Camp Sunny Patch Session 12 is brought to you by Melissa & Doug, written by Camp Counselor (and Melissa & Doug Blog Ambassador) Amy Mascott. (Click here for a printable version.)
Stamps are often used for card-making, picture-creating, and rainy days. But we’ve stretched our stamp sets (and our imaginations!) for this Camp Sunny Patch activity, and the results were awesome.
This simple Storytelling with Stamps event gave our kids a reason to put the stamp to the ink and pencil to paper for some seriously fun story-writing!
First, we gathered our supplies: We used several sets of Melissa & Doug stamps–the Animal Stamp Set, Deluxe Stamp Set, Dinosaur Stamp Set, Vehicles Stamp Set, and Baby Zoo Animals Stamp Set. We also used a Jumbo Multi-Color Stamp Pad and the really cool Storytelling Paper shown above–it’s perfect for writing stories and illustrating them. Triangular Crayons made adding color to the stamps more fun for the kids, since the crayons come in brighter-than-bright colors–and they don’t roll off of the table!
Melissa & Doug Storytelling Art Supplies for Kids
And then the kids wrote stories in a silly, backward way: First, they stamped out scenes and then they wrote a story to go along with it. Our only focus was to stamp a picture that had some sort of problem in it. (I thought that would be helpful when it came to writing the story.)
Next, they filled in the stamps with extra color and added details to their scenes with the Triangular Crayons. They added water, grass, roads, signs, and sometimes even word bubbles.
Finally, they wrote out their stories on the lines below the pictures. I gave my youngest one more support with spelling and letters, but really, I encouraged them to just write freely. (Emerging readers and writers shouldn’t be bothered with worrying about correct spelling when they write; as parents, we want them to get all of their thoughts on paper, and the spelling will come later.)
Storytelling Paper Pad for kids learning to write!
Storytelling Paper Pad for kids learning to write!
In the end, we shared stories as a group, adding details along the way. For some added fun, we mixed it up by stamping scenes and then passing the finished piece to the person next to us. That person then wrote a story to go along with it. Everyone loved it; it was super fun–and sneaky learning along the way!
Stamps can be a lot of fun for children, allowing them to create cards, pictures, posters, you name it. And Storytelling with Stamps is a great way to get kids’ creative juices flowing, their pencils moving, and their smiles growing!
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Hang with Amy over at teachmama.com for more cool, super-sneaky ways to throw in some learning in the name of fun or join her at we teach–a forum for parents and teachers to connect, share ideas and grow–no matter the classroom. Or tweet with her (@teachmama), pin with her or chat with her on Facebook!
Reblogged this on My Little Birds Love Reading and commented:
We used the stamps to create illustrations, wrote a story about the scenes, and made our own book! The kids loved creating their own book and reading it over and over!