Lockdown Special: Story Sack Challenge – can you make a story sack from stuff you find around the house?

So, at Space on The Bookshelf we do a lot of features about Story Sacks. Story Sacks are a great educational tool, they’re fun, and can use play and stories to help learning and can be used in line with the curriculum. With lockdown extended and people Home Educating, this is exactly the time when Story Sack could really help people to entertain, engage and educate their children.

However it is lockdown and therefore shops are closed and people are stuck at home, so compiling story sacks isn’t as easy as it was. So, here is a blog post to show it can be possible to construct a story sack with things around your home. So I devised a challenge for my teens – which severed as both an activity to keep them busy, and to show you it is possible to create story sacks from home especially if you have a bookshelf (or two).

The Challenge

I game my children a print out each of what you need in a story sack. I then gave them an afternoon to compile their story sacks. At the end of the day me (an avid story sack creator) and my husband (who works in education) would pick a winner. 

So for you all out there here’s a reminder of what a story sack consists of….

Story Sack Checklist

•  A good quality fiction book. (picture book or novel)
• A non-fiction book related to the story and themes in the chosen picture book.
• Toys, (ideally a soft toy for younger children).
• A game or activity also related to the theme of the chosen fiction book.
• Optional worksheet based on the story and themes off the story sack.

Meet The Competitors

Team B’s Story Sack …

So B, went for a classic picture book to construct her story sack around, picking our ancient copy (from when I was a toddler) of ‘the Tiger who Came to Tea’ by Judith Kerr.

She paired this with a non-fiction picture book that we had yet to re-home about Big Cats.

For toys she raided her teddy collection and found a plush Tiger and cub. For the game element she manged to find a Trivia Pursuit special expansion pack about Wildlife. She also went the extra mile and found some activities, a colouring in sheet and big-cat themed word search on the internet and printed them out.

Team S’s Story Sack …

So S, an avid keeper of beetles, stick insects, hissing cockroaches, praying mantis and giant African land snails, went for an insect themed story sack. He picked the picture book ‘Moth’ by ‘Isobel Thomas and Daniel Egneus’ which is a beautiful book that is all about moths and their evolution.

He then paired this with the equally beautiful ‘Insect Emporium’ by ‘Susie Brooks’ and ‘Dawn Copper’.

For toys he put in his much loved TY beetle plush, which is always on his bed. For toys he went with the amazing tile game HIVE which features an array of insects.

The Verdict

Both story sacks were well thought out and ingeniously constructed with books and games and things from around the house (they were not permitted to use anything form my Story Sack stock). But the overall winner of the challenge, just taking it for going the extra mile and finding worksheets, was Team B’s Tiger story sack!

Thank you stopping by and we hope that this maybe inspires you to see if you can construct a story sack in isolation from bit and pieces you find around your home.

Look Up! by Nathan Bryan and Dapo Adeola – Story Sack

Since this picture book was published and before it deservedly became such a hit, I wanted to create a story sack based around it. However due to issues (discussed in this blog post) about sourcing games, and plush toys in diverse ethnicities, I wasn’t confident it would be possible. However I am truly happy to say that the stars must have been aligned, as I have manged to source everything relatively easily from standard shops on the high street, which I very much hope is a sign of things to come.

So before we start here is a quick reminder of what a story sack contains…

Story Sack Checklist 

• A good quality fiction book. (picture book or novel)
• A non-fiction book related to the story and themes in the chosen picture book.
• Toys, (ideally a soft toy for younger children).
• A game or activity also related to the theme of the chosen fiction book.
• Optional worksheet based on the story and themes off the story sack.

Books…
 

So for our main picture book, we have the vibrant and brilliant ‘Look Up’ penned by Nathan Bryon and illustrated by Dapo Adeola. This book is everything a picture book should be; fun, heart-warming, thought provoking, educational, and fabulous story where the exquisite illustration that truly enhance the text.

‘Look Up’ tells the story of Rocket, who like her Hero, Maye C Jemison, wants to be an astronaut. She lives and breathes everything space, and is always looking up, unlike her big brother Jamal who’s always looking down at his phone.

