Tot School: 5 Ways to Use FELT!

Felt is one of my favorite materials to work with - it's soft, easy to cut, cheap, and comes in so many colors! I am going to share five ways to use felt in your Tot School activities.

1.) FELT SHAPE PUZZLE
I made this shape puzzle for Zeke (and it's included in the Fun With Shapes Tot School in a Box kit) and he loves it! I printed and cut out the shapes I wanted to use on cardstock. I lay them out on a piece of felt and dot traced around them with a Sharpie. Next I traced the shapes on different colored felt and cut those pieces out. Zeke has so much fun matching the felt

2.) FELT POPSICLE COLOR MATCHING GAME
This was pretty easy to make, as well! I cut two popsicle shapes from the same color felt and hot glued around the "U" shape to form a pocket. Zeke has to match the felt to the colored popsicle sticks to make a popsicle! These are available in my Etsy shop for $8.00 - link is in the sidebar!

3.) COLOR SORTING MATS
This is a super simple way to use felt! I simply lay the colors out that match the objects Zeke will be color sorting. It adds a sensory aspect to color matching.

4.) BOOK PLAY
This is also a pretty easy way to use felt. If I am going to make Zeke a "book play" activity (as I call it), I choose to use felt. For this one based on "Five Speckled Frogs", I laid out a piece of blue felt to represent the pond, cut out a brown log for the frogs to rest on, and cut out five lily pads. He used the frogs and lily pads to work on one-to-one correspondence by placing one frog on each lily pad. He loved playing with the frogs and making them jump! This is so easy to adapt to any story or poem you are working on with your toddler.

5.) NAME PUZZLES
Simply draw the outline of your child's name on one sheet of felt. On different colored felt, draw the letters of your child's name and cut them out. Teach your child name recognition and letters by showing them the order of the letters in their name. I sell these customized name puzzles in my Etsy Shop - click the button in the sidebar for more information!

How have you used felt with your children?