Monday, July 30, 2012

Leftover Story Starters

Imagine yourself getting ready for a game of Candy Land with your child.  You grab the box from the closet, set it on the table, start pulling out pieces, unfold the board, and stack the cards in a pile.  You notice the pile of cards isn't as big as it should be.  You shuffle through them, the ice cream card is missing, along with the gumdrop card, and there are probably several double blue and purple cards missing as well.  MISSING GAME PIECES...AHHH!

You aren't in the mood to make pieces by hand to replace the missing ones, or trying to play with an incomplete set.  You suggest a puzzle instead.  Soon after your suggestion, your child comes to you complaining that he can't find the tail piece to the dinosaur puzzle.  MISSING PUZZLE PIECES...GRRRR!  You forgot that piece was sucked up into the vacuum last week, ruined, you threw it out.

We all eventually play the "missing piece game."  Sometimes we ride it out and make the best of it by making up new rules, or modifying the game pieces.  Sometimes the whole thing just gets thrown out.  If you have experienced any of the above, why not give the leftovers that decided to stick around a new purpose?


Set aside a box or basket to keep your leftover pieces in.  Use magnetic tape to apply to the backs of the pieces (not required, but it comes in handy for sticking to storytelling surfaces, like cookie sheets and refrigerators).


Find a comfortable spot, and start spinning tales.
  

Don't forget to teach the importance of starting from left to right!


I believe this particular plot included an elephant who tried opening the peacock's feathers by using a wrench, but he gave up and had to go fix the pig's wheel!


Many laughs were produced during this storytelling session.  You may want to have a pen and paper nearby when you try it yourself.  The funniest stories will be told, and you'll want to write them down so you can remember them for later!

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6 comments:

  1. What a fun idea! I would think you could even use a variety of clip art to create resources.

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    1. That would be a great addition to a small collection. I know as a former teacher it was much easier to grow a collection of leftovers with so many loose pieces to keep track of!

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  2. Cute. What a wonderful idea. I have a box that is full of odds and ends and pieces that dont belong anywhere. This is a wonderful idea for me to employ that box constructively

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  3. We did this today and I have written about it in my blog

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    1. I'm glad you found something here your daughter enjoyed!

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  4. i love this idea of using those lost/incomplete pieces! We sure end up with lots of odds and ends around here.

    Thanks for sharing on the Sunday Showcase. Hope to see you this week.

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