Family Felt Board Party!

In honor of the Week of the Young Child, we celebrated all things felt! I hosted a craftastic morning with parents, caregivers, and children, creating a portable felt board. Who knew a plain 1" three-ring binder could be so much fun?!

We made three play sets to take home:  "Three Green & Speckled Frogs," "Three Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed," and "Shape Monster." The sets were easy to create, and the overall program lasted about an hour and a half.

Here are some quick photos:

I was struck by the cuteness of these peel and stick felt stickers found at Michael's. They are a steal at $3 per pack of 24. I sorted them into baggies of 3 stickers each, so attendees could have a set of each. And boy are they easy peasy to use:  just adhere to a piece of felt and trim the edges.

Plain black 1" binders found at Wal-Mart for $ .97 each. We covered the front with a blue piece of sticky-back felt. Sticky back felt: $ .90 at A.C. Moore

 

I dug out all the excess felt and flannel I've had sitting around my branch for the last ten years! It felt good to pare down this assortment of odds and ends to make room for some clean new felt. I grouped the felt by color and displayed it on a table for families to choose their colors. Cost:  $0

 

 

My set up to quickly demo the rhymes and songs we were making and take a few minutes to introduce myself, talk about the importance of Every Child Ready to Read, as well as the tactile and simple satisfaction that telling a felt story can bring. I also showed attendees examples of other types of felt boards:  the easel I use, a sturdy piece of cardboard, and even an embroidery hoop!

 

 

Each portable felt board included copies of the rhymes and songs we were using, as well as a case to hold the individual pieces we made for "Three Green & Speckled Frogs," "Three Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed," and "Shape Monster."

 

 

And I snuck some ECRR material in there!

 

 

 

 Here are a couple of snapshots of our finished sets:

 

 

 

 

 

It was a successful and simple program; minimal cost and prep with the instant gratification of a felt board to play with in the car on the way home! I had adults asking if we could get together again and make more felt play sets--I can't wait to host a Family Felt Board Party again.

 

 

 

Shape Monster Booklet can be found  on one of my favorite blogs, Chit Chat and Small Talk:

http://chitchatandsmalltalk.blogspot.com/2012/11/shape-monster-book.html

 

Happy day!

Melisa