Birthday Cake in the Oven

I am always trying to think of clever ways to use felt and make new flannel board displays.  I love the visual element that it adds to rhymes and songs.  I made this birthday cake display to go along with "Pat-a-Cake".  

First, I ask the little ones who likes birthday cake.  Then I tell them that we are going to bake a cake just like in the rhyme!  If they are old enough, I can ask them for suggestions on what we should put in the cake; otherwise, I just list off the ingredients as I put them on the board: flour, sugar, eggs, milk, and butter.  Then, with the felt cake layered underneath, I put the oven on top of the ingredients.  We all count to five to let the oven "warm up" so the cake can cook.  

After that, I carefully peel the oven off revealing the cake underneath!  The kiddos were pretty thrilled with this; it seemed like a magic trick to them.  Finally, as another counting exercise, I count five birthday candles to go on top and our birthday cake is done.  I think that this is a great exercise to show kids patience, counting, and of course a fun surprise!