Story stones ideas to inspire kids imaginations

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Today we are exploring the idea of creating story stone with the kids to spark and inspire their little minds and imaginations. You can create a magical storytelling circle and let personalized stones be the guide. This is a wonderful way to boost confidence and developing their creative imaginations. Here are some story stones ideas for you to try out with your kids!

This activity is taken from the Forest School Activity Card Pack: 48 Fun Things to Do Outdoors, which is published by Watkins Publishing and offers some great ideas for outdoor fun in the forest with your kids, either as a parent or as a forest school teacher. Why not go and check it out?

Human beings were telling tales long before they knew how to write them down. In fact, storytelling has always been a feature of human existence. Ensuring ancient wisdom, local traditions and the knowledge of historical events survived throughout the ages. Cultures across the world have developed their own styles of communicating these stories. Many drawing on poetry, music, song or chanting to enhance the effect. In this way, stories travel down through the generations. Just think of all the myths and legends, some created millennia ago, that are still well known today.

This activity allows for the creation of new epic tales. With no script to follow, the children transport themselves to all sorts of far-flung places. Thus encountering extraordinary characters and eyeopening situations. Story stones can be used whenever you like. But some of our best experiences have been on wet days, huddled all together under a shelter, when the rain doesn’t allow for fairweather crafts and games to be played.

Storytelling can help children find their voices and develop communication skills, which in turn can boost confidence. This activity offers a real workout for the imagination and creative abilities. Taking turns and remembering a storyline allows children to develop their memory, patience, focus, empathy and listening skills, as well as expanding vocabulary. The story can also be a safe way of delving into and expressing emotions. All while learning how to understand and empathize with the characters increases emotional intelligence and self-awareness. And of course, sitting together to create a tale is a wonderful way of bonding a group.

Materials

• Drawstring bag
• Smooth, round, palm-sized pebbles, and
• Colouring pens

This doesn’t require too much equipment again, and is really easy to get stuck into with the class or your kids. All you need to do is start to have fun with your stones! If you are doing this as a parent, then your kids can take a few stones each to work with – they might end up with a few, which should keen them entertained for a little bit longer!

1. Ask everyone to sit in a circle. Then go round with a bag full of pebbles and ask each child to take one. Let them notice its weight, shape, texture and colour.
2. Each child now draws or writes something on their stone – an animal, pattern, word: whatever they wish. Then put the stones back in the bag and mix them up.
3. Ask a child to pull out a stone and use it as inspiration to start a story, placing the stone on the ground when they have finished speaking. As each child picks out a stone, they continue the story, until all the stones are laid out on the floor.

We hope that you enjoyed this post and got some good story stones ideas. If you did, you may also like these other story stones and forest school ideas!

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If you would like more ideas from the Forest School activity cards, do take a look on Amazon as well. We are going to publish a few more on the site, so search for them on here too in the coming weeks.

 Helen 

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