I love how the birds look like ears on the hill. Yes, the green thing in the middle is supposed to be a hill. And it is not so happy about birds standing on its head!
At the beginning of my career, we did this rhyme with props, handing out little laminated bird cutouts for kids to chew and drool on during storytime. The thought of those slimy little avian disease vectors gives me the heebie jeebies. Nowadays, the kids just hold up their fingers to be the “birds.”
Two little bluebirds sitting on a hill,
hold index fingers upright on each knee to be birds
bounce fingers to rhythm of rhyme
One named Jack and one named Jill.
One named Jack and one named Jill.
hold up each finger
Fly away Jack!
Fly away Jack!
flutter first finger behind back
Fly away Jill!
flutter other finger behind back
Come back Jack!
Come back Jack!
bring back first finger to knee
Come back Jill!
bring back second finger to knee
Two little bluebirds sitting on a hill,
Two little bluebirds sitting on a hill,
bounce fingers again
One named Jack and one named Jill.
One named Jack and one named Jill.
hold up each finger again
Here are some other variations I've come across over time:
Two little bluebirds
sitting in the snow…
one named Fast…
move hand quickly behind back
one named Slow…
move hand super slow and slur words whalesong style
(Bipolar Bluebirds)
Two little bluebirds
sitting on their Dad…
one named Happy…
smile maniacally
one named Sad…
cry hysterically
Two little bluebirds
sitting on a cloud…
one named Quiet…
whisper
one named Loud…
shout out!
Two little bluebirds
looking at the sky…
one named Low…
hold down low
one named High…
hold up high
If you know any more variants, please leave them in the comments!
Big thanks to Kathryn from Fun with Friends at Storytime for hosting:
I did a version of this with Yetis instead of birds. I had little yeti finger puppets, but just had the kids use their fingers. Definitely don't want pass out lots of props to get drooled on! I made up/adapted a lot of verses, though we didn't use them all for the storytime. If you scroll down past the yeti flannelboard, you'll see it there: http://lady-librarian-life.blogspot.com/2017/02/flannelboard-yetis.html
ReplyDeleteI LOVE the idea of trying this with yetis! Thanks Heather! :)
DeleteThose are awesome! I may have to update the above post. I'll give you credit. :-)
ReplyDeleteKeith,
ReplyDeleteI adore your grumpy hill. One of these days I hope to make flannel sets as cute as yours! :)
Thanks! You should totally make some. The only worry is you might get addicted...but then you have a bunch of sweet felty things!
DeleteI've been doing this for years but never thought of making felt birds! I also use: Gate - early and late. Car - near and far. Mop - bottom and top. Learning to skate - wobbly and straight.
ReplyDelete