I was first inspired by the story stones I saw at the wonderful Red Bird Crafts but unfortunately I never quite got around to buying some Mod Podge to give it ago. Then SquiggleMum shared a simpler version with permanent markers and liquid paper and I thought, I could do that. Now finally, with our focus on indoor nature play, I have put paint pen to rock and made a simple set of Story Stones.
I chose simple motifs which represent common themes in Immy’s play – an owl, bird, leaf, tree, grapes, apple, strawberry, snail, caterpillar, ladybird, fish, snail, house, wand, bag, and two children.
Instead of introducing them all at once, I chose eight to start with and set them out on the mat for Immy to ‘discover.’ The idea is that I will add one or two new stones each day, hopefully encouraging her oral stories to continue to grow and develop.
I love how simple these are to make and to play, and I love that we can easily add a new stone at any time.
And for more story stones inspiration, check out this post over at I’m a Teacher, Get Me Outside Here.
Christie Burnett is an early childhood teacher, presenter, writer and the editor of Childhood 101. More importantly, she is a Mum who believes wholeheartedly in the value of children learning through play, the importance of quality early education, and the togetherness of family.
~Michelle
Julie
Wonder if we could use some of the shells we collected last week to do the same...
When you say Paint Pen used what exactly? and is is permanent?
Amanda - I am sure smooth shells would work.
Michele - I will most definitely try and capture some stories. I just used permanent paint pens from an art store - they say they are good for glass and metal so I thought they would work well on glossy rocks. So far, so good, and if they do wear off, they are super easy to touch up.