A few weeks ago, a page I follow (The Artful Parent), shared a post on story stones. I knew immediately we would be doing something like this. I'm a big believer in creative play, and besides that, we have thousands of river rocks in our backyard (they were being used in the front flower beds when we moved in).
Story stones are great for introducing little ones to creative thinking by using their imaginations and language skills for storytelling. For smaller ones, like Zoe, who is just over 2, they're great for object identification or grouping games. Zoe loves to just play with hers, putting them in her dollhouses and toy cars, talking to them, letting them talk to each other, etc.
There are a a lot of ways to make them. You can do as we did, and paint them with acrylic paints, or you can mod podge stickers and cut out images onto the stones. Getting a child involved in the making of the stones will really amp up the experience, and encourage them even more to play with the stones. Let them choose a few packs of stickers from the store or go through magazines, or thrifted children's books for images they'd like to use. Here's Zoe helping big sis with her story stones.
*Please make sure to supervise smaller children with story stones that are small enough to be a choking hazard.
Other Resources:
Informed Mama has a good many suggestions on ways to use the stones.
Children's Book Daily also has some good ideas for stone play.
If you're not up for making your own, there are plenty of Etsy shops that have some really great sets for sale. This one has some of my favorite sets including this adorable The Very Hungry Caterpillar set.
Until next time...
Linking these to:
Creative Collectionn @ Craft-o-Maniac
