Take a deep, cleansing breath with me librarians… aaahhhhhhhhh… Summer Reading is winding down.
This summer my library went with the iRead theme, Reading Is Soooooo Delicious. It’s been a great summer, but it’s nice to have a little time/room to breath.
Anyway, in support of this theme, my brilliant co-worker Ms Arianne Carey, decided we should all wear chef’s coats or aprons. I went with an apron.
The other day as I was folding it up and packing it away, I remembered I’ve been meaning to buy a felt story apron for a while now. So I decided to repurpose it with some felt that we have on hand. I chose a light neutral gray. I knew I needed to use 2 pieces of felt because we didn’t have a single piece large enough to cover the entire apron.
I rolled out the butcher paper, and laid out the apron to make a pattern. I traced and cut the pattern. Then I cut the pattern into 2 pieces: the skirt and the chest piece using the apron strings a guiding line. The I cut the 2 pieces of felt using the pattern. I glued the felt to the apron, let it dry, and then sewed the 2 pieces of felt using whip stitch.
I used it at my storytimes this week, and it worked awesome! WARNING: an apron works best for stories; as anything that encourages participation (guessing games, discussion flannel activities, etc.) will inevitably lead to boob-grabbing. But for telling conventional flannel stories, having the story unfold on your belly, encourages storytimers to focus their shifty little eyeballs on you.
Liz is our lovely host this week, so check out putting smiles on faces…Thanks Liz.
August 10, 2012 at 11:47 am
I think this is the first FF contribution to talk about boob-grabbing, so congratulations for shattering that barier! 😉
August 10, 2012 at 1:18 pm
LOL!!! I knew I wasn’t the only one! But when I’ve asked other librarians they don’t know what i’m talking about. Phew!
August 9, 2012 at 2:34 pm
To start my storytimes, I use an apron with 3 pockets and hide a small toy or fingerpuppet in each. We say “Pocket, pocket, what’s in my pocket?” and I give the kids hints and they guess what is in each. It’s fun.
August 9, 2012 at 6:46 pm
that is fun.
August 4, 2012 at 8:26 am
I’m thinking this would be UBER fun for “There Was and Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly.” :o)
August 4, 2012 at 9:09 am
too true!