Make a Montessori game yourself – Supportive game ideas with storytelling stones for children

Educational and supportive games for children are a great idea, because learning works particularly well when you have fun with it. And the Montessori concept tries to follow this very motto. For this reason there are numerous Montessori games, some of which you can even make yourself. Today we would like to introduce you to the Montessori game with story stones, which also include the well-known weather stones. Learn how to make them yourself and how to use them for learning.

What are Montessori narrative stones

As the name suggests, this Montessori game consists of stones. These are designed with different motifs on different topics. This also includes the weather stones, on which the various weather phenomena are depicted. But the weather is by no means the only possible topic. You can put together whole sets. How about the following topics, for example:

• Beach vacation – waves, sun, sand, palm trees, fish, shells, beach toys
• Swimming pool – swimsuit, swimming trunks, diving goggles, swimming cap, armbands, mattress
• Forest – trees, forest animals, tree fruits (chestnuts, acorns, beechnuts, pine cones), berries, leaves
• Camping – campfire, tent, flashlight, sleeping bag
• School – exercise books and books, pens, blackboard, sponge, teacher, pupil, letters, numbers
• Weather – sun, clouds, rain, snow, rainbow, thunderstorm (lightning), wind, possibly also the moon and stars
• Children’s room – cot, wardrobe, desk, toys (alternatively other rooms in the apartment)
• Zoo – zoo animals
• Universe – planets, comets, stars
• Fruits and / or vegetables
• farm yard

Montessori game – tinker story stones

If you tinker with the storytelling stones, you get a really diverse Montessori toy that you can add to new topics over and over again over time. You can not only play with your own children on any day, but also with other children during a party. Thus, the story stones are perfect as Montessori games for kindergarten, daycare and elementary school. These painted stones for Montessori games can be homemade really quickly, but how exactly?

All you need is flat stones that are not too big, as well as acrylic paints and brushes and a varnish for sealing. The stones must be cleaned well with soap and water and then left to dry. Then you can draw something with a pencil and then color it in with the acrylic paints. It is an advantage if you apply a white primer (simple white paint) before drawing and painting, so that the colors of the motif come into their own afterwards. Finally, seal the finished motifs with glossy or matt, transparent varnish as soon as the acrylic paint has dried.

Ideas for games with Montessori stones

You can then use the stones for a variety of purposes, depending on what kind of theme they represent. You can use the weather to ask the children, for example, to describe the current weather (is it sunny at the moment? Is it raining or snowing? Are there clouds?). But you can also use the stones to explain how a thunderstorm occurs and what happens during a thunderstorm. Have the children tell the story later with the help of the stones.

Montessori game – tell short stories

Depending on the age of the children, either an adult or the child tells a creative story. For example, you can choose 5 stones or alternatively take them out one after the other from a bag or other container. The images must then appear in the story. Stories are also a great idea for whole groups, so that you can use story stones again in elementary school or kindergarten. Everyone sits in a circle, everyone draws a stone and adds a new sentence to the story, which includes the motif depicted on the stone.

Storytelling stones in kindergarten, school or at home can also simply be placed in a basket, where they are accessible to the children at any time. The little ones will surely grab hold of the stones from time to time and deal with the stones and babble to themselves. A Montessori game does not necessarily have to be specially planned, it can also be a spontaneous decision made by the children.

The human body

This idea is great for older children who want to get to know the human body and especially the organs. Storytelling stones for a pedagogical Montessori game are also very practical for school, because they can be used to learn new things in a vivid way. Just prepare the stones with the different organs. Put them on a piece of cloth or paper and draw the body around it.

Montessori game – learn to interpret feelings and facial features

Draw a manikin on fabric or paper. With the help of the stones, different facial expressions can be created: sad, happy, angry, tired, surprised, etc. Your child can then not only learn how the different feelings are expressed in the face of the person, but also how to use them to describe their own feelings. So if your child is too young to put these into words, such story stones can be very helpful.

Puzzle idea

Draw a motif on a piece of paper and then again on the stones, each stone getting a different element of the picture. Then the stones turn into a kind of puzzle that the child then has to put together using the painted template. A caterpillar, for example, as in the example above (the body parts can also be motley), a train with different wagons and the like are very suitable.

Learn numbers, letters or months

Feel free to encourage preschoolers by helping them learn numbers, letters, or the names of the months and weeks. The storytelling stones are just perfect for this purpose and can be made by parents who otherwise have no talent for painting.

Months of study with children

Ideas for self-painted motifs on stones

“Forest” theme

Food as a theme for the storytelling stones

Learning to count with points