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Feltboards have been replaced in many classrooms by computer screens, but nothing can compare to the hands-on, tactile fun of soft, colorful flannel. These incredibly versatile educational tools help to build imagination and creative-thinking skills. They can be used to introduce new language or to reinforce concepts. They help kids with sequencing and are perfect for open-ended pretend play. The best part is that it is super cheap and easy to make your own. See the slide show at the bottom of the page for images.
Materials:
Adhesive-backed felt pieces
A large piece of heavy cardboard, whiteboard or another hard surface
Sharp scissors
Paper doll patterns or coloring book pages
Multicolored felt or flannel sheets
Googly eyes and other craft decorations
Shoebox to make a travel kit (optional)
1. Mount the adhesive-backed felt sheets to your hard surface. An old whiteboard or chalkboard is a great choice. You can also mount the sheets directly to a wall near your reading corner.
2. Now you are ready to use your feltboard with flannel or felt pieces. To make them, use paperdoll templates or coloring book pictures as patterns. Cut shapes from colored felt or flannel pieces with a sharp pair of scissors and decorate with googly eyes, glitter and other craft items. A hot glue gun helps.
3. Try sticking other items to your craft board. Small wooden cutouts, cardboard shapes and paper items can be used as flannel board props by placing a small dot of adhesive-backed Velcro on the back of the object.
4. Look for ready-made felt sets to save time. Genesis Arts has an amazing variety of flannel board materials. They carry high-quality, handcrafted sets that go with popular children's books, Bible stories and nursery rhymes. They also have themed sets such as animals, foods and seasonal cutouts.
5. Organize your felt and flannel sets in envelopes or baggies and file them by theme.
6. Optionally, you can create a travel flannel set for your child by cutting a sheet of the adhesive-backed felt to fit inside of a shoebox lid. Store pieces inside of the box and use the lid as your storyboard.
For images of some of the feltboard ideas presented here, see the photo album at the bottom of the page. For more literacy activities, see this page.
Literacy and reading:
Alphabet activities: Chicka Chicka Boom Boom
Crafts to encourage literacy: Wooden spoon characters
Baby Signs: What are the benefits of teaching children sign language?
Alphabet activities: The letter E
Comments
There are some ready made felt sets at funfelt.com along with videos of them being used!
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