Story Blocks

Today's post will show you a fun little project you can do for your own kids or to make as gifts. They're called story blocks. I first learned about them about four years ago when I was part of a busy bag swap. A busy bag swap is when a group of six to eight moms get together and swap out craft projects designed to keep toddlers occupied. They range from matching games using paint swatches, to things to sort or stack, things with magnets. The idea is when you need to buy a little time with your little one you give them one of these little projects. It will keep them occupied on their own for some time because it is new and different. You can see ideas for them HERE. If you happen to be the mom of a preschooler, I recommend getting together with some of your mommy friends to do this.

I received a set of story blocks at my swap. They are small wooden blocks about the size of dice that have pictures on them. The idea is that you roll the dice and make up a story based on the pictures that come up. You get to make up your own rules for the game. We usually roll all six blocks at once and make up a story with all the elements in it. Sometimes we will roll the blocks one at a time and the story has to evolve. These stories are the funniest because you never know what will come up next.

The neat thing about these blocks is that they are fun for a lot of different ages. When we first started playing, I had four, nine, and eleven year old kids who all enjoyed it equally. They're small enough to carry in your purse. You can play whether you have five minutes or thirty minutes.

To make them, start by purchasing your blocks. You can find these blocks at Michael's and Hobby Lobby in the section where they sell plain wooden items. Amazon has them HERE. This 5/8 size works best.

Then you have to put your images on the blocks. There are many options here. You can simply use a black sharpie to draw images. They don't have to be fancy. The ones I received were like this and had very simple stick figure drawings on them. Or, you can cut out clip art or magazine pictures and Mod Podge them on. I used stamps because I already had them. It wouldn't be very economical to buy them just for this project, but if you wanted to get them, I used THESE stamps from Papertrey Ink. I colored them using colored pencils. Any will do, but I LOVE the Prismacolor pencils. I was required to get them for a design class in college. I am still using them, and they are fifteen years old! When one gets used up, you can buy individual replacements at Hobby Lobby, Michael's and art supply stores. They are pricey, but worth the investment if you do a lot of crafts. There is no comparison on color selection with other brands and they have a nice, soft lead. Sorry to get off on a tangent about colored pencils. I can't help myself.

Here is a picture of the hand drawn ones that were given to us.

Be sure to include lots of images that would make a good story. People and animals are good as well as objects like umbrellas, a sun, a tree, boats, airplanes, musical instruments, and food. There are so many fun ideas. Use your imagination! Sports images would be good too. Maybe you could even use a favorite team logo. Don't limit yourself to trying to recreate what I have done. I gave away many sets of these one year for Valentine's day and had a lot of people contact me to buy more to give for gifts.

If you like the idea, but would never bother to take the time to make them, you can buy commercially made ones on Amazon, or you can get some from my Etsy shop.

Have fun making this simple project! If you do make them, comment below to let me know how they turned out.

Kristy