With a Meteor shower due to be visible that evening, Rocket arranges for the community to come to the park to view the meteors and she even manages to get Jamal to look up from his phone.

  

'Look Up!' is a story of sibling love, dreams and dedication that all children should read.

I’ve chosen not one but two non-fiction books to accompany ‘Look Up!’ First the lovely highly illustrated National Geographic Kids Meteors, which does exactly what it says on the cover, providing lots of interesting educational facts along with beautiful photographs.

The second book is Mse C. Jemison, picture book biography part of the Woman in Science & technology range by ‘Discovery Library’ by Meeg Pincus and Elena Bia, which gives more insight into the story of Rockets Hero, the first African American woman in space.

For younger readers, I would recommend the beautiful ‘Little Leaders, Bold Women in Black History,’ picture book by Vasti Harrison.

Plush / Soft Toys… 

So, I was lucky that because I squirrel away plush toys when I find them, I had a doll that I could adapt to look like Rocket, so I went about crafting a spacesuit, glasses, and braiding her hair. Although if you are not crafty or just don’t have the time, to source a doll and adapt I have found a Jelly Cat plush that is available online, and in toy shops, that is in a Space Walk suit and has a medium skin tone, called ‘Jellynaught’, RRP £11.99.

I also picked up a Jelly Cat, cat to keep Rocket company as sadly I couldn’t find a doll suitable to be used a Jamal.

Games…

So, I found in my local toy shop a ‘PetitCollage’ ‘Shine Bright’ ‘Space Bound’ tin, which has a black female astronaut doll with a host of space outfits to dress her, including a Nasa suit and spacewalking suit. I’ve also included glow in the dark starts to use as the meteors.

So here we are on ‘Look Up’ Story Sack, that was truly a pleasure to put together. Thank you for stopping by, and do come back for more story sack ideas.

William Bee’s Wonderful World of Tractors and Farm Machines – Review

William Bee’s Wonderful World of Tractors and Farm Machines, is a fun vibrant educational non-fiction picture book, with a retro feel that will appeal to adults and children alike.

Full of retro filled illustrations that really have a ‘Rosie’s Walk’ feel to them, the book follows the author/ illustrator titular charter William Bee, as he explores tractors and farm machinery. From small tractors to monstrous ones, he takes the reader on a journey explaining what different types of tractors are used for, as well as bringing in a dose of the history of agricultural machinery.

This book would have appealed to be when I was child, (I could name the tractor make from a single glance from a moving car three fields away), but also to both my children, who loved learning about all things with engines. 

All in all William Bee’s Wonderful World of Tractors and Farm Machines, is a fun educational read, that has the potential to be a future classic as it focuses on a topic that has a perennial appeal to small children.

Shark Lady, The True Story of How Eugenie Clark Became the Ocean’s Most Fearless Scientist – Jess Keating & Marta Àlvarez Miguéns - Review and Story Sack

'Shark Lady, The True Story of How Eugenie Clark Became the Ocean’s Most Fearless Scientist’ penned by Jess Keating and illustrated by Marta Àlvarez Miguéns, is a beautiful, engaging picture book which to add to its charm is a true story.

The vividly illustrated hardback picture book tells the story of The Shark Lady, Eugenie Clark, from her first childhood trip to aquarium, through to her becoming one of the most respected and pioneering shark expects in the world. Through the charming told story, Jess Keating shows the childhood passion, and Engine’s determination to rise above discrimination, and prove to the world that she as a women was both intelligent enough to become a zoologist and brave enough to explore the watery depth of the ocean.

Along with the main story, the book is full with facts about Marnie creatures, like the inside covers which are bursting with Marta’s illustrated species of sharks and the ‘Shark Bites’ which are small factoids dispelling common shark myths, plus a timeline depicting Eugenie’s amazing achievement and discoveries.

Shark Lady, The True Story of How Eugenie Clark, is an inspiring insight into the life of an amazing lady, but is also a message to young children that determination and hard work along with the tenacity to never give up can lead to the realisation of your dreams.

