DIY Felt Board with Creative Felt Piece Ideas

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You can make a DIY Felt Board with Felt Pieces for your children and they’ll be entertained for days. You can also use the felt board for story time and creative learning activities.

This adorable fall and camping themed DIY felt board is surprisingly easy to make. Your kids will love how fun it is and you’ll love that it’s helping grow their imaginations.

Our contributor wrote this tutorial showing how to make a felt board a few years ago, and it’s been such a hit that we’ve updated it with more tips, suggestions and felt board ideas.

Hey all, it’s Amy from A Blossoming Life, I’m really excited to share this adorable camping and fall themed DIY felt board with you today. I have been planning to make August, my 3 year old, a felt board for some time now, as I knew this is right up her alley. She loves to create, imagine, build scenes, and create stories out of objects. Felt boards (sometimes called flannel boards) can also be great learning tools.

Looking at this camping and fall themed DIY felt board might feel daunting, but I promise it is not that hard. This is perfect for someone who wants to be crafty, but is afraid to craft or doesn’t think they have the skills required. As long as you can use scissors and an iron, you can make these fun fall themed felt pieces.

What Is a Felt Board?

First of all, in case you can’t remember what a felt board looked like from your own childhood, here’s a quick explanation.

A felt board (sometimes called a flannel board) is a board covered in felt or flannel that allows you to place felt pieces on the board and they will stick without any adhesive. You can easily move the felt pieces from place to place on the board.

While I was making the play felt pieces, I placed a large piece of felt (found it at Michael’s) onto our inexpensive easel to let her start playing while I was still cutting out the pieces. It worked so well that I decided not to make the actual board and just use the felt on the easel. For me, I actually found it easier to just fold up the piece of felt afterwards.

 

How To Make A Felt Board

To make a felt board, follow these steps:

1. Lay a large piece of felt or flannel on the ground and place a board (foam core, thin plywood, cardboard or a canvas would work) that is slightly smaller in size, on top.
2. Fold the felt or flannel over the board, and hot glue or staple the edges of the felt down making sure to slightly pull the fabric.
3. Repeat step 2 all the way around until all the edges of the felt board have been secured.

Now let’s get to the best part of making a felt board… coming up with fun idea for the felt board pieces. For this board, we’re making camping and autumn themed felt pieces.

How To Make Felt Board Pieces

As we explain later in this post, there are different options for making pictures to use on a felt/flannel board. This tutorial shows you how to use iron-on transfer paper to put colorful pictures on white felt. After these instructions, we include ideas for other alternatives.

Materials for DIY Felt Pieces:

• White felt sheets
• Iron on transfer paper
• Our free Fall and Camping Theme Printable – Download here.
• Printer
• Scissors
• Iron
• Felt Board or piece of felt placed on the ground or over an easel.

Some of these items can be a little on the pricey side like the transfer paper, but Michael’s and Hobby Lobby often have sales and coupons. We’ve also included some other more affordable options after these instructions.
 

Directions for DIY Felt Board Pieces:

1. Click Here to Download our free printable fall and camping themed felt board ideas.
    
2. Print that fall camping themed printable onto iron-on transfer paper (according to the product directions).

   
    

3. Iron the transfer paper onto the white felt, according to the product directions.
    
4. Peel off the transfer paper.

   I found it easiest to peel off the transfer paper while it was still warm. I would start to peel it off and if it was still sticking I would apply more heat to it until it came off easily.

   

   
    

5. Cut out the felt pieces and have fun placing them all over your felt board.

   
    

This was such a fun craft to make. I spent my afternoon nap-time break cutting out and ironing the pieces and watching Nailed It on Netflix. If you haven’t seen that show yet, you should. It’s so funny. I promise this will turn out way better than the contestants cakes do on that show.

I just love how this fall and camping themed felt board came out and have received so many compliments on it.
 

What Else Sticks to Felt Board

While a classic felt board uses felt pieces cut in various shapes, you can stick other materials to felt/flannel boards.

Some people say that the best combination is felt pieces on a flannel board.

Our tutorial shows you how to use transfer paper to put pictures on felt pieces, but here are three alternatives…

1. Print colored pictures on white paper, cut them out, laminate them, and glue a piece of sandpaper, felt or velcro to the back.
2. Cut shapes and figures out of colored felt.
3. Use Pellon® interfacing (but NOT the iron-on type)… it’s available at most fabric and sewing stores. You can trace pictures on to the interfacing and then cut out the shapes and color them.

 

How to Use a Felt Board

Here are some creative ways to use felt boards with your children…

1. Independent Play: The easiest way to use a felt board is to just show your child the felt or flannel board and demonstrate how the felt pieces will stick when you place them on the board.
    
2. Story time: The classic use of felt boards is for teachers to tell stories to children. I remember many Sunday school lessons on flannel boards.
    
3. Teaching: Whether you’re a teacher, homeschool mom, or a regular parent, you can use a felt board to teach your children so many different lessons in an interactive way. It’s a great tool for practising with letters, numbers, shapes and reviewing the sequence of events in stories.
    
4. Games: You can play games such as tic-tac-toe or invent new games together.

 

Felt boards are such fun crafts to make and you’ll find so many uses for them. Have you make a felt board and felt pieces before?
 

More Craft Ideas…

Fall Crafts For Kids