Fabulous Flannel Fun Activity: Pumpkins
by Karen Paulson
Here is a cute activity you can use with your child and your flannel board. If you have not read the article, Fabulous Flannel Fun, you can find it under articles by Karen Paulson, and also under the home school curriculum category. In this article, I explain the purpose of using flannel boards, how to construct your board, and some tips on how to use it with your children. Hope you will find it helpful!
Now for our project…
Activity name: FIVE LITTLE PUMPKINS
Materials needed: orange felt – enough to create five 2 inch x 2 inch pumpkins; brown felt- to create a tree with, approximately 9 inches tall, and 5 inches wide,( make it larger or smaller, as desired); a rectangular piece of felt of any color, about 8 inches tall, and 3 inches wide, to make a door with; yellow felt- about a 4 inch square to cut a sun out from, and a small scrap for a door knob; Tacky glue- You might try a heavy duty glue like the Aleene’s brand; magic markers, fabric paint (optional), scissors, storage envelope or bag
Procedure:
PUMPKINS- Draw a desired pumpkin shape, or various pumpkin shapes on paper, and trace onto the orange felt, and cut out. If you want to add facial features, cut them out of dark colored felt scraps and glue them on, or use a bit of fabric paint that comes in squeezable bottles with a tip for creating fine lines, or try using markers and draw the faces on. Make the pumpkins as detailed as you like– consider adding groove lines, stems, and bits of green leaves;
TREE- This is a deciduous tree that has bare branches. Draw a basic tree form on paper and trace it onto the brown felt, or cut out a tree shape from the felt, using your own free formed style. If this seems troublesome, you could decide to cut out a rectangular trunk, and a large, cloud like shape from yellow, red, and/or brown ( not orange) felt to be used as fall foliage. Make sure to glue the foliage pieces together, if you use various colors. You would not have to glue the foliage piece to the trunk; just lay the pieces on the board as a complete tree when using it in the activity.
DOOR- Simply cut out a rectangle of your desired color, and cut out a scrap of yellow to make a knob, and glue on. You could draw a knob, as well.
SUN- Again, you can decide to draw a sun on paper, transfer it onto the felt, and cut it out, or cut it out directly from the felt, including some pointed ‘rays’. Putting on some orange colored details with markers or paint adds a nice touch, too. If you feel particularly creative, you could end up with some beautiful cutouts to use!
After making the pumpkins, the door, the tree, and the sun, you will be ready to put it all together with the words!
Start by laying the door to the left side of the board, and the tree on to right side; the pumpkins and the sun will not be on the board yet.
FIVE LITTLE PUMPKINS
Five little pumpkins bouncing by the door, (Place each pumpkin by the door)
One rolled away (remove one), and now there are four.
Four little pumpkins sitting in the tree, ( Place each one on the tree)
One jumped down, and now there are three. (Remove one.)
Three little pumpkins playing ‘Peek-a-boo’, (Place each on board between door and tree)
One ran away, and now there are two. (Remove one.)
Two little pumpkins sitting in the sun, (Place the sun up above the pumpkins)
One went home, and now there is one. (Remove one.)
One little pumpkin, feeling kind of shy, blows you a kiss, and waves, ‘good-bye’. (Remove last pumpkin.)
I hope you and your children will have fun with this, and I also hope you will find inspiration to create more activities using the flannel board!
More flannel board ideas will be coming soon!
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