Sheep A-Leaping

The sheep were leaping at storytime today.  We read Sheep in a Jeep, by Nancy Shaw, and Where's the Green Sheep, by Mem Fox. We also read Here Are My Hands, by Bill Martin, but that had nothing to do with sheep. On the flannelboard we had Baa Baa Black Sheep, which I made several years ago based on the pattern in The Flannel Board Storytelling Book by Judy Sierra.

We've been singing A-Hunting We Will Go every week.  Each time I pick out four animals from my collection of about 20 laminated animal + rhyming thing collection.  This week it was sheep-jeep, duck-truck, goat-boat, and dragon-wagon. Then we talked about which animals they might see on a farm around here, and which one didn't fit on the farm.

Here's a fingerplay rhyme, slightly altered from Hubbard's Cupboard.  Sing it to the tune of Five Green and Speckled Frogs:

Five fat and fluffy sheep (hold up five fingers)
In the pasture fast asleep (hands under head, lean over)
Their wool kept them cozy all night long (hug yourself)
Snore! Snore! (make snore sounds)
The farmer slipped away with one (hold up one finger)
And clipped the wool till he was done (clap)
Then there were 4 fat fluffy sheep (hold up four fingers)
Baa! Baa!

For a craft we made the ever-popular cotton ball sheep. Luckily I had a teen helper to cut out the bodies, heads, and legs. Just add cotton balls and two eyes!