Story Stones - a fun and interactive way for children to explore, retell, or create stories.

There are many ways to use story stones

From storytelling to early literacy skills, story stones provide a super opportunity for imaginative play, and there’s some great sensory stuff going on too: the colours are vibrant, they’re cool to the touch, and there’s something soothing about the sound of the stones clacking together as you play with them.

Use them as story-telling aids‍

The children choose a stone from the basket, and start a story based on the stone that they’ve chosen.  Another stone is drawn from the basket, and the story continues, incorporating this next picture into it.  

One child can be telling this story, or you can pass the basket around a small group of children, so that each child draws a stone, and adds another sentence to the story.

Alternatively, children can choose a stone and pass it to an adult who then tells a story.  

Sorting and Grouping

Children can sort and group the stones based on the chosen characteristic.  Sort animals and non-animals.  Group by main colour, size, etc.

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Creative Play

- Characters in the dollhouse

- Animals in a ‘zoo' or ‘farm’

- inside or outside

- In conjunction with building blocks

- As food in the play kitchen

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Positioning

Children might enjoy lining the stones up in a long row or to make a large circle on the floor.

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There’s no right or wrong way to play with the stones.  

They’re open-ended, and they foster creativity and critical thinking.

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Add to your stones collection over time – the possibilities for different themes and occasions are endless.

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How to make your story stones

To start, put a puddle of Mod Podge* on a stone, and then place the cut-out in the puddle, and use your fingers to smooth out any air bubbles.

*Recipe for Homemade 'Mod Podge' here

With a sponge brush, smooth and dab a little mod podge over the cut-out (stickers, magazine, or fabric) pressing around the edges with your fingers, to get a good seal between the picture and the stone.

If you don’t want to go to the trouble of using mod podge to make your story stones, you could simply apply assorted stickers to your stones, and then give them a coat of varnish for protection.

Whether you’re using mod podge or craft varnish, be sure to let your stones dry thoroughly before tossing them all into a basket for storing.  If they’re not completely dry, they could stick together. They will need a couple of days until they no longer feel tacky.