I have long enjoyed telling stories with my own children and using storytelling stones has just enhanced that. . I absolutely know it has encouraged them to read and write creatively and with stricture. I also believe it has been a key part of developing their confidence in verbal communication.
I am so excited to tell you about storyshaping stones and how they can really promote storytelling with kids. I went on a course with Julia Damassa who developed the storyshaping tools a few years ago and she totally inspired me in the art of story telling with children. She is an amazing and talented woman with huge wisdom.
Not only have I used the stones and storytelling methods she taught me with my own kids I have used her shapes within therapeutic settings too. I have used the story shapes to help children explore their issues through giving them a narrative and directing and exploring possible pathways.
Story Telling Stones
The stones are such a lovely tool for play or therapeutic work and they are beautifully made and robust. Children love to hold or stroke them as they talk and there is such a timeless quality to them.
Storytelling is an ancient art and brings alive ideas and imagination, memories and dreams. Teaching our children the art of storytelling is to give them a gift that will last throughout their life time. Communication is key to our development, our relationships and our work and I see storytelling as one of the most vital of all play activities.
These beautiful storyshaping storytelling stones are a truly lovely way to engage your child and strengthen the bond between you. Making your own stroytelling stones woudl be great fun too.
Further reading
Random acts of kindness ideas for kids
Oh I love them Becky, what a great idea! I can really see now how helpful they are.
Hi. Your video for these storytelling stones is wonderful! Thank you! Our 3 year old is a very independent little girl and I can always see the wheels turning in her imagination every day when she plays with her toys. And her 2 yr old brother loves ‘reading’ their books. The storytelling stones are a perfect Christmas gift. I think I’ll be buying them for my friends kids too.
Thank you for sharing and we wish you a wonderful day filled with imagination!
I just love this idea Becky, I’ve done something similar with my girls an storytelling dice. It’s such a fun activity.
Ooh Becky these are gorgeous! I rarely watch videos in blog posts, but it was so lovely to hear your voice, you’re a natural!
The storytelling stones look fab, anything that encouraged imagination and creativity is good with me. T loves making up stories and if we walk to school he always comes up with some brilliant ones in his head but he doesn’t always have the confidence to write them down (too much of a perfectionist!) so these seem like a great way of bridging that gap and helping him think more about structure without stifling his little mind. Fab.
I remember doing something similar when my son was younger and he really loved it, I let him choose four or five different pictures from a collection and then I made up a story. They weren’t that great to be honest but he really loved it!
These stones look gorgeous and I love that they are so open ended. It would be really good to do this with both my children together. And your video is brilliant, such great tips and ideas.
I love this idea Becky – I used things like this a lot when Johnny was younger as he struggled to learn to read and write so he had problems trying to express himself other than telling stories!
What a fabulous set and I love storytelling with my kids, we have a set of storytelling dice that I use with them to help develop their language skills but like these stones better for younger children.
Very interesting Becky! I think it could be good for my bilingual kids too!
Great ideas Becky, we have some somewhere I must dig out, great for car journeys. Love the ideas.