Felt Boards

Hi...I am considering getting a felt board but I am not sure whether to make one or buy one.

Is there a site that provides a good felt board within Canada and doesn't charge too much for shipping?

I have found a few nice ones in the US but then shipping is +$20-$30 and then the price adds up to around $60 which is too much.

I was hoping to find a felt board around $20 or else I am thinking whether I should just make it which would probably be around $10 I think. The only thing about making it is that I am worried it won't look as nice and it won't be for a table top

I didn't spend much money on my felt board and it's still in good condition after about 4 years. I had a large piece of thin board and I bought a yard of felt material at a fabric shop. Then with my trusty duct tape I fixed the back that nobody looks at anyway. But if you want something fancy then I don't know where you would find one. Personally, I like to keep my costs down for anything possible because I spend the extra for organically grown food which is quite expensive.

Spixie33 you can check out my website here. I sell feltboard both printed and plain and figures to go with them. www.playfeltplus.com

I live in Orleans and ship across Canada.

They are pretty easy to make though. The ones I sell are made using coroplast which you can buy at home depot (look in the section where they sell plexiglass). Then the felt is spray glued to the front of the plastic and then wrap the edges to the back and secure with tape. You can use a wooden board as well and can likely skip the spray glue step as the texture of the wood will help to hold the felt in place. Use a staple gun to secure the felt to the back and then cover the edges/staples with duct tape. Felt you can buy by the metre at Fabricland or similar stores.

Just reread your post. Didn't realize you were wanting an easle type feltboard. What I sell are flat. If you have a little tykes painting easle or similar you could stand your feltboard on that. I find I tend to just hold my board in front of me and then I can control how things are moved. I can also control the tilt as figures stay on the board better if it is slightly tipped so that gravity doesn't work against you.

Thanks guys. I thought about it a good 48 hours and went to tons of websites including yours Playfelt and also on Pinterest to see how to make my own etc. In the end I decided to invest the $45 for a standing table top one. I figure that it will look nice for interviews/tours also and pay off in the long run.

I saw some great ideas for file folder type things you can do using felt so I may try those and make them myself to balance things out.

At Christmas I had the idea to make a large green felt tree and put it on our play table and then cut various coloured "ornaments/balls" out of felt and a star and let the kids pretend they are decorating the tree. I didn't have a felt board but the children still seemed to like putting the things on the tree so I figured that maybe a felt board would be a good idea for every day use.

I want something that the children can use on their own and I also wanted to be able to use it for circle time. I think the standing one would probably work best for me.

Thanks again everyone:)

I bought an easel at Ikea with a whiteboard on one side and a chalkboard on the other side and a roll of paper that comes through and over on one side or the other. It only cost about $25 or so. Then I can place my homemade felt board right on it and for one price I have a very multipurpose easel. Like I said, it is great to think frugally and I also need to save space and have lots of choices for the children's activities.

But I don't want to tell anyone not to purchase products from our friend Playfelt of course!!!

Momof4...that is a good idea. I was thinking of re-purposing the chalk board side of my easel into a felt board but then thought it was too high for the under 2 children to reach.

I am really finding my daycare to be a time vacuum lately. I seem to work 7-5 and then in the evening and then on weekends all doing daycare stuff or cleaning or prepping so I am just tired of sinking time into it. When I thought about going to Michaels for felt and to the craft store or the hardware store to find a back and then buying special glue to adhere it I could just feel my time going out the window. Not to mention the time to actually put it all together. I need to start saving time.

The best idea is definitely to make it and there were tons of great blogs and pictures to show you how to make a great felt board but I just cringed thinking at the time and whether i would be able to pull of something decent after all that. Shhhh! But I am really not that crafty. lol

Making might be cheaper but as you say time is important too. Buying the board and then making the figures to go on the board is certainly a better use of time.

I often will trace things during naptime and then cut out while watching tv later that night or even during freeplay the next day. Sometimes I give the kids the pieces as I cut them and they add them to the board such as leaves or flowers or birds. Other times I cut the things out and just set them aside sort of like teasing telling the kids we will use them later.

