Rainbow Fish Felt Play

This felt play was created to accompany the classic book The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister. The felt pieces were cut from felt squares then painted to match the characters from the story. I made this particular set a LONG time ago to use in a preschool classroom. It has held up so well despite classroom use and play with my kids at home.

While reading the story aloud the pieces are added to the felt board and interchanged to coincide with the changes the characters undergo throughout the story. We often take turns adding and replacing the pieces. After reading the story together, the pieces can be used to retell the story or for open ended play to create new stories. I often leave our felt stories in a basket under our board along with a related book and the kids can explore independently. I love to hear their retellings and the new language come to life as they play.

This set includes 2 versions of the fish. One set represents the fish at the beginning of the story. The second set represents the fish at the end of the story.

SPOILER ALERT! The Rainbow Fish shares his scales with the others.

Using felt stories paired with books can HAVE THE FOLLOWING BENEFITS:

- increased involvement and motivation to engage with literacy

- helps to build connections between written and spoken word

- increased comprehension

- retelling

- sequencing

- oral language development

- fostering imagination

- vertical play (Check out a post all about vertical play here)

What is a story that would make for a great felt board story? Tell us below in the comments.

Did you enjoy this post? If so you may be interested in more of our felt play activities. You can see them all here.