How to Make a Kid's Calendar With Felt and a Dowel

A calendar helps you keep track of the days and your responsibilities for each day of the week. A felt calendar can help your child learn skills that will help plan his days and become more proficient at using a calendar. Felt is an easy fabric to work with because it does not need to be sewed to prevent it from fraying. You can also use felt to adorn your child's calendar with shapes and pictures based on his interests.

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Large piece of solid-colored felt
• Large piece of coordinating felt in a different color
• Sharp scissors
• Velcro
• Assorted felt scraps
• Number stencils
• Fabric pencil
• Ruler
• Dowel
• Ribbon

1. • 1
     Cut a large piece of solid-colored felt into a square. Cut it in the size you want your calendar to be and then set it aside.
   • 2
     Use your second piece of coordinating felt to cut 31 small squares to become your calendar grid. The square need to be small enough so that all of them together can fit on large piece of felt that you cut earlier.
   • 3
     Attach a piece of Velcro to the back of each square. This will allow your child to remove the extra days for months with only 30 days, and for February, which only has 28 or 29 days, depending on the year.
   • 4
     Attach the opposite pieces of Velcro to your large square of felt. Arrange them so the calendar squares will all fit when attached. Make five rows for weeks and seven columns for days.
   • 5
     Press each calendar square onto a piece of Velcro. Set the calendar aside.
   • 6
     Use a fabric pencil to trace the numbers 1 through 31 on pieces of felt scraps.
   • 7
     Cut out each number using a pair of sharp scissors.
   • 8
     Use fabric glue to secure each number to one of the calendar squares.
   • 9
     Cut decorations, according to your child's interests, from your felt scraps.
   • 10
     Glue the decorations to the calendar.
   • 11
     Allow the glue to dry.
   • 12
     Cut three strips of felt from your scraps.
   • 13
     Glue one side of each felt strip to the top back of the calendar, spacing them out evenly. Allow the glue to dry completely.
   • 14
     Place a dowel on top of the three felt strips.
   • 15
     Fold each felt strip toward the back of the calendar and around the dowel, and use fabric glue to attach the end to the end that has already been glued. Allow the glue to dry completely.
   • 16
     Cut a length of ribbon. The size will depend on how you decide to hang your calendar.
   • 17
     Wrap the end of the ribbon around each end of the dowel and tie a tight knot. Put a drop of fabric glue on the ribbon to help secure it to the dowel.
   • 18
     Allow the calendar to dry completely before hanging it up and using it.