I have had this rhyme in my files for many years:
Five Pretty Valentines waiting at the store.
(name) bought one and then there were four.
Four pretty Valentines shaped like a “V”
(name) bought one and then there were three.
Three pretty Valentines said “I love you”
(name) bought one then there were two.
Two pretty Valentines, having so much fun.
(name) Bought one and then there was one.
One pretty Valentine says “buy me and run”,
(name) did just that, and then there were none.
I wasn’t planning on using the rhyme, UNTIL…
I bought these.
They are the cutest knitted finger puppets! I bought them from a local store, and they had so many I could barely choose which ones to buy. I settled on these, with more to come, I’m sure.
Anyway, while trying to figure out how to use these puppets in storytime, I remembered this rhyme. I thought that instead of using a (name) in the rhyme, I could use a puppet. I wanted to use the pink glove to fit into my Valentine’s theme. The hearts (the Valentines from the rhyme) are attached to the glove with velcro dots, and I was ecstatic to see that the hearts (or rather the velcro dot on the back) stuck to the knit finger puppets!!!
So, it took a minimum of finagling, but here’s how it worked. I put on the glove with the hearts attached, and had the finger puppets on the table next to me. I said the rhyme, had the kids show me the numbers with their fingers, and when I got to the (name) part of the rhyme, instead of a name I said the name of the animal, who then took a Valentine off the glove. Fun!
Very clever idea to use the finger puppets to buy the Valentines. A neat twist!
Thank you for the complete instructions on how to use finger puppets. I have only used once or twice and haven’t felt successful with them. I’ll to give a go again, thanks for the inspiration.
What a fun find! Those puppets are cute! I especially love the pig. ❤
AH! They’re so cute! Finger puppets are super-fun… and I LOVE that they each got their own valentine!! 😀 Thanks for sharing!
That a great idea to use animals instead of names. I’ve used that for 5 Little Flowers and Who Stole the Cookies and it’s much easier.
I can see why you liked those puppets. I also like how they don’t take much room. Very cute!!