Ladybug

Ladybug, ladybug, 

Landed on my thumb,

Crawled onto my wrist 

And crawled up to my elbow.

Ladybug, ladybug,

Crawled up my arm,

And then she flew away...

 When my older son was a toddler we regularly attended a library story-time, the highlight of which was the moment the librarian brought out a large bucket full of tiny ladybug finger-puppets.  The roomful of toddlers made a mad-dash for those ladybug finger-puppets and then everyone would sing the little song I inscribed above.  Remembering this, I stitched up a ladybug puppet for my current toddler-in-residence to go with the little song...

by Shannon of Rhythm & Rhyme

I based the design of my first ladybug finger-puppet on this tutorial by Shannon of the blog Rhythm & Rhyme.  Her pattern yields a plump, round ladybug, perfect for little toddler hands.  Note: To make this into a finger-puppet, I added a second layer of felt to the base and left the end of the second layer unsewn to create space for a finger.

Of course, this first ladybug finger-puppet never stayed on my finger for very long, what with my wee Bloom craving to hold the ladybug puppet himself, so I quickly whipped up another finger-puppet.  This second puppet is flat -- not quite so round, plump and squeezable, but just as tickly as she makes her way from thumb, to wrist, to elbow to shoulder!

In case you'd like to make a ladybug of your own and sing along, here is a video of the song...

Note: This post has been linked to Creative Friday at Natural Suburbia and Friday's Nature Table at Magic Onions.