The Preschooler

Flannel Board Storytelling

Everyone likes to listen to a good story.  Preschoolers may also enjoy seeing the story.  The traditional way for children to “view” a story is through the pictures in a book, but this is not the only way to look at a story.  A flannel board (also called a felt board) is a creative way to act out the story for your child even when you must take on the role of all of the characters.

Take a piece of particle board or stiff cardboard and measure a piece of solid-colored flannel material so that it overlaps the board by about 2 inches on all sides.  Wrap the material around the board and pull it taught.  Staple the material to the back (or use a heavy duty craft glue for cardboard), and you now have a flannel board.  (Another option is to simply use strong magnets to put a piece of flannel on your refrigerator or washer/dryer.)

Print and cut out pictures of the characters in the story you want to tell.  (You can usually search the clip-art on your computer or free clip-art sites online to find animals and people common to children’s stories.) If possible, laminate your pictures to make them last longer.  Glue scrap pieces of flannel to the back of each character (or glue the entire picture to flannel and cut out).  You are now ready to use your flannel board to tell the story.

It is also fun for kids to tell stories if you provide sets of characters and scenes, such as a farm with animals or a zoo and wild animals.

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Written by BRWI Staff on December 10, 2009