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Penguin Story Stones

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After the success of our Wheels On The Bus Story Stones I have been wanting to create some more. When we saw Crafty Kids At Home was hosting an A-Z of Pretend Play I jumped at the chance to use S is for Story Stones. Our love for story stones increased further when we discovered a book called “Hiku”  by Nicole Snitselaar and Coralie Saudo.

Adventures of Adam Hikupenguin story book

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In the wonderfully illustrated book “Hiku” is a penguin with a heart shaped waistcoat who sneaks away from an important family visit. Each penguin that appears in the story is made from a pebble. Taking inspiration from the story we created our own Hiku Penguin Story Stones along with a Hiku Sensory Bin.Adventures of Adam Hiku penguin characters

Even with my zero artistic ability I was able to turn our pebbles into penguins.

Adventures of Adam DIY penguin story stones

I used two types of stones – the large ones came from the garden and the small ones were white decorative garden stones. The process took a long time but that was because I only painted them in the evenings when Adam was in bed and waited 24 hours in between each step:

  1. Paint one side of each stone in black acrylic paint and place it on a baking tray with baking paper.
  2. Paint the other side of each stone
  3. Paint a circle for the tummy using white acrylic paint
  4. Use a cylinder lolly stick, dip it in the white paint and create two white eyes
  5. Dip the end of a thin paintbrush into the black paint and create a pupil in each eye
  6. Use orange acrylic paint to create a triangular beak
  7. Use the other end of the cylinder lolly stick, dip it in the orange paint and make three joined up circles for each penguin foot
  8. Cover one side of the penguin in watered down PVA glue
  9. Cover the other side in watered down PVA glue.

Writing it down does make it sound harder than it actually was! I thoroughly enjoyed the process and Adam loved seeing the difference in the penguins each morning.

Adventures of Adam Hiku and homemade penguins

With our penguin story stones completed I set about creating a penguin sensory bin for Hiku and his family. For our last penguin sensory bin I used a range of cotton wool balls, ice and foam soap. This time I kept the same white Ikea Trofast storage box which was still decorated in penguin Duck Tape but used edible white materials for the sensory bin base.

Adventures of Adam Hiku Penguin Sensory Bin

I decorated the edge with mini meringue shells, created igloos out of large marshmallows (300g) and added 150g of mini mallows to fill the bottom of the sensory bin. Finally I added our penguin story stones.

Adventures of Adam Penguin sensory play

I love how each penguin story stone is different. Their personalities shine through. Some look mischievous, others shy and a few turned out to be quite odd looking! Adam recognised Hiku’s heart shaped tummy immediately. He liked to move the small penguins around the sensory bins and helped them make marshmallow towers and we even had a mini mallow snow ball fight!

Adventures of Adam Hiku toddler penguin sensory play

Our penguin story stones will be making several future appearances on the blog.

NB: Although the sensory bin base was edible I know that Adam would not attempt to eat either the sweets or the penguin stones. I have classed this activity as needing adult supervision due to the risk of choking.

Penguin Story Telling Stones

Equipment:

* Hiku by Nicole Snitselaar and Coralie Saudo

* Stones – we used white decorative garden stones

* Black, orange and white acrylic paint

* Watered down PVA glue

* Box – we used a white Ikea Trofast storage box and decorated it with penguin Duck Tape

* White edible materials – we used large marshmallows, mini mallows and mini meringue shells

 

Remember to check out the other A-Z of Pretend Play activities:

a-z-of-pretend-play-600

 

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Emma Edwards

During a difficult pregnancy suffering from Hyperemesis Gravidarum (HG) Emma vowed to make every day an adventure once she had recovered. Adventures of Adam is the outcome of completing a 100 day play challenge with Adam as part of that promise. Emma has a section dedicated to HG friendly play activities so that Mums can still be part of their children’s play whilst they are ill.

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Comments

  1. Wow, all of those fab penguins took serious dedication! They look fab and I’m sure you’ll think up lots more fun activities for them! Thanks so much for taking part in our A-Z of Pretend Play.

    Reply

    • The process sounds harder than it was and I could have made it quicker but I was enjoying the process! Thank you for hosting a brilliant series.

      Reply

  3. This is so creative! I bet Adam loved playing with this. I love sensory bins and story stones so this combination is amazing. The stones do look really artistic. What a clever idea! x #letkidsbekids

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  8. Oh they are so sweet! I love that you spent so much time building up a story stone sensory bin for him, I’ve been meaning to make different story stones too, but I absolutely love your penguins. O loves marshmallows, so I doubt our sensory bin would last long if I put them in! 🙂 x

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  10. We haven’t come across this book, Hiku. But because of this activity, I think we might go look for it and do the activity! It’s just too cute! Thanks for sharing on Toddler Fun Friday.

    Reply

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