Felt Board

I made Bear a felt board a while back before a trip we took. I figured she could play with it on the airplane. I wish I had thought to make one the way Katie at Katie's Nesting Place did, one that rolls up for travel, as my board is a bit big.

I took two pieces of card, left a space between them (to allow for closing), taped them together, then encased them in a turquoise felt. The board folds in two and can be attached closed by a button and a ribbon loop. I then used some ribbon to make her a handle.

I found a paper doll template here and used that for the two dolls, although I could have drawn my own easily. The clothes I made up myself, drawing a paper pattern first on scraps and then cutting it out of the felt.

Bear loves the dolls. At first, I hadn't glued the hair on. But she uses them as actual dolls and carries them around and the hair kept falling off so in the end, I glued the hair on and made her a second doll. They represent her and her friend and she calls them by those respective names. Also, because she wanted to carry them around and not just play with them on the felt board, I decided to glue the doll figures onto stiff cardboard from a box.

I also have cut out shapes in pairs and we do a shape match activity. She doesn't like to do that as much.

Next I am going to cut out shapes so she can "build" things with them on the board, like here at Thrifty Craft Mama.

See ABC and 123
for even more felt board ideas.