I don’t have much free wall space in our class – so what I do have available has to be utilised really well. I knew I wanted a felt board as I have lots of felt resources I’ve made over the years to let the children make their own stories and use them in story telling during circle times. I also wanted an activity board…and a chalk board! Oh boy…

So we came up with a way to incorporate all 3 into the space I had available for them with a series of boards that I can easily change on the wall. The easiest to make was the chalk and felt boards and these make use of the same board back to back. The activity board was a little more complicated and patient husband pretty much put that one together for me.

Items we used: wood for frame; thin board for inside frame; blackboard paint; glue gun; wall screws; hooks; felt; board for activity board; various second hand items for activity board.

The chalk/feltboard was relatively easy to make. Besides the time for the paint to dry it’s also a quick project. We found an old frame that I painted on one side and attached the felt to the other with a glue gun. Patient husband attached the screw to the wall and hooks to the board and thats it!

The activity board was a little more complicated and took a few days  weeks months to make. The most time consuming part is gathering all the items you are going to put on the board. We went to a car boot sale market and sourced most of the items there – otherwise the board will end up costing you a fortune. It’s also quite difficult to attach the items to the board securely – patient husband helped with this as you need to be handy with a number of tools to make holes, screws and rings to secure at the back and sanders to smooth off edges.

The boards are great – I use them all the time and am constantly changing their original purpose to suit the occasion! Sometimes the children paint with thin paint brushes and water on the chalk board, draw with thin and fat chalks etc. The activity board is a great hit and the children will turn it into whatever they are currently into – race car, fire engine, aeroplane or just an activity board!