Story Stones: What happened at school today?

Story Stones are a great way to encourage your children to talk about their school day, especially if you have a child that isn’t particularly chatty, or if you have a child with a speech delay and/or special needs.

If you have young school age children, chances are they are officially back to school. If you are anything like me, you spend a lot of time wondering what and how they are doing at school. Especially if you have a young child that isn’t particularly chatty, a child with a speech delay or a child with special needs.

After their very long and busy day, the last thing they may want to do is tell you about their day. It could be because they are tired, overwhelmed or just can’t remember all that went through their whirlwind of a day. You may find yourself asking your child each afternoon “What did you do today?”. You may be frustrated by the response of “I don’t know” or even a shoulder shrug.

It’s ok! Go take a deep breath and relax.

Observe your child after school.

Are they tired, hungry over excited? Tailor your precious moments when they first get home to their needs. School is demanding and it is hard work, even in Kindergarten. Don’t jump right into homework before they can even hang up their book bag.

Make the time when they first come home relaxing and enjoyable.

If they are tired, let them take a rest. If they are over excited let them bolt around the back yard or take them for a walk or bike ride. If they are hungry, offer them a healthy snack.

Try to restrain from bombarding them with rapid fire questions about their day.

I am completely guilty of doing this and I noticed it was adding stress to my child’s already busy day. I knew if I wanted the conversation about their day to flow freely I would need another option.

I have seen many amazing examples of story stones online. I think they are a brilliant way to get you children engagaged in story telling. I thought I could apply the same concept to encouraging my children to talk about their school day.

I picked up a bag of smooth stones from Michaels craft store for under $3. I looked for stones in my backyard, but all I came up with were some very small and pitted rocks. Definitely not good for painting on. I painted very basic school themed illustrations on them and allowed them to dry.

I put them into a bag and waited until we were all sitting at the table for dinner. I spread them out on the table and asked each of them to take a stone that showed something they did today. Then I asked if they could tell us a little about the stone and their day.

And it worked. I didn’t push them. I just let them talk to us about their day.

Thanks for reading,
Daniele

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