Flannel Friday: Felt Board Family

Many years ago, my boss, who grew up in India, told me a story of her childhood that I thought would make a great flannelboard story.

I made the pieces for it: my boss as a little girl, her sister, her parents, and the police officer. This story also needed a monkey and a tree, which I borrowed from another flannel set.

Here are the family pieces:

I told the story several times, but it never seemed to connect with the kids, no matter how I told it or what age group my audience was. I finally gave up on it and the pieces languished in their folder for years, watching me pass them by every time I planned a story time. 

At my current library we have a flannelboard in the children's room where I can put out pieces for the kids to play with. I figured it was time to give these new life, so I put them on the board for the kids to enjoy. 

Turns out, pieces that I handle can be a lot more fragile than pieces the kids handle. Who knew, right?

Yeah, that's her hand that's still stuck to her dress.
Her arm got super stretched and then her hand ripped off. Ouch. 

Sigh. Lesson learned.