Flannel Friday: There’s a Castle in the Middle of the Moat

I am taking a break from Fall flannelboards this week in order to help out a reader who is looking for princess or knight flannels for a storytime she’s planning! (Hi Toni!)

I have adapted “There’s a Hole in the Middle of the Road” several times to different themes, and it’s usually a quick and easy way to add some content to a particular storytime. (see “There’s a Parade in the Middle of the Street” from this summer.) In this case we sing about castles!

Here's the Castle flannel set. Here you can also see what 20 years of crafting has done to my kitchen table.

There’s a Castle in the Middle of the Moat

There’s a castle in the middle of the moat
There’s a castle in the middle of the moat
There’s a castle, there’s a castle,
There’s a castle in the middle of the moat.

There’s a throne in the castle in the middle of the moat…
There’s a cushion on the throne in the castle in the middle of the moat…
There’s a crown on the cushion on the throne in the castle in the middle of the moat…
Don’t sit on it!

If you really really wanted to sing about a princess, then you could sing, “There’s a crown* on the princess in the castle in the middle of the moat.” OR! “There’s a FROG on** the princess in the castle in the middle of the moat / Kiss it!”

*Remember you can add as many verses as you want. There can be a jewel on the crown and some glitter on the jewel if you feel up to it!

**This seems so irresistably silly. But you could sing “There’s a frog WITH the princess” instead. (OR! Add: “There’s some lips on the frog with the princess in the castle…” Hee hee.)

Castle in the Moat Flannel Patterns (pdf)
Notes on the patterns: They are all my original designs EXCEPT the princess, which is based on Joan Hilyer Phelp’s ballerina finger puppet pattern in her book FingerTales. I did not include a pattern for the moat; just make a big blue oval. There are two sizes of lips, the bigger if you just want to put all the pieces up on the board individually as you sing, the smaller if you want to put that kisser right on the frog. The cushion has two layers, the bottom layer has the tassels. Eventually I will learn to get ALL my notes on the pattern page instead of just some.

Also check out Anne’s flannelboard for A Blanket for the Princess.

Lisa at the Storytime Source Page has a short list of picture books that would translate well to the flannelboard.

What about you guys? Do you have anything about princesses or knights in your files? Share a link in the comments if you do!

This week’s Flannel Friday round up is over at the lovely and talented Mollie’s blog, What Happens In Storytime… Go visit! Remember Anne keeps us all organized at So Tomorrow: Flannel Friday. Check out the hosting schedule and find all the links to past round ups there!