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TEACHING IDEAS
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Flannel Board Stories
A successful business man once told of preparing a presentation for his company. He relied on a teaching tactic from his boyhood Sunday school days, flannel board stories. He colored and cut out the figures he needed and then, using the carpeted walls of the conference room, told his story. The company leaders listened intently as he used the dated method to teach his point. He was pleased that this ‘old teaching method’ was powerful in the days of power point presentations.
I recently watched a teacher tell the flannel board story of King Solomon determining the rightful mother in a case brought before him. This teacher told the story to 25 children under the age of 8 and had a few of the children add the flannel board figures to the board as they were introduced in the story. The teacher began the story by telling how two women came to King Solomon both claiming a single baby. King Solomon was to determine to which woman the baby belonged. He suggested he cut the baby in half and give half to each mother. He raised his sword. When the teacher came to this part of the story, a little boy in the middle row pulled his knees up into the chair, covered his eyes with his hands and said, “I can’t watch!” Then, at the end of the story when King Solomon discovers the real mother and rewards her with her baby, a little girl in the front row raised both arms over her head and cheered, “Hooray!” This teacher effectively garnered each person’s undivided attention through the flannel board story and pulled them in until they felt a part of the story.
Flannel Board stories can be adapted from any story. Color books, free-hand drawings, pictures cut from magazines or old books can all be adapted for flannel board stories. Attach a small piece of sandpaper or velcro to the back of the picture to get them to stick to the flannel. You can make a flannel board by simply hanging a piece of flannel to the wall or staple a piece of flannel to a board.
A variation of flannel board stories is puppets. Paper sack, sock, popsicle stick, or hand puppets are all additional ways to gain an audience’s attention. Look where puppets got Sesame Street!
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