Stories. Rock. Story Rocks.

Do you know what is better than a story?  

An interactive story!  Taking part in the reading of a book with props or re-telling of a story is engaging, entertaining, and builds on emergent literacy skills for even tiny babies.  

Science is a natural vocabulary booster!  There are so many things to see and to talk about!  Start by getting outside and taking a nature walk.  Find stones that have at least one flat side, all sizes are just fine.  If you don't have any luck, craft stores or Amazon have them and they are not expensive.  With the child, make a list of foods, animals, objects, characters, or things that are important to them and then get painting!  You could also choose things that surround a theme, such as fairy tales, ocean, or farm.  They can be detailed or simple, but either way, acrylic paint and/or permanent markers tend to work best.

Ways to play:

Take turns picking a painted rock from a basket and use that as a story starter, encourage your child to continue the story by selecting more stones.  Then switch!  Use words like "character" (people in the story) and "setting" (where the story takes place) when you talk about their story. 

Encourage them to write their story down - whatever that looks like for them. They even could draw the setting and use the story rocks to act it out on the picture they drew. 

Combine two themes - such as fairy tales and ocean and see what kinds of stories they can create by blending them together.  Maybe princesses make friends with mermaids or fish like to live in castles...you never know!

Take the rocks into another play area.  Rocks painted with people are fun to use in the dollhouse and Legos could make great cages for rocks painted with animals.  Encourage conversation in each play space to grow language and support imagination. 

Oral language lays the foundation for reading and writing success as children grow and it is crucial for communication skills.  Story rocks are a tool that can be used in play for creating connections, encouraging the asking and answering of questions, and enriching imaginative vocabulary. 

Photo Credit: Rachel Bennett @ colormadehappy.etsy.com