Thursday, May 17, 2012

Storytelling with Clouds


Tell stories with the pictures you find in clouds


I mentioned in a couple previous posts (here and here) that watching clouds could be a fun activity. Were you a little skeptical? We've laid back and looked at clouds (and it was very enjoyable on it's own!) but it never took up an afternoon. Until now. We used the pictures we found in clouds as a starting point for storytelling, and he loved it. I knew he would enjoy this activity, but just how much kind of surprised me. So I have to share!

We started the afternoon by playing at the park. When he started getting tired and hot, we took a break underneath the shade of a big tree. We laid back and looked up at the sky and I asked him if he could find any pictures in the clouds. Then we told stories based on the pictures we seen.

Use pictures in the sky for storytelling


For our first story, R seen a giant mouth in the clouds. I want to share the story with anyone that's interested in getting a glimpse at one mom's attempt. It didn't take long to actually tell the story, but it's a decent amount of reading so I'm including the story, "The Very Hungry Giant" in a separate page. You can find it by clicking here. I made this up as we went along and R's interactions will be in orange. 

It wasn't long before R was up and acting out the story as I told it. He shook and stumbled when the giant's tummy was growling. He picked various pieces of grass and weeds for the different foods. He was engrossed in the story.

After I finished my story, R found different pictures in the clouds and told his own stories. He didn't want to stop! And he didn't want to go back to playing. We sat and he told stories as I listened. And I was engrossed. I think that he's probably a better storyteller than I am.


Have you ever struggled with telling tales? Here are 10 simple tips for storytelling.

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9 comments:

  1. i just touched on cloud counting for our road trip....this is a great activity and the pics are pretty!

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  2. Wonderful post! I love watching the clouds go by. Now, I can;t wait to bring the sky to life for Rosie :)

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  3. Love the idea! We haven't cloud watched in awhile and I had forgotten just how much we liked it. I'm so glad you shared!

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  4. What a great summer thing to do!

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  5. that mouth is the first thing i saw! this reminds me of the book "it looked like spilt milk". R might enjoy reading that!

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  6. Cloud counting is a great idea, Tricia! On a cloudy day you could count for hours. Great for practicing counting to a hundred and such. Which is what I've been listening to lately :)

    Aww, that's so sweet, Growing a Jeweled Rose.

    Thank you, Megan! I'm so glad you like it! I couldn't believe just how much R loved it!

    You'll have to let me know how it goes if your family does this, Phyllis. I hope everyone likes it as much as R likes it. :)

    Ohhh, I didn't even think about pairing this with that book, Andie! Great idea.

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  7. What a perfect way to get a story starter! Cloud watching is so peaceful and you can imagine anything.

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  8. Oh, and I meant to say that you should think about publishing your stories - I like the one you shared in this post and bet many children would, too. :)

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  9. Dear Joyce,

    Love this idea! Cloudgazing [http://recess.keenfootwear.com/cloud-gazing/] is one of KEEN's suggested recess breaks and this makes it even more fun.

    We're motivated by parents like you prioritize creative playtime. We want people of all ages to lead an active lifestyle.

    Thanks for the inspiration!

    Best,
    KEEN Recess Team

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