On-the-Go Felt Box Ideas

Well, hello there! Long time no see. After a year (plus) hiatus, I’m finally getting back to blogging. For those of you that follow me on Instagram, then you likely know that last January, in the midst of my blogging hiatus, I accepted a position as an assistant preschool teacher at my kids’ beloved preschool. The opportunity sort of just fell in my lap, and while I wasn’t exactly looking to give up my stay-at-home mama gig, I took a leap of faith and said yes. And as it turns out, I love it!

Fast forward to today – my kids are a year older – London is now 3 (turning 4 in March) and Noah is 6. Say what?! I know, right?! I started this blog as a “wedding planner turned stay-at-home mama to a toddler + a preschooler”. And well, my youngest is no longer technically a toddler and my oldest is sadly no longer a preschooler – he instead has grown into a book-loving big kid aka Kindergartener. And as for me, I’m embracing my new role as a part-time working mom.

Anyways, before I start rambling, let’s get back to the blog and my latest post. I wanted this post to be something super fun & colorful and geared toward the preschool crowd, so I put together 5 on-the-go felt busy box ideas for y’all.

My inspiration for our felt box came from Megan over at The Many Little Joys. She put together several adorable travel felt boards for toddlers and I just loved her ideas (you can check them out here)! Unfortunately, I was not blessed with the sewing gene (and I don’t own an actual sewing machine) so I decided to put a twist on a travel felt board (which is best constructed with a sewing machine) and opted for a felt box instead.

Supplies Needed

• Pencil Box
• Felt – in a variety of colors
• Scissors
• Craft Glue or Glue Gun
• Googly Eyes (optional)

How-To

Start by planning out your themes or activities you want to create for your preschooler. I made 5 different themes so London would have a variety of play scenes to choose from. Before I go any further, I should add that I hand drew most of these felt pieces, so they aren’t perfect. I don’t consider myself an “artist” in the least, but I figured I could draw some basic figures & shapes so I decided to give it a try. I am actually pretty pleased with how these turned out because I usually joke that my 6 year old can draw better than I can 😉

As your kiddos create new play scenes, they can store all of the unused felt pieces right inside the pencil box, which makes it convenient for on-the-go use.

I chose a light blue background for our felt box since it has such great versatility for a variety of play scenes; however, you can use any color you like. I haven’t secured our blue background to the pencil box as of yet. I like the idea of leaving it unsecured in case I want to change the background color later. But, if you do decide to secure your felt background to the inside of the pencil box, I’d recommend using a craft glue like Aleene’s Original Tacky Glue.

Most of our felt pieces are not glued together, which allows children to truly create their own unique little masterpieces. I did glue the leaves onto the apples (mostly because I don’t want to lose them); however, the rest of the shapes on the school bus are all separate from one another.

As you can see, these felt boxes are incredibly versatile. Get creative based upon what your preschooler enjoys playing with most. London is currently loving rainbows, so I created this stackable rainbow “puzzle”, which allows her to build a rainbow of her very own.

The best part about this fun little busy box is that you can start with as many or as little felt pieces as you choose. No need to go crazy and create all of these play scenes in one day. Just add to your felt box as you see fit, getting creative with holidays and other play scenes like “Down on the Farm” or “A Day at the Zoo” – you get the idea!

Does your preschooler love playing with felt as much as mine? What are some of your other fave on-the-go activities?

xo,

Sumer

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