Creating story sacks for sensory stories
This World Book Day, we caught up with Karen Newell, the Brand Guardian of the popular preschool animation 'Mixmups'.
Karen has shared her tips on the use and creation of ‘story sacks’ to support children with accessing stories through all of their senses.
Story sacks – read my way
“When reading a book with a child, including characters, objects and sensory elements helps bring the story, characters and concepts to life for all children but especially useful for children with a visual impairment.”
“Story sacks help create a physical dimension to the book and enables children to make sense of what is going on in the story.”
“They encourage children to play and explore the action within the narrative, it allows them to think creatively and provides them with opportunities to create and think critically.
“Many standard story sacks simply contain the main characters in the book, which is a great start. But don’t stop there! When choosing the toys to represent the characters be mindful of too many soft toys and plastic ones often look and feel the same. Look for the action in the narrative and find objects to explore what the characters are doing.
“Adding a super sensory element helps engage multiple senses, so the child can play and learn in their preferred way. A super sensory story is a story told using a combination of words, objects and sensory experiences. This is important because sensory stimulation is central to our cognitive development.
“When picking a book to create a sensory story sack consider;
- what characters you need
- what action and concepts the story contains
- what is the overall narrative journey and meaning or take away.”
Super sensory checklist
Sound
Do you have any key sounds to include or a musical instrument/s to signify an important event or character or a gentle soundscape? Do you have an audio copy of the book on a Tonie, Yoto device or audible/cd?
Sight
Do they offer a real physical likeness? Are the objects of high contrast? Are they presented on a plain background like a blanket?
Taste
Is there any opportunity to include taste? A real tea party or snack, a lip balm?
Touch
Do the objects offer different tactile experiences? If possible, use the real objects likes leaves. Do the animals feel like the real thing? It’s great to include a variety of feels!
Smell
Can you add a smell from the story? This might be something from a forest, the sea, a bakery. Essential oils can be useful to offer a variety of options. You can add a spot on a cotton wool ball and place it in a small jar.
Vestibular
The movement and balance sense, tells us where our body is in space. Is there an option to stomp like a dinosaur, grow as a big as giant or as small as a mouse?
Proprioception
This is the body awareness sense; which tells us where our body parts are in relation to each other. Can you move on all fours like a dog, or slither like a snake?
“The sharing of a story can involve all the senses, it should be interactive and playful enabling the child or group to play and explore with the characters and concepts in the book, in their preferred way. Many libraries offer story sacks on loan, so do check out your local library for examples to get started.”
Karen Newell, Brand Guardian of Mixmups – preschool animation for Milkshake! C5