Literature and language activities for toddlers and pre-schoolers
How to make a flannel board a) Te background can be made from any firm or lightweight material, e.g. pressed wood fibres or cardboard.
b) A table model, 60 × 45 cm, is suitable for single figures and a larger board, 90 × 60 cm, is suitable for the depiction of full scenes.
c) Cover it with dark-coloured flannel so that the figures will stand out clearly. Vilene or felt figures are easily stuck onto it. Flannel board figures can also be bought. Flannel is very expensive and it could be cheaper to buy a flannel board.
When using the flannel board pictures as an aid, keep the following aspects in mind: a) Two technical mistakes that are generally made when using a flannel board should be avoided. Te first is to come to the end of the story and to find that there is not enough space for the final figure.
b) Te second one is to end with the whole picture crowded into the bottom corner of the board. c) Begin by composing the final picture. Ten eliminate all the figures which are not essential to the story, to ensure that you have enough space.
d) Now arrange the pictures in order, as you would need them in the course of the story. e) Number the pictures and put them face down, ready for use. f) Position the flannel board at the child’s eye-level on a stand, on a chair, against a wall or on your lap.
g) Sit, facing the children with the board to one side of you. Tell the story to the children and not to the flannel board.
h) Practise by telling the story to yourself first, while you compose your picture. Make sure that you use the middle of the board and that the picture is well balanced. Where you place your first figure is important in the composition of your final picture. Plan where the figure should go and mark the spot with chalk, or begin with the first figure already on the board. It would catch the children’s attention immediately.
i) Bear perspective in mind by placing the large figures in the foreground and the smaller ones in the background.
j) If a figure falls off, pick it up and place it back, otherwise a child will do it which could distract them from the story.
k) Figures must be big and simple and made of firm paper, cardboard, wall paper, Vilene or felt. l) Cut out pictures of flannel, felt or from magazines. Glue a felt strip or sandpaper to the back of the magazine pictures, so it will stick to the flannel board.
Te flannel board story can be utilised in three ways: Te educarer tells the story and only she handles the figures. Te educarer tells the story, but when the figure has to appear, she asks one of the children to stick it onto the flannel board (only use a few figures).
Aſter the educarer has told the story, she lets the children handle the flannel board and figures for a while in case they want to tell the story themselves and want to stick the figures on the flannel board by themselves.
6.2 Children as aids
Children can dramatise stories. If children know a story well, they may enjoy dramatising or acting out the story as the educarer tells it.
Stories about going to the shop or hospital give children a chance to act out and learn more about important experiences in their own lives. All children should have a chance to act out the different parts of the story. Do not only choose the children that you think are good.
It is also important to let children act out the part in their own way. Some children may be shy or afraid to take part in dramatising a story. Tese children need help and encouragement to participate.
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