*a purchased chalkboard  gives you 2 workable surfaces with only the storage 
concerns of 1: the chalkboard on one side, with a flannelboard surface attached 
to the back
*careful applying the glue ... other flannel felt pieces will not *stick* very 
well to glue soaked flannel or felt  - stretch it taunt and glue around the 
edges
*you can use coloring books for tracing pics onto felt pieces to make some extra 
characters
*at Halloween, I made a BIG pumpkin and then cut out all sorts of DIFFERENT 
eyes, eyebrows, noses, mouths all in black so children could mix and match the 
faces of their choice
*remember that fingerplay poems often translate well to flannelboard
*the foam type dryer fabric softener sheets can be glued on to the back of 
non-felt/flannel pieces to transform them into flannelboard pieces ... or small 
scraps of your flannel/felt leftover from cutting out display pieces... just 
remember to be careful with the glue
*if you are taking a lot of time to cut out and create any paper pieces, consider 
laminating them or covering with clear contact paper on the top side for durability. 
Leave the back side free to glue on the flannel/felt/dryer sheet foam ... 

*I also have a *flannelboard* in my TTT (Traveling Teacher Team) Box ...
~ I've used my TTT boxes for classes & workshops when I'm presenting in unknown 
buildings and am not sure what my display resources might be and don't want to 
carry too much with me
~ I've also used them for teaching Sunday School because I like to have everything 
together at home and then SS for preparation and practice ... also for substituting 
in another classroom, or taking the whole SS class outside under a tree in the spring 
or summer
~ I've used them in previous child care situations when storage space was a huge 
consideration ...compact, moveable from room to room, or outside ... stick in a 
closet or under a table or a corner somewhere at the end of the day
~ A banker's box is my preference (purchasable from business supply sections for 
storing your files) because it has those durable reinforced holes at each end for 
holding, lifting, etc. but two of my TTT boxes are made from print paper boxes 
(available from stores when you buy copy or printer paper in bulk or from printers
... let them know you are interested in obtaining one WITH A LID...)

~First I cover the outside of the entire box and top of lid with a solid color 
contact paper 
... or just clear contact paper if the box doesn't have any writing on it ...
~Inside the lid, I stretch and glue a sheet of felt
~Inside the front half of the box, I insert *hanging* file folders and within 
those I put individual folders for the dcks, the food program, state requirements, 
lesson plans, etc.
~At the back of the boxes, I usually have two shoe boxes ... also decorated and covered
with contact paper for durability over the years ... although I am the primary person 
that gets into these
~Inside one shoe box I put a couple colors of *dry erase* markers and a few folded 
paper towels. These are used for writing key points, announcements or pictures on 
the outside of the box ... wiping them off with the paper towels (which need to be 
replenished every now and then). 
~Also, a couple regular (not old fashioned) clothespins. With these I can attach 
pictures, artwork or lists to any one of the four sides of the box...
~I also keep color crayons, regular markers, paper clips, brads, glue sticks, 
stickers, etc. all in the box for projects we might be doing
~In the other shoe box I keep felt shapes, felt numbers, a couple of body shapes 
and varied pieces in the shapes of shoes, hair, clothes, or the felt pieces I may
need to tell the stories I've planned and for the children to retell stories or 
create their own 


*In one of my college courses, they suggested tracing around the pictures in a 
favorite book, like "The Very Hungry Caterpillar".  You color them, add felt pieces 
to the back, and wa la,  a familiar story for the flannelboard. 

*You can also do this with facing(is that what it's called) you iron it or sew it on 
clothes to make them stiff. Its very see through for tracing then you just color it 
in and it will stick to your board. I also refuse to let children have ripped or 
written in books so when this happens I will take the book cut it up laminate the 
character's and stick felt on the back for a flannel board story.


*If you don't want to glue the flanel to the board just buy a big peice and throw 
over the board or over an easel. You will need about 2 yards of flannel or felt.  
I did this and it works great. I also bought several pieces in different colors 
to change scenery.

*if a story book of yours is becoming to the unusable state, maybe you can still 
salvage some of the main characters of the story, cut them out and glue them onto 
felt or flannel.  Then you can still keep that story book alive!   :)


*One of my favorite things to do is turn kids books into flannel stories.  One of my 
dck's favorite is from a book titled "Stop That Pickle".   I made all the characters 
in the book out of flannel pieces.  We then do the book and flannel board together. 
The kids love to put the pieces up themselves.

The next one I want to make will be for the "Rainbow Fish".

You can do a variety of counting poems, such as "Five green and Speckled Frogs".

You can get a head start on holiday flannel pieces too.  Cut out Thanksgiving, 
Halloween and Christmas shapes

You may also want to contact one of the loopers who sell Story Teller products.  
Their flannel is great!  SOOO much to choose from and really nice if you don't 
have a lot of time for making your own.  Reasonably priced too.

* We have the alphabet, numbers, shapes, weather symbols, etc. Also cut pictures 
of babies or anything out of magazines & attach felt to the back.  The kids love it.
Right now, mine are into the shapes, they put the different shapes together to 
make a picture.


*I turn our favorite picture books into stories.  It is a great way to save torn 
and/or hard to replace books.  I cut out simple patterns for the characters and use 
art supplies to decorate them.  Really brings them to life and makes them a little 
three dimensional. This is also a great activity for your school age children if you 
have them in care.