There are lots of ways to make figures too. I do a lot where I colour pictures I find and then glue them to sandpaper (#120). Also a quick way is to colour the pictures and then put peel and stick felt on the back which saves doing any gluing and you don't have to cover the whole thing so you can cut pieces to keep it economical. The advantage of the peel and stick is that if you laminate the figures the felt will still stick. You can use markers, fabric paints etc. to add details but if you use google eyes, etc. remember they should be circletime only felt sets and not left out for play.

It's more work but results are great is to find fabric with figures on it - a great way to make TV characters. Put heatnbond (use the ultrahold one). You iron the heatnbond to the back of the fabric, peel off the backing and then iron onto a piece of felt. That adheres the cotton fabric to the felt. Then when it is cool cut out. The possibilities are endless.

Feltboards are a great teaching tool.

Playfelt, sandpaper is a fantastic idea. I've been using tiny bits of velcro and it's been doing a bit of damage to my big piece of felt.

I get it in boxes of 25 at home depot so it is economical too. If you use a xryon or 3M laminator you can get a roll that puts laminate on the front and adhesive on the back. I then just peel off the backing and stick the page to the paper side of the sandpaper and cut out. The #120 is strong enough to stick to the board without damage and yet not too rough for children to hold the figures. It means we can turn anything into a feltboard lesson and is great for "Five Little..." type poems where we find the figures and just need to colour them.

Also don't foget you can skip the whole colouring step too by going to google and click on images and it will bring up coloured clipart you can copy and paste to a document and then just print out.

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Originally Posted by playfelt

Making might be cheaper but as you say time is important too. Buying the board and then making the figures to go on the board is certainly a better use of time.

I often will trace things during naptime and then cut out while watching tv later that night or even during freeplay the next day. Sometimes I give the kids the pieces as I cut them and they add them to the board such as leaves or flowers or birds. Other times I cut the things out and just set them aside sort of like teasing telling the kids we will use them later.

There are lots of ways to make figures too. I do a lot where I colour pictures I find and then glue them to sandpaper (#120). Also a quick way is to colour the pictures and then put peel and stick felt on the back which saves doing any gluing and you don't have to cover the whole thing so you can cut pieces to keep it economical. The advantage of the peel and stick is that if you laminate the figures the felt will still stick. You can use markers, fabric paints etc. to add details but if you use google eyes, etc. remember they should be circletime only felt sets and not left out for play.

It's more work but results are great is to find fabric with figures on it - a great way to make TV characters. Put heatnbond (use the ultrahold one). You iron the heatnbond to the back of the fabric, peel off the backing and then iron onto a piece of felt. That adheres the cotton fabric to the felt. Then when it is cool cut out. The possibilities are endless.

Feltboards are a great teaching tool.

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Does the 120 sand paper wear down the felt on the felt board??

Also...where can you buy peel and stick felt? I am thinking of colouring the Old lady who swallowed a fly and cutting it out myself rather than buying it.

i don't have a problem with the #120. You do want to put things on and off and not scrape them down the board but the #150 does. At the same time there are times you want something that will stay on such on as you move other pieces so it is worth it but be careful with them.

You can also buy the sandpaper in packages of 3 to give it a try.

Compared to velco even the #150 is more gentle on your feltboard.

Peel and stick felt comes in 9x12 sheets at michaels or fabric land.

It is a lot messier but you can also use the permanent spray adhesive. Spray the back of your figures and then lightly spray the piece of felt too. When they get tacky ie give them time to set then place together. Spraying both makes the adhesion stronger. Let dry and then trim.

I have very limited storage space and no dedicated "playroom" to leave out daycare equipment so I bought a magnetic whiteboard at Costco and covered the back of it with felt. The board can be hung on the wall for independent play or I will use it on my lap for group activities. We use the felt side and the magnet side equally (the kids seem to like magnets better, I love felt) and when I want it put away it slides in the space between my fridge and counter.
I love the idea of an easel with a felt board on one side, but we don't have room for an easel :(