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
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.
The story sacks looks great! Looks like a great idea for an educational setting 🙂 #KCACOLS
What a great idea! Would be easy to make too. #Globalblogging
I love this idea—it would be great for my pre-school Sunday school class!
I’ve heard about story sacks before, but neglected to make one for my 2 year old. I think she’d just take the toys and wouldn’t listen to the story. Perhaps I should give it a go, though! #MixItUp
Story sacks are a lovely idea to bring a book to life #GlobalBlogging
They did this at library rhythm time and it was great fun in getting the kids engaged and excited X #anythinggoes
we love a good story sack here. I love watching the kids interact and understand the story. the way their language develops
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
What a lovely idea! I’m pretty sure the library session I took my little one to had something like this. it’s a great way to encourage hands-on story telling. Thanks for joining us for the #dreamteam
These are really good from helping bring the story alive and really helpful for my kids who have difficulty accessing their imaginations. #abloggingoodtime
I work in a nursery and we have a few story sacks and the children love them! It’s great that your library has these available for you to borrow !
I work in a nursery and we have a few story sacks, the children all love them. It’s great that your library has them available to borrow.
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!
Owl babies is a great children’s book, one of my favourite x
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
Anything that helps add to kids love of books has to be good, I might make something similar for L just to add another dimension to story time. #StayClassyMama
I love story stacks. They really help bring stories to life. Thanks for joining in with #ThatFridayLinky
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
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
This is great!! I would love for my son to be able to do this at his school. #KCACOLS
What a fab idea to bring a story to life, love it. Thanks for linking up #TwinklyTuesday
What a fantastic idea !!!Next level storytelling! #triumphanttales
I’ve not heard of story sacks before but what a great way to bring the story to life #KCACOLS
Very good idea and a fun educational tool, thanks for sharing.
Mainy
#KCACOLS
I’ve not heard of these before but what a lovely idea – especially for younger children! Thanks so much for linking up at #KCACOLS. Hope you come back again next time
I think all kids love story sacks especially because they signify time together with an adult on a shared task. Thanks for linking up with #stayclassymama