Make a Felt Board
Keep your youngest to oldest artists artfully engaged in creating compositions and stories with felt. When you finish your felt board, make a felt set to go with it.
Time: 20–30 minutes
Looking for an easy to use, low-fuss, low-mess option for exploring art with your child? Meet the felt board. Felt has a naturally “sticky” quality that allows for cut felt pieces to be placed on the board without sliding. Plus, it’s reusable and can be easily altered for new play exploration. Don’t have any felt? Use fleece or another soft fabric.
MAKE IT
- Gather your materials. You’ll need:
- Two pieces of flat cardboard (pieces without creases or folds will work best)
- Scissors
- An adhesive
Note: Stick glue, school glue, or hot glue will all work for this project. Stick glue will apply smoothly, but requires a thick layer to hold the fabric. Hot glue may leak through fabric or create lumps, but will have the best long term hold. An adult should always supervise hot glue gun use. - Felt or fleece. If you don’t have felt or fleece, other soft fabrics can be substituted, but may not work as well.
- Prepare the cardboard. Cut two pieces of cardboard the same size. Make sure the size of the cardboard is slightly smaller than the felt (or other fabric) that will cover the surface.
- Glue the cardboard pieces together and let dry. Place a heavy object on top, like a book, to help it stay flay and pressed together.
- Coat the surface of the cardboard in glue.
Note: Hot glue may be lumpy and leak through the fabric. If using hot glue, do not coat entire surface, but instead make thin lines of glue around the edge only, and work quickly to press flat.
- Add fabric surface. Lay the fabric on your work surface and center the cardboard glue-side down in the middle. If you have a pattern on one side that you’re using for a background, be sure to place that side down and glue to the back side. Press firmly and allow to dry.
- Fold excess fabric over the back, and glue down. Apply glue on one edge of the cardboard. Carefully fold the exposed felt over onto the glue and press down. Hold it in place for at least ten seconds. Repeat on the opposite side.
Note: If you are using stick glue, it will take at least 15 minutes for it to begin to set. If using hot glue, do one edge at a time: Apply glue along one side, fold fabric, and let set before moving to the next side.
- Snip the extra fabric off the corners. Then, repeat step six to glue the remaining sides down.
- Test the edges. Check for any edges that aren’t glued all the way down and add more glue. Little fingers like to pull anything they can!
Congratulations! You’ve made your own felt board. Now, try your hand at making a felt set to go with it.
