Holiday Story Telling Craft

I mean has it really been a month since my last post... 

I won't make excuses, but I will say: illness and pregnancy are not really motivators to write anything positive! 

However, now that I am feeling better I am ready to go and what better way to start back up then with a holiday craft that focuses on storytelling and sequencing. Really this craft can be adapted a million different ways, but what better way to get into the spirit then with a Halloween theme. 

So, with each holiday, I purchase my little guy a pack of holiday themed stickers from the craft story. They are always a $1 or less and he can create freely with them for hours on end...you cannot beat that! Usually, we make our own pictures with them or add them to homemade decorations, but seriously stickers are so adaptable. 

This time I was trying to think of a new activity that we could work on together to learn and grow. My guy is in this really fun stage where he is a great story teller and so I just developed this natural interest into a lesson about story telling, writing, and story sequencing. Basically a book, creative I know :) 

Below is how we completed this activity, however feel free to improvise with what works for your little one. Don't ever worry about teaching something the "wrong way," if you're working with your babies you're doing it right!

Step 1:

Cue Enthusiasm

& Gather Materials:

 -1 enthusiastic little (most important part)   
-Holiday sticker book

   -Markers

   -Fine point Sharpy

   -1 piece of construction paper
 (cut into 4 equal pieces)

         - (optional) label each piece of paper with story sequencing terms. (Example: First... Once upon a time... Next... Then...  Finally... The End.)

Step 2:
I explained to my little that he was going to get to be the author of his very own story and illustrate his story with STICKERS!!! Any emphasis on the word "stickers" will immediately excite a little, in my experience that is.  Also, when you're explaining the project use as many vocabulary words as you can! Talk about what it means to be an author, storyteller, illustrator. Discuss concepts like scenes, details, characters, etc. The sky is the limit to what you can learn with this open-ended project. 

Page 2: return of the tongue of concentration

After I explained what kind of fun we were about to have my guy looked over the sticker book and immediately picked out 2 characters that got his imagination going. From there the story started to flow! We decided that each paper would be a page in the story and he decided to start his story with, "Once upon a time..." so I labelled his first page with those words. As he started to tell me his story I just listened and wrote down everything he said on a scrap piece of paper. When he got to a natural place were you would expect a page break I'd ask him, "is that a new page?" I'd wait for words like "then" or "next"in his story. So my guy's story really took shape in minutes, but with me asking him about each page he was able to "write" a 4 page story and conclude it with a "The End." Of course, I think he could have continued on and on all day with his story, but since we started with 4 pieces of paper and already discussed how each paper was 1 page of his story he was able to stop and conclude his story quite easily. 

Step 3:
Time for illustrations. This part was so fun! We started off by reading his whole story again and then broke each page down one at a time so he could illustrate each page. He had so much fun choosing his stickers and making logical decisions of what might be on each page based on the words of his very own storytelling. I talked to him about details and scenes in a storybook; he choose his own to add to his pages. I loved watching him work!! And the best part is as the parent I was there to talk about different concepts, but this project was a child lead project I didn't have to do much more than observe. Of course, I was there with lots of discussion and to answer questions, but I was mindful not to take away from his creative process with my own adult ideas! 

Working on those details

Step 4:
Once each page was finished I had my guy tell me the story and then I read him what he had "wrote" in the beginning...they were pretty close! He remembered the major details of his story and he was so pleased with his work. Furthermore, he couldn't wait to share his story with his daddy! 

Re-telling me his story

After a quick snack break, I tried to "trick" him by mixing up the pages (cards) and having him put them back in order, but he was too good for me and couldn't be tricked :) Again, if I say to him "do you think I can TRICK you (emphasis on trick)" he'll do just about anything enthusiastically! 

This is the part where you can improvise a lot with your project here are some alternative ideas:

1. Keep the pages separate and work on putting them back in story order (sequencing activity)
2. Let your little make up a new story with the same pages or by rearranging their pages (storytelling)
3. Bind your pages and make a cover and end page (create a book)
4. Record them as they share their own stories (my guy loves hearing his own voice)
5. Hang them up in order and they double as decorations (this is what we are doing)

Sky's the limit; get creative :)