When searching for new travel games to keep our two young children busy, we are frequently greeted with the advice that we should bring new toys. In fact, we’ve given out that advice ourselves – more than once! But new toys = more money and since travel is already usually an expensive proposition, this just adds insult to injury.
But what if I told you there was a super lightweight toy that cost next to nothing to make, was super easy to boot and was {drum roll, please!} washable? Um, yeah, but I’m not crafty we hear you protest. That’s okay – we’re not either! Flannel boards (sometimes called felt boards) have got to be the easiest thing in the world to make and require basically no crafting skills. If you can iron, cut and glue, you’re golden! So let’s get started.
Iron your flannel if it’s wrinkled. Cut out a piece of cardboard that suits your child’s lap. Then, lay the cardboard on your flannel and cut around it, leaving about an extra inch or two all around. You don’t need to measure and straight-ish lines are more than good enough. I decided to add a felt pocket on the back to hold the pieces. So I wrapped the top further down to make sure that the whole thing would be covered when I added the pocket. It’s totally up to you if you want to add that step (or just use a gallon sized Ziploc bag to store your sets in). Then, just wrap the flannel over the cardboard and hot glue (or duct tape) down. Voila! You have now created a flannel board.
To add a pocket, use your glue gun to hot glue around the edges of a piece of felt, leaving enough slack that it forms a pocket like so:

Felt pocket on the back of the flannel board to hold the pieces.

Make sure to press straight down and not slide from side to side like you would if your were ironing. Assuming you iron... 😉

Make sure to press straight down and not slide from side to side like you would if your were ironing. Assuming you iron... 😉
Hi Wendy!
What a cool idea!!! I suggest a mini upgrade — add a piece of velcro to your storage area so your fav pieces don’t slip out and get lost.
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