Retired Children's Librarian makes and sells cherished felt songs and stories for librarians, preschool caretakers, and teachers.
I began to make felt stories and songs back in the 1980s when I first became a Children's Librarian. They became the most successful tools in my "librarian toolbox." I used them between the stories on a big flannelboard easel with a blue, flannel background. They enhanced the storytime experience by providing important literacy and early literacy skills for all ages.
As a school librarian, I first used the flannelboards with preschoolers, kindergarteners, and 1st graders. However, when the 1st graders became 2nd graders, they wanted to see and hear the flannelboard stories again. So I added them to the 2nd graders class visits. Soon I was presenting them to all the grades as the nostalgia for the songs of childhood they remembered from preschool became important to them.
Because the felt stories and songs were used only by an adult and treated as very special, my set of flannelboards have been "child-free" and have seemed to last forever. I have certain sets that are over 35 years old, have been used hundreds of times, and still look brand new. I have made duplicate sets for children to play with in order to experience the flannelboard fun.
All the flannelboard sets are handmade by me from the patterns to the cutting of the felt to the painting of the characters. Yes, they are more expensive than other items of the same nature on ETSY. Each set is a work of art that can take upwards of 15 hours to make.
I still tell stories and I still use the flannelboard as a medium. I love singing and presenting the characters on the board to the delight of all ages of children and their grownups!
As a school librarian, I first used the flannelboards with preschoolers, kindergarteners, and 1st graders. However, when the 1st graders became 2nd graders, they wanted to see and hear the flannelboard stories again. So I added them to the 2nd graders class visits. Soon I was presenting them to all the grades as the nostalgia for the songs of childhood they remembered from preschool became important to them.
Because the felt stories and songs were used only by an adult and treated as very special, my set of flannelboards have been "child-free" and have seemed to last forever. I have certain sets that are over 35 years old, have been used hundreds of times, and still look brand new. I have made duplicate sets for children to play with in order to experience the flannelboard fun.
All the flannelboard sets are handmade by me from the patterns to the cutting of the felt to the painting of the characters. Yes, they are more expensive than other items of the same nature on ETSY. Each set is a work of art that can take upwards of 15 hours to make.
I still tell stories and I still use the flannelboard as a medium. I love singing and presenting the characters on the board to the delight of all ages of children and their grownups!