Felt Board Figures with Interfacing

There are some beautiful felt pieces being made by Flannel Friday participants. I particularly love the style of those made by Jane of Piper Loves the Library.  (I would like to make pieces like that some day.) It is definitely worth it to make some high quality felt sets. Figures in felt have depth and dimension. When this is not practical, there are other options.

Although I used a felt board for fifteen years, I must confess that I never made a figure out of felt. Instead, I made them out of heavyweight interfacing. (When I used a flannel board, I was a department of one and did not have the time or patience to make felt pieces. My current library uses a magnet board so pieces are colored with marker and laminated.) Another option is to use milk filters. I have never used them but you can find out more about them from Anne's post. Andrea shows some chickadees she made using milk filters on her blog.

The interfacing method has advantages and disadvantages. Interfacing is easy to cut and all you need is a set of markers to provide a variety of colors. However it is not as thick as felt so you need a backing if you want to hide something behind a figure. Without a backing the other piece will show through. The biggest disadvantage is that it does not stick to itself like felt so you cannot put pieces on top of each other. (I would use a glue stick to add a small amount of glue when I needed to make pieces stick to each other.) What I like best about using interfacing is that it is easy to make pieces with details. Patterns show through even the heavyweight interfacing. Once you get the hang of it, you can make pieces quickly so I recommend this method if you are pressed for time.

Tips:

Choose the correct kind of interfacing. Use heavyweight non-fusible or sew-in interfacing if it is available. If not, medium weight will work. Do not get fusible interfacing. It has glue on the back so it will not stick. Should you end up with some, draw on the shiny (glue) side so the piece will stick to the felt board. Lightweight interfacing is flimsy and does not stick to the felt board well. One yard of interfacing will produce numerous felt board figures.

One yard of medium weight interfacing with a felt piece and bonus cat (Pete's sister Ducky)

 

Photocopy your pattern if possible. I usually make a working copy to protect my original.

 

Interfacing over pattern - ready to be traced

 

Place the pattern under the interfacing for tracing. I usually cut out a piece slightly larger than the pattern piece. It is easier to work with that small piece then a large piece of fabric. If you are doing a set of figures, you can also trace them all on a larger piece and then cut each one to outline and color. I would do this to fit the figures close to each other so I would not waste fabric.

 

Trace the pattern. I trace with a pencil first and then I go over the pencil lines with a black marker. You can trace using a marker but definitely use a copy of your pattern for marker can bleed through.

 

Pattern is traced

Color your piece. I find that markers work best. Color in small spaces with black marker. This makes the piece sturdier and easier to cut out.

Optional: Outline your piece with black marker. I like the look of outlined pieces.
  

Piece is colored and outlined

 

Fill in small spaces

 

Cut out your piece.

Piece is cut out

 

Ducky shows how the pieces for Mole's New Hole look on a felt board

 

Storage tips: Place plain paper between pieces to keep the colors from bleeding onto other pieces. To be honest I seldom did this and it only happened a couple of times. Freshly colored pieces will bleed so make sure the pieces are completely dry before putting pieces with each other. I stored the pieces for each set in a manila envelope along with a copy of the story. Note on the envelope the number of pieces. I also keep a record of when and where I used the story on the front of the envelope.

These pieces will last a long time. I still have the first set I made using my own drawings for The Princess and the Pea which I made close to 20 years ago.

This week's Flannel Friday Round-Up is hosted by K Leigh of Storytime ABC'S.

Lego Table Table

Five Little Valentines

Last week while I was working on a draw and tell story for Valentine's Day, I also wrote this rhyme. I was going to save it for next year's Valentine's Day Flannel Friday but knowing me I will totally forget about it. I decided to use it for this week's Flannel Friday contribution.

 

Five Little Valentines

Linda Meuse

Notes from the Story Room Blog

1/31/14

 

Five little valentines waiting to be given.

One is silver, tied with a purple ribbon.

One is gold, shining like a light.

One is red, bold and bright.

One is white, with lace all around.

The last one is pink, and plays a musical sound.

 

Joe took the silver one to give to his mother.

