Story Sack And Small World

[Guest]

I'm hoping we might be able to buy some resources to make fairy tale story sacks and also some small world figures such as knights, princesses, dragons, ordinary people, firefighters, policemen, animals etc. Does anyone know of any good suppliers of these things or any ordinary places where will be able to get some cheap, particularly the story sacks as they all seem to be horredously expensive!

[Upsy Daisy]

Our school has a group of parents who bring their skills to a session once a month or so. They all do the bit they feel able like sewing sacks, making labels, knitting puppet characters, printing information, laminating resources, finding linked books,.....

 

Could you find a motivated parent to get something going for you?

[SueFinanceManager]

Hi

 

I was going to say that story sacks are quite easy to make if you have a friend or parent who has a sewing machine.....after all the sack is really only a square.

 

Shops now have such fab fabric that you may be able to find themed fabric for each sack......although it may be nice not to give a visual clue before you start your story.

 

As for characters, in the setting I worked we had quite a lot of playmobil We had to remove some of the very small pieces but they were quite robust.

 

Sue

[Guest]

Could you find a motivated parent to get something going for you.

 

It's hard enough trying to get volunteers in to work with the children on reading or even getting the parents to bring the children to school in many cases! Unfortunately we're in a really socially deprived area and the head is going for little steps with getting the parents involved. The few we have who are enthusiastic are the ones who work full time.

 

 

Thanks for your replies though. I was a little unclear in my first post about what I was asking I think. It's not so much the actual sacks themselves that we need (we have some, they are just empty as the resources were not well looked after). What I would like is somewhere I can buy cheap things to go in the sacks, preferably things linked to fairy tales like the gingerbread man etc. I was thinking puppets or small world figures or something, I know you can buy expensive sets from some places but I was hoping to be able to buy them cheaper from somewhere either individually or as sets. Assuming making them is not an option does anyone know of places to buy such things?

Edited January 26, 2010 by Guest

[Panders]

I noticed that The Early Learning Centre had a range of knights etc. today, you can buy on line if you don't have one locally.

[Guest]

I am the nursery teacher in a 52 place setting. I inherited 5 handmade story sacks 4 years ago and since then they have increased to 30. I have to admit to becoming a bit obsessed at creating them for a while. I have to say very little money has actually been spent on them. A lot of the sacks have been created from things I already had in nursery which is all right as we do use them in nursery as well as sending them home every week. Also you'll be amazed at what you can pick up from school fairs, charity shops etc. In addition I have used books and toys that my own children have grown out of! I get my ideas from what the children show an interest in, but as well, if I see 2 or 3 things together I often think that would make a great story sack! I have never bought a commercial one as they are far too expensive but I do get my ideas from the publications that advertise story sacks. One thing , you have to learn is not to be too precious about the sacks as inevitably pieces do go missing. We do offer all our parents information on their uses and purpose at the beginning of each year stressing that the story sack is best used with an adult though.

Good luck. It is well worth pursuing, but it will take some time to build up a library.