Inspiring Creativity With Story Stones

I absolutely love anything that inspires a childs creativity and imagination. What better way to inspire a little creativity and imaginative play with your child than through telling stories? I adore listening to my daughter tell me stories. I laugh at the funny parts and my heart loves to get a glimpse into her little mind and the way she thinks. Her imagination shines, her expressions are priceless, and I will always cherish the sweet stories she tells.

One of her favorite things to use when telling stories is a set of Story Stones.

What are Story Stones? They’re simply stones with a picture that help guide a story. You can randomly hand each rock to your child to guide their story, let them draw a stone out of a bag, or give them full control. I typically group the stones into categories. A recent set I made was Under The Sea themed. It was a hit!

I’ve seen tons of different places that have Story Stones for sell, but it’s simple to make your own. You just need flat stones (you can pick up a bag at any craft store) and paint markers or Sharpie’s to draw on the rocks. If you don’t love your artistic skills, grab a pack of stickers or print clip art from the computer, and secure them to the stones with Modge Podge.

Here are a few ways to make Story Stones fun!

Set the Scene– You can make a scene out of just about anything. We’ve made a princess castle out of a shoe box, a side-walk chalk city on the drive-way, and an under the sea scene out of construction paper. The ideas are endless. You could surprise your child by creating a scene using chalk or allow them to have full creative control and construct a scene out of materials you have on hand. You could draw a scene on something as simple as a piece of paper or even let them draw their own scene.

Involve Your Child- I usually ask my daughter what type of Story Stones she might like to have next and tuck that away for a late night when I have a little time to make a new set. A few weeks ago, I really let her get involved and she was able to draw her own pictures and create her own set. I never imagined she would be so thrilled to do something as simple as drawing on rocks, but she loved having creative control.

Choose Your Own Stones- If you want your child to be involved, but aren’t quite ready to hand over the markers, let them help in a different way. Take a walk around your yard and find stones to use. If you don’t have any in your yard, try a local park of hiking trail.