A story sack is a cloth bag that holds a book or a rhyme along with the props to act it out. They are a staple of classroom circle time, and they work just as well at home. The Miss Polly Had a Dolly story sack is a simple one to start with: a labelled bag holding a doll and a toy doctor’s kit, so a child can act out the nursery rhyme any time the bag comes off the shelf. Miss Polly’s dolly gets sick, the doctor comes, and a small child gets to be the doctor. Ages 2 to 5.
What you need:
- A plain white cotton tote bag. The label goes on the front, the props go inside.
- A sheet of iron-on transfer paper. Print a simple “Miss Polly had a dolly” label from the computer, cut it out, and iron it onto the bag. It is a quick, no-sew way to turn a plain bag into a labelled story sack.
- An iron.
- A doll. A soft-bodied doll works well and stands up to plenty of handling. Any doll will do.
- A toy doctor’s kit: a stethoscope, a thermometer, and whatever else came in the set.
- A cohesive support bandage, a packet of dressing pads, and a box of assorted adhesive bandages. The real ones from the medicine drawer, or toy versions if you prefer.
Making the bag
Type the rhyme’s title into a document, print it onto the iron-on transfer paper, and cut around the text. Lay it face-down on the front of the tote bag and press with a hot iron following the transfer paper’s instructions. Peel the backing once it cools. That is the whole bag done, and it takes about ten minutes including printing.
Then gather the contents. Round up any toy doctor role-play equipment and put it in the bag with the doll: a medical kit, a support bandage, dressing pads, and a handful of adhesive bandages. Within a few minutes the story sack is complete.
Playing the rhyme
Show the child how to use each medical item to look after the dolly. Taking the dolly’s temperature and wearing the stethoscope come quickly. The adhesive bandages and dressing pads are the best part for fine motor work: peeling a bandage open and unsticking the backing is genuinely tricky for small fingers, and it holds their concentration.
It is not long before the dolly ends up wrapped head to toe in the support bandage and covered in dressing pads. With the bag to hand the nursery rhyme can be reenacted at a moment’s notice, which is exactly what a story sack is for.
For another set of storytelling props that work the same way, our Three Little Pigs Storytelling Blocks turn wooden blocks into a story set for retelling a different tale. For a quieter follow-up, our free Hello Kitty coloring pages give a toddler something to color while the story settles.
One closing observation. A story sack works best kept on a low shelf within a child’s reach. The whole rhyme, the doll, and the props are in one bag that can be carried to wherever play happens. It comes down far more often than toys that need an adult to set them up. Worth the ten minutes with the iron for something that gets used on its own.