In my first post about flannelgraph, I stated my excitement in receiving the Through the Bible in Felt
In this post I want to explain the in’s and out’s of the set. Contents, likes, and dislikes.
Betty Lukens Flannelgraph Contents
There are several sets that are available ranging from about $10 all the way up to around $300. The set I received contained everything that I would need to teach our kiddos or a group of kiddos the entire Bible.
-600 12′ figures and objects
-2 boxes that include a filing system (someone put some thought into this!)
-Three mounted backgrounds (32″ x 48″)- Water and Sky, Indoor and Purple
-Four bright and colorful overlays-Hillside, Shoreline, Desert and Throne Room
–Teacher’s Manual 
Figures and Objects – I was thrilled with the clarity and realness in each figure and object. My children immediately picked out the different Bible stories just by looking at the pictures. The felt is thick and the colors are vivid.
Backgrounds and Overlays – The backgrounds set the stage for the story. The overlays give many, many possibilities. To be extremely picky, (I have to find one thing I don’t like!) the dessert scene isn’t my favorite – only because it isn’t the image that pops into my head of a dessert – a little too purple?
Filing system – You can only image the craziness of trying to keep up with 600 felt pieces ranging in 1/4″ to 12″ in size. It isn’t rocket science what they came up with but I couldn’t have done it on my own.
The Not-So-Great of Betty Lukens Flannelgraph
Okay, now to share “the ugh!” These 600 figures and objects are not pre-cut. That means you have to physically cut them out yourself with a pair of scissors. Yes, this takes a very long time. Above you will see the pile of flannel that I received!
But if you follow a few of my tips, it is very doable.
Here is what I learned in the process:
-Dull scissors will not work. Grab a pair of sharp scissors to do this job.
-No matter how ambition you are to cut apart the entire set, simply rough cut the pieces and file each piece. Then, as you need the individual pieces for a story, neatly cut them out.
– Do not worry cutting out every piece and on all the black lines. I did not cut between the figure’s fingers or cut out small white sections (around the elbows).
The Teacher’s Manual gives a few more suggestions for cutting and filing the pieces. Even though it took a VERY long time (and I have only cut the pieces apart!), I knew that it would be worth it in the end. Makes the job much easier.
Overall Thoughts on Betty Lukens Flannelgraph
I am so impressed with this set. I am impressed with the quality of the pictures and the details in the Teacher’s Manual. At this point, I don’t have anything negative to comment on. (Very unusual for me!)
For the ABCJesusLovesMe Curriculum, I suggest the Deluxe Set. I do realize that these sets are expensive. Thus, adding the flannelgraph to the ABCJLM curriculum is a suggestion not a must. With that said, if you are looking at homeschooling, running a preschool, or working in a church setting for any length of time, I believe you will find your purchase worthwhile. But, if you find yourself jumping between ideas in teaching your children, then I would start off with a small set and check to see how much you use it before diving in.
More Information
Using Flannelgraph
Using Flannelgraph on a Tight Budget
Thanks to the Betty Lukens company for provided me with this set to review.
We had that set at church and it is very nice. I am interested to continue to read your posts on using flannelgraph. I don't have any here at home but I am excited to see your posts about making things and possibly adding the set to a Christmas list or something!
We also have the Large Deluxe English set. Absolutely BEAUTIFUL! When it came three years ago, my husband was amazed at the vivid colors, the quantity of figures and scenery pieces, and the thickness of the felts. Would you believe there are STILL pieces I have not "fine cut?" LOL. We use what we use of it, I guess, which is mostly the whole set. We'll get to those last little pieces some day.
The girls enjoy Bible story time with this bright, colorful set. They especially love that we tell two stories in two weeks, then the third week is for them to practice their "Bible Telling" with just those two stories.
I agree, at first the price seemed out of our reach. But we considered it an investment in a long-term resource, both for our children (we homeschool) and for any outside ministry we do with the set. We decided to get the large set, rather than the small one, precisely because it is more useful for ministry with larger groups.
I can see this working in churches, schools, homeschools, prisons, nursing homes, hospitals, group homes, and more. If you are in deaf ministry, please consider this set, as it is VERY visual! You could communicate so much with this set and some sign language. The deaf community is so unreached with the good news.
Love the idea of using it in a deaf ministry.
I LOVE this set also…It took me about 3 weeks to cut it out entirety. I did it while I watched TV, and used high-end fabric scissors…crucial. I had a previous set that I used when I taught Sunday school, and I stayed on top of replacing the pieces to their proper 'place'…and it was great! The second set I bought for a family owned preschool, I did the same thing. The downfall here is the staff are not good about taking the time to return the pieces, and I found they stuffed them in a zip lock! I thought I was going to pull my hair out!
So glad you enjoyed it!
We sent one over to Cuttuck, Odisha in India to be used with the Dalit children in the slums…..and they all love it!….there is no electricity and the surroundings are very dirty and dingy, so to have these bright, vivid and colourful pictures without the need for electricity is perfect. Many adults (very strict militant Hindus in Odisha) come in to listen to the Bible stories because it is so interesting – what a witness.
That is amazing!