How to go about creating a story sack for toddler aged children
Getting young children to sit and listen to a story can have its challenges. You may find they sit and listen to their favourite story but if you are introducing a new story they are less reluctant to stay seated. As early years practitioners it is unfair to expect a 2 year old to sit for a long period of time listening to a story, therefore why not create an engaging story sack that is full of exciting and stimulating resources. Before creating a story sack do some research into what the children interests are, this information can be taken from observations or from conversations with parents. Once you have this information start planning what you want to have in your story sack. Choose a story that allows you to incorporate props, pictures and other resources.
A list of a few good choices of stories;
- Hungry caterpillar
- Goldilocks and the three bears
- Room on the broom
- Dear zoo
- Gruffalo
- The three little pigs
Why not get create and make resources to add to your story sack. There are many resources out there to purchase however these can be costly. Include your team as they may have ideas of what to put into the story sack. As you are sourcing resources for the story sack think about whether this will be engaging for the children.
An example of what to include in the three little pigs story sack;
- large book
- 3 pig masks and a wolf mask
- soft blocks to build with
- why not add a bag of real straw and sticks
- a wolf hand puppet and 3 soft pigs
All these resources will create a great story sack and keep the children engaged. The array of resources will provide the reader with different options of retelling the story, whether this is using the book and props or just using the masks blocks, straw and sticks to retell the story.
Using story sacks in your environment can help benefit many areas of children’s development not just language. It helps them respect and care for books, understand how stories are structured and use the props to retell the story. Story sacks can be used with any children, what age group you are aiming the story sack at will determine what to include in your story sack.
Storing these sacks is important why not keep them in drawstring bags on the shelf out of reach of the children. However you may want the children to play with them and retell the story. If you are having these out during the day think about how you are displaying them. Using a wicker basket is a good choice as it allows children to fully see what is inside the basket rather than having to dig around in a bag.
To extend using story sacks in your setting why not create ones for parents to take home and share with the children. This would be a simple way to develop parent partnership.
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