[I am hosting Flannel Friday this week, so check back later today for the round-up post!]
Do you know how hard it is to plan a storytime around the color purple? It’s ridiculous! And to boot, my favorite book about purple — “Harold and the Purple Crayon” naturally — was a wee bit smaller than I remembered it. Of course, I was also smaller back then!
So I set to working on making it into a flannelboard.
I decided that the best way to do this was by trying to simulate the lines that Harold draws and to kind of kid-up the pieces so that they looked like they could be drawn with a crayon. (Also, it meant I didn’t have to be perfect since Harold was the one drawing!)
I started by taping down the clip art, painting around piece, waiting for the paint to dry, and cutting the piece out while making sure to leave a border of purple paint.
You can see just how gloppy I put on the paint in this picture:
A picture of one of the pieces of felt. I think I used about four sheets of white felt. I should have kept better track of that!
And my very messy hand after painting!
And finally….the finished set!
When I was planning for this flannel, I had a co-worker purchase felt by the yard at Joann’s so that I had a piece of white felt to cover the board. It made the story much more authentic than our normal red background.
I also took some liberties with the book. Harold’s hot air balloon become a regular balloon. I skipped having a cityscape and just told that part of the story. I cut his nine types of pie down to four, etc.
This was the best part of purple storytime (post coming Monday, I swear!), and I cannot wait to use it again!
If you want to try and make Harold, here’s my clip art file: Harold Clip Art. And if you don’t have access to the book, I can email you my sheet, so that I’m not breaking copyright on the blog. 😀
storytime katie 
Oh, wow! This is SO COOL. What a creative way to do this story! Totally, totally stealing this one. Thanks!
Thank you! I love this book, so I was happy to make it into a flannel.
I would have never thought of that. and, i think the best part, is that this is a book every child should know and now they’ll experience in a new way! Great idea!
I know — this is such a classic book and it has such staying power. I mean, I remembered it from my childhood!
What a great idea!
Thank you!
You are so creative! I love this!
I have my moments. I do have to say that this one was a strike of inspiration for sure!
This is so awesome! It looks exactly like it’s drawn by crayon!
Thank you! That’s what I was going for.
AMAZING! Totally stealing this one. 🙂
Also, your PDF free trial thing is over so it is putting a yucky graphic on top of the pretty clip-art.
Do you have a Google Account? You can upload PDFs there for free if you use gmail–that’s what I do.
My library was too cheap to purchase the pdf software, so we’re stuck with the logo at work…
Except!
I had no idea that Google could do that. And yep, I have a gmail, so that exactly what I’m planning on doing! Thanks!
I love this idea. I need to think of a great way to use it for my family early literacy storytime. Thanks for sharing!
You’re welcome! Let me know if you do use it — I think this would be a great family piece!
Love this! I am making a set of my own to use for my storytime, but wanted to know if you could send me your sheet? I have the book, but figured it may save me time, if you already have it typed up? I would be so grateful! And yes I am totally covered in purple paint too. LOL Thanks for sharing the cute idea! 🙂
Thank you for reading! When I get back to work, I’ll send along my sheet. 😀
Wondering if I could get a copy of your sheet, if its still avaible. Thank you for all your great ideas!