Sheffield_Todd_Free_Choice (Props Experience)

Introduction

    For today's blogpost, I want to discuss my experience with storytelling with props. I will begin by summarizing the story I decided to read for our storytelling with props assignment, and also explain why I chose that story. In addition, I will also detail how I found the props I did for use with that assignment. I quite enjoyed myself with the props, and found their inclusion entertaining. In fact, for my free choice storytelling assignment, I may even find more props to use for another story. Props should remain accurate to the story you are using, as highlighted in our instructions. I made sure to reread our instructions for assignment sheet given my previous mistakes, so this was a valuable learning experience. Without further ado, let us look at the story I found and my experience telling it for class.

The teacup I used as a central prop with my previous storytelling.

The story I chose and recap

    For our storytelling with props assignment, I read Too Tiny for Tea by Tara Benwell. It involves a five year old boy named Marty Mckay, the youngest member of his family who wants to do the same things adults and older kids do. These activities are innocuous but require an older, taller body, like handling a teacup, playing basketball, riding a bike to a store for candy, and so on. However, his parents and older siblings discourage him because of his small size. Hence the repeating words of "baby" and "tiny" throughout much of the story. Eventually, Marty gets tired of this and wishes he was not the smallest of the family anymore, which his father tells him to be careful what he wishes for. Marty's mother soon discovers she is expecting another child, but Marty is not happy about this. He has been told that he is too tiny for so long that he does not feel like he is suited to serve as a big brother.

How I found props

    I needed to purchase props for this reading. I could have used a coffee mug, for example, for the tea, but I wanted to remain accurate to the story. (I did also drink tea from the teacup, but it was sweet tea and not the usual hot tea you would use with a teacup like this.) I am not an athletic man, and I live in an apartment, so I did not have a basketball. I also needed something to convey that a child is being brought into the world soon, and decided on one of those Hallmark cards that congratulates a woman for expecting. The only prop I had readily available that I used was a Crunch candy bar that I had in my pantry. In other words, it was shopping time, and I was fortunate that I planned ahead. Honestly, searching for the props was also a fun experience, and made the final product all the more enjoyable for myself and hopefully also the people watching my video.

The basketball I used. Instead of just showing, I also played around with the ball during my storytelling video.

    Since this was an assignment and I am a full time graduate student on a fixed income, I did my best to keep prop searching inexpensive. However, by primarily using thrift stores like Goodwill, I managed to do just that. I currently live in Savannah, Georgia, a decently big city by Georgia standards. There are several Goodwills in the Savannah metro area, and this pursuit required some driving around. The Goodwill in Southside Savannah had a decent standalone teacup, but no basketball. Despite that, I purchased the teacup for about a dollar or so and then headed to Pooler. After tending to some other chores and getting lunch, I visited the Pooler Goodwill and found this gray basketball for about another dollar or two. For the expecting a new child portion of the story, I visited Dollar Tree back in Southside Savannah and found a Hallmark card for about another dollar or so. All around, the prop hunting cost no more than five or six dollars after taxes. This was more than reasonable, and more than sufficient to supply myself for the storytelling video.

The prop manipulating experience

    The required usage of props for this assignment made it far more enjoyable than just reading from a book. I printed the story since I found it online, but I made sure to look at the viewer too and emote during the process. Before I began recording, I set aside all of my props I used right next to my computer where I read the story: the teacup, the basketball, the candy, and the Hallmark card. By rereading the story a few times before recording, I helped myself memorize the order in which my props were needed. This helped make the process more seamless and hopefully made my reading more organic and uninterrupted. At one point, Marty wanted to ride his bike to visit the store, but I cannot fit a big bike into my apartment nor can I fit on a children's bike. I improvised by including the candy and showing it as for why Marty needed to ride his bike, and also used my hand gestures to convey bike riding. Sometimes you make due and use emoting and gestures as a complement, even with props. Still, I am confident that the storytelling went well, and enjoyed myself the entire time.

The candy bar I used. Perhaps Marty is not too tiny for this one?

    Overall, the prop hunting helped with my enjoyment with the experience. For this particular story, the prop search was not too difficult, and I feasibly found everything during the daytime in a single day period. The prop hunt was legitimately enjoyable in its own right, and getting everything situated with my props was a reward in of itself. I certainly believe that translated into enthusiasm and a proper flow during the video. While I will likely need to conduct another prop search, I am interested in finding another children's story to record with prop manipulation for our free choice assignment. Given I enjoyed this prop hunt, maybe the next one will be even better? Regardless, storytelling with props for the first time was a very entertaining experience that I would not mind doing again.

WORKS CITED

Benwell, T. (n.d.). Too Tiny for Tea. EnglishCLUB. https://www.englishclub.com/kids/stories/too-tiny-for-tea.php