Rubba Dub Dub

To address the large crowds I've been getting at the branch storytimes, I've been looking for ways of doing more storytelling rather than reading. This week I made a flannel board based on the book Rubba Dub Dub and got a surprising round of applause when I was finished, so I think I'm on the right track.

I modified the book to include animals I could actually cut out of felt--two penguins, a snake, a turkey, a butterfly and a rubber duck. When the penguins feet came unglued during the story, I told them I scrubbed to hard (that ought to induce a nightmare in a kid or two).

Before putting each animal in the tub, I put it on the board covered with white felt to resemble soap and said scrub a dub dub, now who's getting in the tub, then revealed the animal underneath. The animals I used made for some good ad libs. I had the turkey scootch to the side when the snake came in. I had the butterfly fly above the tub, so as not to get its wings wet.

At the end, elephant comes and the kids all yelled spontaneously that he wouldn't fit, but instead of trying to get in; he drinks up all the water, and the bath is over. Super simple, but a crowd pleaser.