The Art of Storytelling
Little Miss E loves to tell stories. She wakes up talking, falls asleep mid-sentence, and talks in her sleep. We read together several hours a day and when we aren't reading, she's weaving her own stories, often with an interpretive dance component as well.
We recently dug up some lake stones my husband and I collected back in summer of 2007 on a trip up north. Prior to becoming husband and wife. Prior to becoming daddy and mommy. Back when our days were based on our own schedules. Back when decisions seemed complicated but were simple in hindsight. Back when we felt so free to do whatever we wanted, whenever we wanted. Today these stones will tell another story. They will be in the hands of someone who is free to imagine and create. They will be in the hands of someone who finds delight in the little things and notices things we intentionally and unintentionally pass by without a thought.
Once we ran out of stones, I ordered 1.5" wood disks to paint on images and seal with a thin layer of Mod Podge (although some disks got a really thick layer of Mod Podge because I had to glob it on in fear of smearing the black marker I thought was permanent but wasn't - they ended up looking like a ceramic finish!).
There are so many ways to create the images for your story stones or disks. Stickers, stamps, paint, permanent marker, clip-art cut-outs, etc. Do what you're inspired to do!
All was good until I dipped my paintbrush into my coffee cup. Oops.
Make sets for party favors with a little journal for children to write down their stories (or for you to jot down their stories if they don't write yet!). Mail them off to pen pals to exchange story disks and stories!
Create disks based on recent travels or what you saw that day. Maybe you went to a baseball game. Maybe a squirrel was in the backyard collecting acorns for the winter. Maybe you visited an aquarium and saw fish, octopus, seahorses! Maybe it was a rainy day and you caught a glimpse of a rainbow as the sun shone through the last few drops of summer rain.
These story stones and disks may help children re-group when they are having meltdowns. There's no right or wrong way to create. What they do or don't do is completely up to them. On this particular day, given a marker, a paper plate, some fun tape, and a bowl of story stones, we moved past our rough morning and everyone reset!
We recently dug up some lake stones my husband and I collected back in summer of 2007 on a trip up north. Prior to becoming husband and wife. Prior to becoming daddy and mommy. Back when our days were based on our own schedules. Back when decisions seemed complicated but were simple in hindsight. Back when we felt so free to do whatever we wanted, whenever we wanted. Today these stones will tell another story. They will be in the hands of someone who is free to imagine and create. They will be in the hands of someone who finds delight in the little things and notices things we intentionally and unintentionally pass by without a thought.
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| Fabric cut-outs adhered to rocks using Mod Podge. |
There are so many ways to create the images for your story stones or disks. Stickers, stamps, paint, permanent marker, clip-art cut-outs, etc. Do what you're inspired to do!
All was good until I dipped my paintbrush into my coffee cup. Oops.
Make sets for party favors with a little journal for children to write down their stories (or for you to jot down their stories if they don't write yet!). Mail them off to pen pals to exchange story disks and stories!
Create disks based on recent travels or what you saw that day. Maybe you went to a baseball game. Maybe a squirrel was in the backyard collecting acorns for the winter. Maybe you visited an aquarium and saw fish, octopus, seahorses! Maybe it was a rainy day and you caught a glimpse of a rainbow as the sun shone through the last few drops of summer rain.
These story stones and disks may help children re-group when they are having meltdowns. There's no right or wrong way to create. What they do or don't do is completely up to them. On this particular day, given a marker, a paper plate, some fun tape, and a bowl of story stones, we moved past our rough morning and everyone reset!
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| Shucking local corn on a warm fall afternoon after covering the back patio in chalk drawings. |
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