August 30, 2020
My story audience is made up of a six-year-old boy and his four-year-old sister. They both love to see new things in a story, but that doesn’t mean I have to be constantly buying little objects.
The illustration above shows some of the figures and props used in today’s story.
I bought my first four-piece set of little owl figurines on eBay for less than a dollar each (including postage!). Since then, I have purchased three more sets because these owls have become very popular. I paint TWO identical figurines each time. One that goes to Oklahoma. One that stays in Kansas.
The table on the right is from a Calico Critters set. These sets are darling, but expensive. It’s just the right size for our stories and I already own it, so I use it. The second table is just a piece of foam packaging material, roughly cut into a block. It has a felt tablecloth, and each time naughty Rowan-owl jumps up on the table (NO FEET ON THE TABLE, ROWAN!) , poor Mavis-owl must put on a fresh tablecloth. A stack of felt is always nearby and Mavis has SO many different colors of table cloths!
Each little chair is made from a wooden block and a piece of a wide tongue-depressor.
Some of the cups are LEGO cups. (These are for coffee and tea.) The colored Pearler beads are glasses for additional drinks. (Pink lemonade, cherry juice, green apple juice, and milk.)
The background is made from a 4 x 6 canvas painting panel. These are strong and cheap and I already had them so I used them. (Cardboard also works.)
A little wooden block ( a Dollar Store Jenga piece) is glued to the back to hold up the wall.
Finally, our stories take place on an old table that was once used for painting. So when I dropped something and said “Whoops” during the story, my grandson asked, “Where’s the Whoops.” He laughed and laughed when I wrote it right on the table. (Colored pencil washes off.) And so far, I get away with misspellings, too!
Would you like to see more home-made story props? Add a comment or contact me on Instagram (@grandmavan_stories)
Grandma Van Stories 