The Basic Felt Board is one of the easiest boards to create and can be played with in many ways. The idea of this board is to have a felt-to-felt “sticky” play area where the felt items will stay in place without needing glue, tape or other fasteners.
Play is generally done with the board flat on the ground or leaning against the wall with other flat objects (like the vehicles shown in the image).
You can even modify the lift the flap activity board to be felt rather than poster board backing (requires much less gluing and measuring, but would be less “user friendly”).
How To Make The Board
- Poster board (check the dollar store!)
- Enough soft felt to wrap the front of the board
- Felt glue (I used Jewel It – just make sure the glue is thick enough to be soaked into the felt when placed on the board)
- Brush or paper towel to spread the glue
- Books or heavy items to weigh down the felt when gluing the back
- Felt items for play (see the end of the post for suggestions)
- Lay your poster board on the table
- Cut your felt to fit the size of your board, leaving at least a few inches extra on the edges to wrap around the board
- Use your brush or paper towel to spread a generous amount of glue on the front of the poster board (spread to all edges)
- Lay your felt on top of the glue and run your hands all over the board so that it lays completely flat/flush with the board (some glue may come through the felt – that’s ok! Just smooth it out best you can. Most glues will dry clear)
- Allow to dry. Once dry, flip your board over so the glued felt side is against the table
- Use your brush or paper towel to apply a generous amount of glue to the back of the poster board around the edges. Wrap the felt around the board, pulling tightly so it’s as flush as possible with the board
- Place books or other heavy items around the felt to glue flat (at this step, you can sew the edges together but this is not necessary). Make sure to protect any valued books or items from any glue that may seep through the felt!
- Allow to dry. Check to see that all the edges are glued to your liking on the back. If something needs a little more glue, repeat the gluing process.
- Done! Grab your felt play items and let your kids have fun!
While this looks very time consuming and complicated, it’s truly very simple! It just takes a little time to glue and dry in each step. The different types of glue will determine the amount of time needed to dry between each step.
If I had thought ahead, I would have trimmed my backing edges more to save on felt – more scraps!
Ideas For Your Board
The board can be used for tons of free play activities (links are to products I use):
- Underwater scene (or any other habitat)
- Construction site
- Dress Up (like a paper doll activity but in felt)
- Colors, Numbers and Letters
- Animals (any type)
- Pretend play based on rhymes or songs (like monkeys jumping on the bed or speckled frogs)
You can even use this board for your daily planning with your kids – what activities are you doing today? What is the weather like? What’s the date? Items are easily removable and changed without having to worry about a potential mess.
Where to Find Supplies
If you are looking for additional felt items to use on the board, look at your local craft store in the felt section or call around to see if any stores near you offer die cutting (manual machines that cut shapes out of felt). My local shop allows you to use all of their die cut machines for free if you purchase your felt there!
I LOVE to repurpose some of the felt items I have from my Quiet Book on this board! The individual pages can also be placed on the board so they don’t slide around during play (this is a little harder if you have bound your book or sewn/glued pages to each other). You can find all sorts of great ideas on Pinterest for a felt board.
Please feel free to ask any questions or share your creations!Please pin this post to save it for later!