Molly of The Purl Bee made this cute “aquarium” bulletin board, which would be great for a child’s room.*

Something a bit darker would also be a great gift for an older child or adult. Instead of starfish and seaweed, you could populate your “aquarium” with sharks, piranha, and electric eels. Or, instead of an aquarium, choose a darker-colored board and make a graveyard with little felt tombstones, skulls, and fluttering bats. If you’re feeling particularly ambitious, a set of magnets that can be arranged into a skeleton (skull, ribcage, pelvis, armbones, etc.) would be a great project.

Felt is fairly easy to work with because the edges don’t ravel. You can cut small, intricate shapes without having to worry about finishing raw edges or turning tight corners. Keep an eye for a theme that appeals to you, then search for patterns (or even clip art) that you can print and use as a cutting guide. Add a bit of simple embroidery (Molly’s tutorial is a great guide to embellishing the shapes) and you can turn out nice-looking felt objects without too much effort.

You can also decorate the magnetic board itself using paint or thin contact paper cut into various shapes. A flock of magnetic bats flitting out of a gothic-looking window would be much more fun to hang dental appointments and reminders to call the plumber than a boring old corkboard.

*With the important caveat that the child is old enough to know not to swallow magnets. Strong magnets can cause internal injury if swallowed.