Absolutely love this idea of using something as simple as stones and paints to create stories and other fun activities in the classroom.
…painted stones are great for story telling. For instance, if you look at the stones in the photo below:
In turn a child picks a stone and helps make a group story….
Once upon a time there was a ladybird called Lucy.She lived in Scotland.One day Lucy decided to go for a walk over a hill.She wanted to see if she could find the end of a rainbow.Many children also like playing with letters. They can be used in free play and many structured activities to aid the learning of letters and sounds. For example, letter stones can be hidden in an outside area and children can see which ones they can find. If your school is using a synthetic phonics approach then this is a useful way to reinforce the letters and the sounds they make.The next possibility is to create word stones. Paint whole words on stones. Children can do this for each topic! Again these can be used in different games to help children develop literacy skills. For example, stones can be placed in a school garden. The children have to find the words and use them to make a poem or write a sentence – the level of difficulty depending upon the age and ability of the children.
Read the entire article here. View similar projects here, here and here.