Story Pebbles – a review
There is nothing more fascinating than catching a glimpse of what goes on inside a child’s mind. That kind of insight can provide a parent with a rough guide as to how a child is feeling, what they are trying to make sense of and what may be a priority in their little lives.
In play children tend to revert to their true state and they can be relaxed while opening up a great channel of communication. So whether I want to just chat and catch up with my children or approach something a little more weighty I will always offer a relaxing activity to set the scene.
This time offering to play with Story Pebbles was just that – pure unadulterated play. A chance for their imagination to run wild, to form plans and implement magic.
You may have seen the little unwrapping video I put on my page of the kids opening the Pebbles – they loved them. The pebbles were thoughtfully packaged and could be almost unwrapped like a gift.
The pictures on each pebble are hand painted, bright and beautiful. I loved what Sian had chosen to use as illustrations. I didn’t want a traditional story to follow just some elements and had briefed her by saying we have 5 children, boys and girls and that was her audience.
The shape, feel and size of the pebbles was a surprise. The pebbles are larger than I expected and filled my palm which meant they were big enough to be held in two hands by the smaller children rather like a screen. Yet because of their shape and material (wood) I saw the children enjoy feeling and touching them. They held and stroked each pebble when it was their turn to contribute to the story.
Being from wood the pebbles are warm to hold and have a beautiful grain effect to the background and there is something soothing about the shape and feel of them laid in your palm.
The images we got (two on each pebble) were a big hairy spider and a clock, a witch and a group of children, a mountain and a castle, and sunshine and a night sky.
We started all of our stories with Once Upon A Time and I have to say we followed none of the conventional stereotypes of the goodies and baddies. I was amazed at how my kids could think outside the box and introduced things into the story that had obviously been sparked by what was illustrated on the pebbles.
We ended up with dragons and fairies and unicorns (obviously) but witches that live on the moon and lonely clouds added to the mix to provide laughs, intrigue and mild gore. I was pleasantly surprised at how many different stories could come from four little pebbles.
Each of the children were happy to take turns whether we dished each of the pebbles out for them to sit and hold and ultimately use or if we put them in the bag and they drew one out when it was their turn.
All together these Story Pebbles are a great addition to our family entertainment box and I would highly recommend as a healthier, more family friendly imagination-exercising alternative to screen time. Thank you Sian for our Story Pebbles.
For more info go to https://www.facebook.com/storyprops/
https://www.etsy.com/shop/storypropsbysian