Now that the painting is done, I'm moving on to some smaller additions to the room. The first is this felt butterfly puzzle that I made, inspired by Imagine Childhood. This is a great way to stimulate the developmentally disabled individuals using the room, as they will get to touch the textured felt pieces and use their minds to complete the puzzle.
The real challenge to this project was making sure that it would be durable in the room, as many of the individuals could easily break classic puzzles made out of Styrofoam or flimsy paper pieces. I think using felt and Velcro will work the best because the pieces are easily washable and storable, as well as less breakable.
Follow my process below! Obviously, this technique can be applied to any animal, shape, or design.
Instructions:
- Draw (or trace) your shape on a large piece of poster board.
- Place felt pieces over that large shape and trace the design's outline. Cut out this felt-version of your design.
- Cut your felt version into as many shapes as you want. You can trace these new shapes onto the poster board, on top of/inside the original shape; however, I did not do this.
- Add Velcro pieces where appropriate.
- Play and enjoy!
