How to Make a Flannel Story Board

Flannel boards are a wonderful and tactile way for your young child to learn shapes, colors and stories. The flannel pieces can be removed over and over again, allowing the child to manipulate her world and improve her fine motor skills. She doesn't need to wait to get to school in order to play with a flannel board. You can make a simple flannel board for home or for travel with just a few basic supplies.

Things You'll Need

• Flannel
• Felt
• Scissors
• Board Support
• Glue

Instructions

1. Choose your flannel board support. This can be a piece of foam core, a pizza box or a small piece of plywood.

2. Cut the board support to size.

3. Trace the outline of the board support on a pre-washed piece of flannel, leaving a few extra inches to wrap around the back. Trim the outline out.

4. Glue the flannel to the support board, wrapping the excess around the back of the board and securing with tape, staples or glue. Let dry.

5. Create flannel board pieces by cutting shapes, numbers and letters out of scrap pieces of felt.

Tips & Warnings

• Create a travel flannel board by gluing flannel to the front of a clean pizza box. The box can then be used to store the felt pieces.

• You can make "stickier" felt pieces by gluing a small piece of sandpaper or Velcro on the back of the felt piece.

• Use iron-on transfer paper to print out clip art for unique flannel board pieces. Outline with dimensional paint for a tactile element.

• Cover the back of your board safely if it will be exposed. Do not leave staples or nails exposed.