Story Stones have recently become very popular despite the fact that the concept has been around for centuries. What, exactly, are Story Stones and how are they used? Basically, they are sets of rocks that allow children to tell stories in their own words. They are often used by parents, educators, and therapists as tools to help develop a variety of skills such as language development, communication, and pretend play.

LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT/SPEECH THERAPY: To encourage the use of new vocabulary and expressive language, therapists and parents will give a child a bag of Story Stones and have him pull out a stone one at a time. The child is encouraged to describe what he sees on the rocks, and to tell a story about them. The facilitator acts as a passive listener, but interjects more advanced vocabulary when it makes sense to do so. This method is fun for children and can be used by parents, educators, and therapists.

PRETEND PLAY: When we were children, most of us never gave “pretend play” any special consideration. We were constantly making up stories and games, pretending to be superheroes or princess, inventing elaborate imaginary worlds to keep ourselves entertained. My sister and I played “Little House on the Prairie” often, and I even had an invisible friend.  He was a ghost named George.  However, there are many children with disabilities who have trouble with pretend play. Story Stones can be a fun way to develop pretend play. Parents and teachers can guide a child through a made-up story using the stones. They start the story, then prompt the child to finish an idea or a sentence.

MEMORY/RECALL: Story Stones are also used as a memory game. The stones can be turned face-down while the child is watching. Then the child is prompted with a question such as “Can you remember where the frog is?” Story Stones can also be used with adults who experience memory impairments. They can look at a stone and talk about any memory the image brings forth.

SENSORY & OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY: Smooth, little stones are a joy to handle. They just feel great in your hand. Children (and adults) with sensory issues might enjoy handling the stones. They also help develop fine motor skills and dexterity.

JUST FOR FUN! Children will enjoy Story Stones in a variety of ways.  Mostly, though, they are simply fun. These sets make great stocking stuffers, birthday gifts, and Christmas gifts.

There are so many possible ideas for Story Stone Sets. They don’t have to be nursery rhymes or songs. They can be based on a theme or topic such as: camping, outer space, dinosaurs, cars, numbers, alphabet, fairy tales, and so much more! Here are some photos of my own Story Stones that have been a huge success in my shop:

Now that you are familiar with the variety of uses for Story Stones, let’s create our own sets!

PROJECT 1: Story Starters

We will be creating a set of 10 stones that have fun kid-themed images that spark the imagination! That’s why I call these “story starters.” Each stone is a jumpstart for a new, imaginative story that’s totally driven by the child’s imagination!

Follow the steps below to create your set:

1. Prep 10 small stones with a base coat and background color of your choice. White or sky blue are always good background colors. If you go too dark, your images will be hard to see.

2. Go to the BONUS CONTENT section to access my Kid-Themed Templates E-book (this is your big freebie!). Download the Templates book and then print at 75% scale. You may have to play around with this to get the templates in the size you want. Story stones are generally small stones, around 1-3 inches in size, so your templates need to be small enough to fit.

3. As we have learned earlier, there is another way to get the templates small enough for your stones. Simply snap a photo of an image with your phone and resize it, then take a screen shot (on an iPhone, hold down the home and power button at the same time) to capture the final size!

4. Pick 10 of your favorite images and use the Trace & Transfer Technique to transfer the images to your stones.

5. Paint the images in bright, vibrant color. Kids love bright colors!

6. Once the paint has dried, outline the images in black acrylic paint pen to make them “pop.”

7. Seal the stones with spray sealant and allow them to dry.

8. Now put your story starters in a drawstring bag or small box, and let a child pick one at random. Ask him or her to tell you a story about that stone! HAVE FUN!

PROJECT 2: Itsy Bitsy Spider Story Stones

Watch the video above or follow the steps below to create your set of Itsy Bitsy Spider Stones:

1. Prep 8 small rocks with a light blue background and allow to dry.

2. Sketch the following images/words on your rocks in pencil, or use the Trace & Transfer Technique on the templates in your Kid-Themed Rock Painting Templates Book (found in the BONUS Content section). The e-book has images for the sun, rain cloud, and spider.

   • spider

   • sun

   • rain cloud

   • rain spout

   • “up”

   • “down”

   • “out”

   • “Itsy Bitsy”

3. Gather the following supplies: paint, brushes, a dotting tool, a black acrylic paint pen, and a red acrylic paint pen.

4. Paint the stones using bright colors. Add tiny flowers to the word stones using our dotting tools.

5. Once all paint is dry, outline the images with the black acrylic paint pen.

6. Seal your stones, then show a special child how to sing the nursery rhyme using these adorable Story Stones!

PROJECT 3: Old MacDonald Had A Farm Story Stones

Click on the image above to pull up a PDF Template sheet. Then use the “Trace & Transfer” method (or the freehand drawing method) as outlined in the instructions below: