Posted in Fun With Felt

A few weeks ago I mentioned that I have made a felt set of Resurrection Eggs to use when I speak to a large group of kids.  I thought since Easter is now less than 2 weeks away it was time to post about them. 

First of all if anyone doesn't know what Resurrection Eggs are they are a set of a dozen plastic eggs with items in them that tell the story of the death and ressurection of Christ.  They are an awesome teaching tool which really help kids connect with Christ.

I also have a wonderful book that was written to go along with the Resurrection Eggs called Benjamin's Box.  It is a sweet little story about a boy named Benjamin whose Grandfather gave him a wooden box with some straw in it right before he died.  His grandfather who was a shepherd told his grandson he had gotten the straw from the manager of a King who was born in a stable.  The Kings name was of course Jesus.  Meanwhile, the boy finds out that Jesus is coming to Jeruselum for Passover.   He ends up following Jesus through the week and collecting momentos to place in his box.  It is a beautiful touching story that will make the Resurrection Eggs a great teaching tool for even older kids.

Now, about that felt board story....



I made my felt set to go along with the book.  When I teach large groups I read the book and put up the felt eggs so everyone can see better.  (With my own kids I tend to use the actual eggs so they can open them.)  There are only 10 eggs instead of 12 for 2 reasons.  1st off in the book they combine the spear and the dice.  So I just use the dice of my felt egg.  Also for the last one you will need to use and actual plastic egg to reveal the empty tomb.  To make the felt story I made a box to start off with.  I then made 10 felt eggs and added:

Fake Fur - Jesus rides  donkey entering Jeruselum.
Coin - Judas betrays Jesus
Cup - A  broken piece of cup from the Last Supper
Twig - A broken piece of twig from the Garden where Jesus is arrested.
Leather Strip - A piece of the whip used on Jesus
Thorn - They made a crown of thorns for Jesus King of The Jews
Nail - Nails used to nail Jesus to the cross.
Dice - Soliders gambled for Jesus clothes.
Cloth - A piece of cloth was used to wrap Jesus for burial.
Stone -  The stone rolls away from the tomb!
Empty Egg - The tomb in empty He Is Risen!

One more idea.  One year I made 50 sets of Resurrection Eggs to give to the kids at Awana.  I asked all the leaders to bring me empty egg cartons in advanced.  Then I cut 11 of the 12 eggs from heavy construction paper.  I attached the proper items on each egg.  For the final egg I used  plastic egg.  I used my felt set to tell the story of Benjamin's Box and then each kid went home with their own set.  I encouraged them to spread the Good News to all their friends.

I hope these ideas will bless you and your kids.  Happy Resurrection Day!

Posted in Fun With Felt

Over on the Patricia Ann's Pollywog Creek Porch blog there is a lovely little birthday tribute to Patricia's 15 year old daughter.  The very last picture is of a birthday banner made of felt.  I am IN LOVE with this idea! 

The basic idea is to mke a banner with their birth date, weight and length.  Each year she has added things that represent the intrests or accomplishments of the child for that year. 

I liked it so much that I emailed Patricia and asked her for more info on the banners.  She has posted a great blog with information on how she made them.  To check it out click here.

I can't hardly wait to get to work on these for my kids!

Posted in Fun With Felt

Here's another felt project!  This weekend the kids and I made felt Yoda's. They were a fun, inexpensive hand sewing project I thought others might enjoy.  So I thought I would share them here.

My 5 year old sewing her Yoda.


My 11 year old adds google eyes to his Yoda.


My 2 year old gets in on the fun
by keeping the spools of thread in line!


Our finished Yoda's


If you would like to make your own felt Yoda click here for the pattern.



And I thougth I'd never come up with a post to use the Star Wars shmiley! LOL

Posted in Fun With Felt

Posted in Fun With Felt

For St. Patrick's Day the kids and I will be going to a party in the afternoon.  We are looking forward to eating a lot of green food, having a treasure hunt and seeing  if anyone forgot to wear green so we can pinch them!    But before we go I want them to have an idea of why we are celebrating an Irish holiday.

I plan on talking with them about the Irish Potato Famine of the 1840's.  We like many other American's are descendants of Irish immigrants.  So I want them to understand that a terrible plant disease is partially responsible for us being here.

Then I will be reading them the book Patrick Patron Saint of Ireland by Tomie dePaola.


Next, I have made a felt board story to demonstrate how St. Patrick used the Shamrock to explain the Trinity.  I have cut 3 large felt hearts and one stem.  I have marked them Father, Son and Spirit.  1st we'll talk about what Trinity means and discuss other words that have "tri" in them. (Like tricycle and triceratops!)  Then I will put up the felt pieces.



Here's my felt board story.

Saint Patrick would tell the people that God is the Father.
(Put up Father heart.)
In 1 Corinthians 8:6 it says
"For us there is only one God - Our Father.  All things come from Him and we live for Him."

He would tell them that God is the Son.
(Put up Son heart.)
In Romans 9:5 we read:
"...they are the earthly family into which Jesus Christ was born, who is God overall."

He would tell them that God is the Holy Spirit.
(Put up Spirit Heart.)
In Genesis 1:2 it says
"The earth was empty and had no form.  Darkness covered the ocean and God's Spirit was moving over the water."

Now at this point I can imagine that people where very confused.  It would seem, at this point he is telling them that God was 3 different people!

