Story sacks

January 5, 2019 Karen 28 comments

What is a story sack? I hear you ask

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A story sack is a bag of items which relate to a children’s story book, often the contents are hand made ( the ones which I used were made by members of the W.I. women’s institute).

I borrowed several story sacks from the library; these were not available  to the general public,but as a child minder I held a special library ticket which permitted this and also allowed me to borrow extra books ( it might be worth asking about this at your local library).

I chose Goldilocks and the 3 bears, as this was a firm favourite of the children in my care.

Inside the sack was a copy of the book, a doll to represent Goldilocks and 3 knitted bears of different sizes, plus plastic chairs and beds, a spoon and bowls and a recipe for porridge.

Other story sacks may contain an audio cassette enabling the children to listen to a recording of a favourite children’s tale.

Story sacks help children  with communication skills and language development and also encourage a love of books and reading.

They can help children with imaginative play and lead towards child led play (were children instigate their own play rather than an adult instructing towards a certain type of play) . I have written on child led play in earlier posts.

The children that I used to child mind  looked forward to receiving a new story sack, they would take turns in pulling out each item, we would then talk together about how each piece fitted into the story, I would also ask them open ended questions to help with their thinking.

All early years settings should have at least 1 story sack, in my opinion, if you can’t borrow them, as I did, there are many companies selling them, or why not make one with the children’s help?

As always questions/comments are welcome.

Until next time.

Karen

x

 

 

28 Comments on “Story sacks

  1. What an interesting idea, I would imagine this would be good fun when searching the sack to find a part of a story . I must admit I’ve never heard of a story sack however they must have been around for a long time.

  2. These are so cute. I remember my two got story boxes when they were little and we really enjoyed discovering them and sharing the books x #DreamTeam

  3. Story sacks are brilliant. We used to do something similar with our kids when they were little. The Owls from McDonalds when they did Winnie the Pooh toys were great for the Owl Babies story, the kids had one each and would say their lines then I would swoop in as Mummy Owl with a Harry Potter Hedwig toy! They used to love it, everyone wanted to be the little one, Bill I think? They are 19, 22 & 24 now but they still remember doing that for a bedtime story!

  4. When my son left playgroup to go to school we gifted them 2 story sacks. They’re so expensive to buy but I got lucky with finding a teacher on eBay who was selling her collection off :0). They really bring a story to life

  5. What a fab idea my girls would love this try both love to read Thanks for linking to #Thatfridaylinky hope to see you next week

  6. Story sacks are so popular at preschools and infant schools. I thikn they are great for encouraging communication and understanding which will help children with later learning. Thanks for linking up with #globalblogging

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