Mary took the gold one to give to her teacher.

Tom took the red one to give to his dad.

Kate took the white one to make her sister glad.

Scott took the pink one for little baby Sue,

For the music that it played would make her laugh and coo.

 

 

I used the shapes function in Microsoft Publisher to draw a heart template. I made mine about 6 inches high and about 6 inches across. The "lace" one is slightly larger. I used materials that I had on hand. I used markers on card stock for three of the hearts. I do not have silver or gold markers so I used silver paint and a purple marker for one heart and cut the other heart out of gold paper from a pad of metallic paper that I had. (The paper was a bit too small so I had to glue on another piece for the tip of the heart). You can also make them out of felt. I would use metallic paint on white felt to make the gold and silver hearts.

 

This week's Flannel Friday Round-Up is hosted by Lisa of Thrive After Three.

Something Special - A Valentine's Day Draw and Tell Story

Something Special - A Valentine's Day Draw and Tell Story

by Linda Meuse

Notes from the Story Room Blog

Usually Harry liked having two sisters and a brother. There was always someone willing to play. However, sometimes it made things harder. Valentines Day  was one of those times. His brother and sisters seemed to think of better things to give their mom than he did. Hugh, the oldest, was giving her a heart-shaped balloon (1). Sarah made a beautiful heart-shaped pillow for her (2). Lisa was giving her a heart-shaped box of candy (3). Harry only had a card with a heart on it (4). He wanted to give his mom something else as well. It had to be something special.

Harry walked downtown to to look at all the store windows (5). They were decorated for Valentine's Day. Maybe he would get an idea. He walked up the street to the jewelry store (6). There were lots of pretty things in the window that he was sure his mom would like. Harry was also sure that the money he saved was not enough to buy anything there. He walked past more stores but didn't get any ideas (7). He walked up another block (8) and there it was, the perfect present. He had enough money to buy one. It was pretty and reminded him of spring. He knew his mom would like it too, so Harry ran into the store and bought it (9).

Drawing sequence:

1. Draw first heart-shaped petal.

2. Draw second heart-shaped petal.

3. Draw third heart-shaped petal.

4. Draw fourth heart-shaped petal.

5. Draw stem.

6. Draw first half of right leaf.

7. Draw second half of right leaf.

8. Draw first half of left leaf.

9. Draw second half of left leaf.

This week's Flannel Friday is hosted by Mel of Mel's Desk.

Guess the Animals as the Snow Melts

Use card stock and clip art to create a simple scene (or draw it if you wish). Put the animals in size order with the smallest on top and the largest on the bottom. I used a mouse, squirrel, raccoon, fox and bear. Cover the scene with white card stock or heavy white paper to represent the snow. As it "melts," slide the white piece down to reveal the top of the animal and have the children guess. Slowly reveal more of the animal to help them guess. Continue sliding the piece down to reveal each animal.

I painted the background using poster paints. Markers streak too much when covering a large surface, I did use markers to color the animals. In order to make the background long enough to fit the animals I taped a smaller piece of card stock to the bottom. That is the "grass." I also trimmed the sides so that the "snow" could fit around it. The piece is about 17 inches long and 7.5 inches wide.

The photo above shows the "snow" that fits over the animal scene. Yes, I did add some glitter glue to make it sparkle. This piece is made up of two pieces of card stock glued together. The sides are folded over. The photo below shows the pieces together from the back.

The animals as they are revealed when the snow melts:

This week's Flannel Friday Round-Up is hosted by Kathryn of Fun with Friends at Storytime. For complete information go to the Flannel Friday blog.

The Napping House - Memory Activity

The Napping House by Audrey Wood is fun to read aloud. It is a cumulative story that will work well for a memory activity I would like to try with my family storytime group. I have played a version of "Memory" with second graders to promote summer reading but I have not done it in a storytime. There aren't too many characters to remember so playing the game should not be too difficult for the younger ones.

