For The Tots: Our Homemade Flannel Board

I love flannel boards and flannel board activities.  They are such a wonderful open ended resource for children on so many different levels.  When I was teaching, I would use the flannel boards for matching centers, story and nursery rhyme time, and all kinds of comprehension activities.  They are also incredibly easy and cheap to make yourself at home, and best of all, it's very simple to personalize and create your own pieces to go along with whatever your and your kids hearts desire!

When I say it's simple, I really mean it.  All you need is a sturdy piece of cardboard, about a yard of felt, scissors, and glue (I used a glue gun myself, but you can use basically any good heavy duty glue).  For the flannel board pieces all you need are some assorted colors of the felt sheets, which can be found at your local craft store (along with everything else you need!)

First you take your cardboard piece and cut it to the size you want.  Lay the felt on it and cut it so that there is about a three to four inches extra all around the cardboard.

Glue down the felt on the side of the cardboard that it is going to totally cover.  Make sure to glue the corners and around the sides really good.  It may be helpful to slide a ruler up and down the felt to help it stick to the glue. Then turn it upside down and set a book or two on it for a bit until the glue dries.

Next, start at one side of the excess felt and glue it down on the back of the cardboard.  Do this all the way around, smoothing and pulling the felt taut as you go.  Remember, you kiddo isn't going to care if it's "perfect" or not!  Children appreciate that you took your time to make something for them.  (It will be our little secret that it was so easy!)

After you have finished gluing the piece of felt to the cardboard and you are waiting for it all to dry, you can cut some accessory pieces out of the sheets of assorted colors of felt.  I cut a set of shapes out of each color, along with a few other random simple things.  If you want to use two or three colors for a single accessory you can either glue the pieces together or give it a quick little stitch or two.

Curls gets a kick out of pulling the accessories off the board and putting them back on.

I made this flannel board several weeks back before I started blogging (the reason there's no picture tutorial, sorry!) and have been making accessory pieces for it whenever I get an few extra minutes.  There's virtually no limit on what kind of pieces you can make and how you can use a flannel board with your little one.  Does your little one have a favorite story?  Cut out shapes that represent parts of the story (blue bird, yellow duck, etc.) and use them in play on the flannel board!  Cut out objects that your child sees everyday like a sunshine, tree, clouds, flowers, and let your little one use them!  Maybe your little one will create a picture and tell you a story!

Or your kiddo can be like Curls, and just enjoy taking the pieces off and throwing them all over the place for a few months before figuring out how it all really works.  But hey, it's a bit of a sensory exploration the whole time too, so even if your house is scattered with felt, the child is still learning!  Isn't that why you wanted to make the flannel board anyway? 

Keep checking back on the blog for flannel board set patterns that go with some of Curls' favorite books in the near future!  What story does your little one love?  Leave me a comment, and you may find a set featuring your child's favorite story in a future post!