But this is when he would direct their attention to the stem of the Shamrock.  (Put up stem.)  He would explain to them that even though there are 3 parts of the Shamrock they are connected to be one.
In Duet. 4:35 it says
"He showed you things so you would know that the Lord is God and there is no other God besides Him."

When the people of Ireland heard all of this they were able to understand what he was trying to tell them about God.  Soon most of the country of Ireland were believers in Jesus Christ!

So the next time you see a Shamrock remember how St. Patrick used it to teach the people of Ireland about the Trinity and that God really is 3 special parts.  Father, Son and Holy Spirit.



After we finish our felt board story we will make our own Father, Son & Spirit Shamrocks  out of fun foam to wear to the party.  Hopefully the will get lots of questions about their shamrocks and get the chance to explain to other kids about the Trinity.



Have a blessed Saint Patrick's Day!

May the wisdom of God instruct me;
The eye of God watch over me;
The ear of God hear me;
The Word of God give sweetness to my speech;
The hand of God defend me;
And may I follow the way of God this and every day.
                                                        -St. Patrick

Posted in Fun With Felt

Jennie at http://www.CreativeHomeschooling.com   has asked if I could write up how we made our felt bodies for the Creative Homeschooling webpage.  so here it goes....  

My children and I recently made replicas of their bodies out of felt.  I had picked up the book The Weaver's 3-D Body Book at a used curriculum swap.  When we got out the book I realized it was way more complicated than what I was wanting.  I wanted a hands on project for the kids to do, so I drew out simple outline to represent each organ.  The kids traced the organs on notebook paper and then copied them onto felt.  They marked what each organ was with a Sharpie marker before they cut it out.  I purchased 2 yards of tan colored felt at the fabric store. I also had a bunch of different colored sheets of felt on hand for the organs.   I had the kids lay down on the felt and we traced around them.  Once they had their bodies and organs cut out we had to figure out where each organ went. You can use the websites below to figure out the shape of each organ and where it goes. We also talked about what each organ does and why we thought God gave us 2 of some organs (Like lungs and kidneys.) and only one of others (Brain, heart, liver, etc.).  Once we knew where everything went we used white glue to adhere them to the body.  You could leave them loose and the kids could replace them over and over.  Later we plan to add more to our bodies such as bones and muscles.  For now we have put on the stomach, liver, spleen, gall bladder, bladder, brain, heart, pancreas, lungs and kidneys.

Here are some Internet sites to use to teach your kids about the human body:

Internet Public Library Youth Division

Human Body Website

The Human Body an Online Tour

Have fun learning together!

Us with our felt bodies




I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.  Psalms 139:14

Posted in Fun With Felt

 

My kids LOVE felt board stories.  Even my 11 year old will usually drop what he is doing and come participate when I pull out the felt.  We have a lot of felt stories, all of which I have made.  Many years ago my husband cut me a piece of plywood just the right size to fit into a king size pillow case.  I covered it with grey felt on one side and on the other side I used green and sky blue to make a landscape scene. 



As far as the felt board stories I have gotten ideas from all over and have made them in a variety of ways.  If they are simple enough I just cut the pieces out of felt.  More detailed pieces I will look for graphics online and the print them on card stock and put felt on the back of the card stock.  I also have some where I took heavy weight interfacing (not the iron on kind) and traced the graphics on to them and then colored them with color pencils.

This one is 5 Little Monkeys and I got it from the website Preschool Printables


This one is It Looked Like Spilt Milk I made it from white felt and I let the kids put up the pieces as I read from the book.


This one is the song Hush Little Baby I made it from interfacing


To store my felts and make them easily accessable I have 3 BIG binders with clear page protectors inside.  I keep the pieces for each story as well as a copy of the story to read from in the protectors.

These are my felt story binders.


Here is what it looks like inside.


Websites Where I have Gotten Felt Stories

dtlk -teach  Felt board stories to print, excellent!

Preschool Printables   Felt Board Stories to print

Enchanted Learning  Felt board ideas.

Draw & Tell  Learn to become a Story Teller.  Lots of great ideas you can incorporate into felt stories..

Here is an amazing site with links to hundreds of free printables!

Ebay   is great place to purchase inexpensive pre-made felt stories. (or get ideas!)


Here is a list of all the stories I have made through the years:

Polar Bear, Polar Bear
Build A Snow Man
Snow Flakes One By One
5 Little Monkeys
Ice Cream Colors
Johnny -Cakes
The House In The Woods
10 Little Mittens
Jack & Jill
Soup From A Nail
The Ugly Duckling
5 Big Valentines
Volcanos
The Wide Mouth Frog
How Is The Weather
Little White Duck
Brown Bear, Brown Bear
It Looked Like Spilt Milk
C is for Cookie
The Gingerbread Man
5 Little Chickens
Under The Big Top
B-I-N-G-O
Three Little Kittens
The Tortoise & The Hare
Hickory Dickory Dock
Old MacDonald
I Know An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly
Hush, Little Baby
The Lunch Sack
5 Red Apples
Luck Ladybugs
Chicka, Chicka ABC
Dinosaurs, Dinosaurs
5 Yellow Ducks
Nine Little Zebras
100 Animals In The Zoo

Biblical Felt Stories

Ressurection Eggs
10 Commandments
The Story of St. Patrick
God Made The World
Daniel In The Lions Den
Moses In The Bulrushes


Felt is very inexpensive and the only limit to what you can come up with is your imagination!  This is also a great space saver since you can keep so many stories in a few binders. 

Enjoy!