Story Stones | Pin of the Week

Some rocks, a few craft supplies and a little creativity are all you need to pull off our pin of the week, and it offers hours of entertainment for those endless imaginations.

From her blog Small Potatoes, Arlee Greenwood brings us story stones.  The origin of the idea is unknown, and if you’re on Pinterest you’ve likely seen them already, but Arlee provides a good explanation to help you get started making these creativity-spawning rocks.

Your story-telling adventure starts by finding and collecting some stones—palm-sized or smaller and with a somewhat flat surface will work best. If you can’t find any, you can always purchase small, flat, decorative rocks from any craft store. One of the great things about this activity is that the kids can participate in the entire project, so let them help find the perfect stones for the game.

The idea is simple—paint, draw, paste or stick different pictures on the stones, and then encourage your children to use them to tell a story. Arlee has some good picture ideas to get you started. If your children are too young to paint or draw their own pictures on the stones, let them tell you what to draw. Don’t think you have to be a great artist to make this game—print out the pictures and paste them to the rocks or use stickers if you’re not up to drawing or painting.  However you decide to get the pictures on the stones, use a clear-coat paint to finish them off for durability.

We love how these stones can be customized to fit the interests of your own family. The stones can reflect whatever your children find appealing right now, and you can add to them as their interests change. You can even make themed sets of story stones, like barnyard animals, movie characters, a day at the beach, and more. The possibilities are truly endless and your child’s imagination will fill in any gaps in the storyline.

We think this simple project can provide entertainment and lots of laughs for children of all ages and many abilities. Let us know in the comments section below if you try it! We’d love to hear the silly stories your kids piece together.

Make sure you check out our Pinterest page to see more ideas like this, tips for parents, healthy recipes, and more.