After reading the book, I will put it down out of sight and put the napping house on the board. Then I will ask the children who was napping in the napping house. As the characters are named I will put the figures randomly on the board. Next I will put the bed on the board and pile on the sleepers in the wrong order. Since children love it when a grown-up gets it wrong, I expect to be corrected immediately. I will probably get it wrong a couple of times before the figures are in the correct order.

This was an easy activity to prepare. The figures can be found at Make Learning Fun. They can be printed in black and white or in color here. Other activities that go along with the book can be found here. All I had to do was make a napping house.

I am looking forward to doing this activity with my family storytime group. Now I just have to plan the rest of the program.

This week's Flannel Friday is hosted by Kristen, Kristie and Sue of the blog, Let the Wild Rumpus Start. 

On Professional Development

Professional development is essential to becoming proficient in one's profession. This is particularly true for youth services librarians because we are impacted by popular culture, changes in technology and by research in education. That's a lot to keep up with and it can be overwhelming.

Libraries were very different when I started as a trainee in 1971 and although it was 1990 when I started as a children's librarian, there have been major changes since then as well. Librarians who are not willing to explore new ideas will lose touch with their patrons' needs which are also constantly changing. You don't have to embrace every new idea but you should be willing to try new things or adapt them to suit your situation.

Many people will say that they can't get out of the building or they can't afford to attend conferences since they aren't reimbursed. That was more of a problem when I was starting out as a children's librarian because there were no webinars or online resources because there was no web (although they were working on it). Also, I was the only youth services person so indeed it was difficult to leave the building. Because my previous experience was limited, I made an effort to attend as many workshops and meetings as possible. Although I believe that one learns the most on the job, meeting with and learning from other children's librarians is also important.

Today there are many more options available for professional development:
1. Online training - some courses or webinars are free or reasonably priced. Look for offerings from state libraries, regional consortiums and cooperatives. State and national associations also offer online training.
2. Newsletters - Get information sent to your inbox. School Library Journal often lists free webinars in its newsletter, "Extra Helping." Keep up with the latest in the library world by subscribing to the weekly newsletter, "AL Direct," if you are a member of ALA. (Previous newsletters are available on the website for those who are not members.) Keep up with the latest news in children's books by subscribing to PW's "Children's Bookshelf" (subscribe here).
3. Even if you are not a member, the ALA website provides numerous resources. For example, ALSC just released a list of recommended titles for tweens that is available for download.  State and regional organizations will have information available to non-members as well. CLEL - Colorado Libraries for Early Literacy is an outstanding example.
4. Seek out websites of non-library organizations that provide information about subjects that interest you. Not only will they list resources but often have newsletters and blogs you can subscribe to. One example is the blog from the Fred Rogers Center for Early Learning and Children's Media.
5. Blogs - Learn from your colleagues. Explore some blogs by youth services librarians and subscribe to those that interest you.
6. Social Media - Youth services librarians are on Twitter and Pinterest and Facebook. So are various library organizations. Build a network of people who are passionate about what they do. Join Facebook groups such as Flannel Friday and Storytime Underground. Become part of an online community not just for informed discussion but also for the support offered by these virtual colleagues.
7. Do try to get out of the building and meet with other youth services librarians. Although I have never attended an ALA conference (unless attending PLA once counts), I did treat myself to the ALSC Institute last year. I figured that a program just for youth services librarians was worth my money. I also make an effort to attend New Jersey's annual Youth Services Forum which is well worth my time and money.
8.Teach yourself. Pursue what interests you. When I started out as a children's librarian, I was on the constant lookout for books with draw and tell stories, paper cutting stories and flannel board stories. I built up a nice storytelling resource library over the years. It was almost as tough leaving that collection as it was leaving my storytime families when I left that position. (I have bought some storytelling books for my personal collection and fortunately my current library has a good collection.) Be selective in your professional reading. I tend to focus on material that will be useful to me. I also enjoy reading about trends in the profession.

What's the point of all of this? I don't want youth services librarians to be discouraged about professional development opportunities. There are ways to learn and be supported without going to meetings and conferences. Try to do that if you can but also build a network of librarians and resources to keep yourself informed. We are a friendly bunch and are always willing to help a colleague whether in person or virtually.