SCHOOL VISITS WITH FLANNEL BOARD

My school visit was great fun last week. After using the overhead to project the story for all to see, I pulled out the flannel board for the next book with the smaller class next in line. As the story was read, I could place a character on the board keeping every ones attention. And keeping attention is key with the younger ones.
For this example I used a book by Cinthia Reeg, DOGGIE DAY CAMP, I illustrated.
After purchasing a large tri-fold poster board, I glued a bright color felt for a background.
My next step was taking the book to a copy shop and enlarging several important characters in the story. I had them laminate the large pieces and trim them. Later I used a velcro type sticker on back of each so they could be placed on the felt and also moved around. Using the characters, I could ask questions and involve my audience even more.
It was very easy and cheap to make and really proved to improve the visit.
I would love to hear how others make their school visits successful.