Even before they can write, children can start honing their pre-literacy skills. Story stones inspire preschoolers, and even toddlers, to "write" their own tales. The act of storytelling can take your child off to imaginary places and inspire endless adventures without ever leaving your living room. They won't even know they're learning.
Our simple take on this project allows you to make your own story stones in minutes, no drawing ability necessary.
For this project we used smooth stones we'd collected at the beach over the summer, but you can usually find them at a gardening store too. Or if you don't have stones feel free to use something else, like blocks.
You also want to pick up a pack of stickers that will inspire your little one. Something open ended like animals, circus or sea life works well, but you could also choose a pack of, say, Frozen stickers. I've heard that's popular.
To make your story stones all you have to do is clean and dry your stones, place a sticker on each one and then seal by brushing a bit of Modge Podge decoupage glue over the top. If you don't have the glue the stickers may stay on anyway. Don't sweat it.
Once your stones are dry, they're ready to go. Start creating your stories! Move the stones around and see how many stories you can make up using your stones.
Show us what you make. Share it on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram and tag @mommypoppins so we can see your creations too!
Kids' work is to play. WeeWork is a Mommy Poppins series offering an easy daily activity for grown-ups and children to do together, making kids' work an important part of your day. We aim to inspire together time, creativity and fun using only your imagination and things around the house. You can see all our WeeWork activity posts here.