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The following set of posts were copied here from a previous discussion.


Member Diane Grindahl originally wrote:

What I am looking for is the Ruth story bag idea found at rotation.org at one time.  I had a bag but it was borrowed by a church member and not returned.  I will need to find another one for this fall when we teach the lesson again.  Help!

The Ruth Story Bag was one that you turned inside out but kept turning it over and over again. I'm not sure how it worked as I didn't teach the lesson. Apparently you turned it over and over again and then turned it back over and over again to return to the original color bag.

Ruth Story Bag Script
Excerpt of copyrighted script....

Hearts- (manipulating the story bag, turn it inside out to reveal the 'hearts fabric' pocket)

When you see hearts do you think of sweethearts? Love? Today I want to share with you one of the sweetest love stories ever read -- except this story starts off very sad. We've got this story in the bag. We'll begin this true love story on the road to Bethlehem. Close your eyes. Can you see three women? One is an older woman, the other two are young women. They are walking along a dry and dusty road. They are carrying all they own in bags. Open your eyes and listen.

Thanks!
Diane Grindahl
Children's Ministry Director
Rose Hill Alliance Church


Member Neil MacQueen replied:

The web is a wonderful place...

I googled "Ruth Story Bag" and found this retelling of the story using that bag you describe in FULL DETAIL.  I have copied this video and the script that Diane has provided into the Ruth forum.  Thanks Diane!

Here is a video presentation of the Story of Ruth told with a special "storytelling bag".

Sold by Salt and Light Ministries at https://www.saltandlightmin.or...less_Story_Bags.html

How to make a story bag video and document from Down Under...

http://www.theagapepuppets.org...Make-a-Story-Bag.pdf

and the page the link is on...

http://www.theagapepuppets.org...esources/story-bags/

The video linked above show how to pin together the different colors of cloth. The PDF is a bit confusing without the visual.

Anybody want to (please) MAKE one of these bags?

I would love to know if a child could be shown how to make one to retell a story.

I might have the kids draw images or words from the lesson on the squares of fabric.


Member Amy Crane replied:

I think a child could be taught to make one - BUT you would need to teach them to use a sewing machine first (I think with all that flipping, a child's running stitch would not be very sturdy, and would take a very long time to hand sew all 10 pieces together -- I have done hand-sewing with Brownie Girl Scouts (1st-2nd grade) and teaching and then doing is VERY time-consuming).

Although, since it is all straight seams, I think if you have a bunch of volunteers (one to one ratio, if possible) and each has a sewing machine, one-on-one they could demonstrate sewing and by the time they got to the second strip of 5 squares, the child could run the machine with the volunteer by his side.

Other possibilities:

Volunteers in advance could sew together the 2 strips of 5, and maybe the children could be taught to do the running stitch down the 2 sides to hold it together.

Or use staples?  But only for the 2 side seams, not to hold individual color panels together in strip.....

Youth or other group in church project to sew the bags together with plain cloth and then the children can decorate the panels to tell the story (not sure what you would decorate with - if it is already sewn together, marker may bleed through fabric).

I do like the idea of each child ending up with a bag to take home so he can retell the story!

I do think the challenge in making a bag is finding fabric to fit the story (the flip flops and sunglasses for the last part of the Ruth bag linked by Neil several posts above was interesting.....)

Maybe have kids assemble with Safety pins.

Safer than staples which would have pokey ends sticking through.

Not sure how easy it will be for little hands (younger elementary) to fasten them trough multiple layers of cloth.

I don't have my sewing machine with me this week, so I can't make a test version. Although I guess I could test using safety pins for all of the seams?

I will make you one of these bags.

Or several to test different methods.


Member Luanne replied:

Just thinking out loud....

You could get someone in the church to make the bags all in advance, but with plain solid colour fabrics, using a different colour for each section (different colours will help the children know the correct order to add their fabric pieces later).

Then have the children choose fabric from a selection you provide that they think help tells each section of the story.  You could even have them draw on another plain piece of fabric with permanent markers or fabric paint.  Have them cut their pieces slightly smaller than the side of the bag they will be attaching it to on the pre-made story bag.  To attach their pieces use fusing fabric and iron it to its correct colour section on the story bag.

This way you'd only need irons and rather than ironing boards you need some sort of protection fabric on your tables.

Last edited by Luanne Payne
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