board.
Then have another child turn over two more cookies.
If they match...

Then the child keeps the cookies and
another child comes up to choose
two new cookies.

That is just one activity you can use these sets for! They are very versatile and can be used for all kinds of shapes activities, colors activities and cookies activities. 

For example, here is a cookie rhyme that most of us know ~ with a little tweaking, of course:

Five Little Cookies

Five little cookies in the bakery shop.

You know the ones with the shapes on top. (whisper)

Along comes a child with a penny to pay.

He bought the red heart and took it away.

To start with, I have my storytime friends help me count out the five cookies as I place them on the flannel board. 

Then we talk about how they are all the same ~ they're round, they're the same size, they're all tan in color. 

Usually while doing this, at least one child will say, "But, they have different stuff on them." If not, I will ask them what is different about the cookies and we proceed to name and sign all of the colors and shapes. 

Now, we are ready for the rhyme! (All of the same & different, colors, and shapes discussion only takes a few minutes and really packs a ton of learning into a short amount of time. It is well worth the effort!)

As we do the rhyme, I will usually replace "child" with someone's name and that child comes up and takes the correct cookie off the board.

How about a few shapes and colors activities to use with these cute and versatile felt cookies?

For this next activity, I pass out a cookie to each child. I have them look at their cookie with their adult and talk about what color and shape is on their cookie before we do our interactive songs and rhymes.

The first one is a following directions one:

Put Your Cookie in the Air

Put your cookie in the air, in the air.

Put your cookie in the air, in the air.

Put your cookie in the air

And wave it right up there.

Put your cookie in the air, in the air.

Put your cookie way down low, way down low.

Put your cookie way down low, way down low..

Put your cookie way down low

And make it touch your toe.

Put your cookie way down low, way down low.

Put your cookie way up high, way up high.

Put your cookie way up high, way up high.

Put your cookie way up high,

And make it touch the sky.

Put your cookie way up high, way up high.

Put your cookie on the ground, on the ground.

Put your cookie on the ground, on the ground.

Put your cookie on the ground,

And sit yourself right down.

Put your cookie on the ground, on the ground.

Now that everyone is sitting again, we are ready to do another interactive activity with our cookies. I request that the adults help their child with this one because each child needs to stay focused on their shape and/or color. For demonstration purposes, I am going to share this as a shapes activity but it can be tweaked to become a color activity, too.

Shape Song

There are shapes on the floor, on the floor.

There are shapes on the floor, on the floor.

There are shapes on the floor, circles, squares, and so much more.

There are shapes on the floor, on the floor.

Find a heart on the floor, on the floor.

Find a heart on the floor, on the floor, 

Find a heart of the floor,

Pick it up and place it on the board.

Find a heart on the floor, on the floor.

Continue with the other shapes. Helping the children place them on the board in columns under the five cookies that you used for the Five Little Cookies rhyme. Once all the cookies are on the board, you can count all of them together. You can count them by shapes or colors and compare them. Are there more red heart cookies than yellow star cookies? Which cookies have more in their row? Which cookies have less?

There is just so much fun and learning you can do with these simple felt cookies! They are worth the time it takes to make them!

Amy, I hope you and your storytime friends have as much fun with them as I have had! 

Enjoy!

And, as always,

HAPPY READING TOGETHER!