Flannel-graph Fun

You can see Isaac's toes peeking out from under the blanket on the right.  He fell fast asleep while watching the stories.

I heard once that we should look to what we loved to play in childhood to find our passions.  I don't tend to take this sort of thing too seriously, but looking back, I do laugh to think that two things I spent countless hours doing were first, taking care of my babies.  And second, using my mom's Sunday school supplies (flannel graph, signs for songs, and teaching manuals) to teach my stuffed animals.  Mom encouraged this play by buying me an attendance chart and stickers so I could make sure that all my animals showed up for their lessons.  She also bought me a couple sets of my own flannel graph (Esther and Moses).  When I started teaching sunday school lessons at age twelve to the twos and threes at church, it didn't even occur to me that I was young, I had been doing this regularly for years (all be it with stuffed animals).

Another find from the bins from my childhood were the three felt bible scenes (palace, outside and small home) and all the flannel graph I used as a child.  Oh my, we had so much fun on a snowday using the Moses set together and Rowan spent a long time with the David set (mostly playing with the arrows.)  I'm looking forward to getting more out and I have a couple boys who really want me to buy some white flannel to draw some more scenes (the Moses story calls for a dessert and mountain scene, which we don't have.)

I have the flannel-graph downstairs, but in a place where the boys can get it out (though one story at a time is the rule) and bring it up to play with it.  It is such a joy to see them playing with the biblical story.  Seeing them play with the stories (even when they are playing with arrows and changing things around,) I am reminded so beautifully that it isn't just any story, it is their story and my story, a story in which we are called to play a part.