Shark Lady, The True Story of How Eugenie Clark Became the Ocean’s Most Fearless Scientist – Story Sacks

Story Sack are fun education tools, which can be used to help children immerse in a book and gain greater understanding of the story. Most Story Sacks are constructed around a fiction picture book, but there are many children who much prefer to read non-fiction, so SOTB thought we’d have a go at constructing a story sack around Shark Lady, The True Story of How Eugenie Clark Became the Ocean’s Most Fearless Scientist.

So just before we begin, I’ll start with as quick refresher of what is included in a story sack..

• A good quality fiction book, (picture book or novel
• A non-fiction book related to the story and themes in the chosen picture book.
• Toys, (ideally a soft toy for younger children).
• A game or activity also related to the theme of the chosen fiction book.
• Optional worksheet based on the story and themes off the story sack.

Shark Lady Story Sack for Younger Children

For the Non-Fiction book element we have paired Shark Lady, with Miles Kelly Publishings ‘I Love Sharks; First Facts and Pictures’ which is a beautiful picture book filled with shark facts.

For the younger readers activities, we have a plush Shark Lady, and Shark, plus a Magnetic wooden ocean fishing game.

Shark Lady Story Sack for Older Children

The older childrens storysack utilised the same nin-fiction book, but we’ve swapped out the soft toys, for Schleich Wildlife Shark set with three shark figures, plus a playmobile female diver (it is the only female diver figure I could find, proving socusity still belives it a masuclie pursuit!) For the game element, we choosen the fact filled Top Trumps Shark cards.

Frankenstein at 200 – Review of Making the Monster, The Science behind Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein by Katheryn Harkup

When we posted our Frankenstein inspired Story Sack features a few weeks ago we promised you a full review of Katheryn Harkup’s ‘Making the Monster, The Science behind Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein’, and so here it is!

So firstly, this book does exactly what it says on the cover, and a more bedsides. Making the Monster is a non- fiction adult’s book that explores the sciences that Victor would have used to fashion his creation and history both social and Mary Shelley’s that went into the shaping of the book. Despite being an adult book, the book is accessible (for me a dyslexic who reads predominately children’s books, and who has not studied any science since the mid 1990’s, I both read and understood it without difficulty) so is definitely pitched at a level that older YA readers will be able to read and understand.

Making The Monster looks at the science that was known at the time and how Victor would have applied it to both construct and crucially to bring it to life. With this aim, Katheryn explores the history of science from the ancient times through alchemy to the life and times of Mary (and of course Victor), The Enlightenment. The Enlightenment being at time where great leaps in the understanding and the application of science, medicine and electricity took place, and when science was an everyday entertainment and subject of interest and conversation to the greater public. 

In addition to looking at the ‘nut’s and bolts’ of how the monster could have been made, Katheryn explores the science obsessed society in which Mary was surrounded, and the fascinating, eccentric, brilliant and often morally dubious real life figures that Katheryn poses as the influence of some of the books pivotal characters. The likes of John Hunter the famous surgeon, anatomist and dentist who pioneered may medical advances (many still used today) whose multi-faceted personality has said to have inspire, not only Frankenstein, but Jackal and Hyde, Doctor Doolittle, and Moby Dick.

But it is not just the science that makes the story of Making the Monster so fascinating, but the history, not only of science, and society at a whole, but of Mary herself and her unique, radical, and often uncontroversial upbringing. Kathryn begins the book, by exploring the lives of both Mary’s parents, Mary Wollstonecraft – writer, translator and pro-feminist and William Godwin a writer known for his radical views. Mary’s childhood, was one in which she was exposed to and immersed in the company of many of the great thinkers of the time, as many of her father friends would visit their home, which also doubled as a publishing house for her father and step-mother’s publishing business and bookshop meaning young Mary also had access to a wealth of texts. 

Making the Monster as part of our YA Frankenstein Story Sack

In the early chapters, Katheryn looks at how this unique upbringing helped shape Mary, and nurture her intelligence and creativity, it also looks at many of the family and her future husband’s (Percy Shelley) friends and acquaintances and how they also played strong parts in influencing the novel. Through reading these chapters of Mary own life experiences, Katheryn also explores the auto-biographical elements of Frankenstein, inspired by dreams of the reanimation of her recently deceased child, and of the aspects of both Percy’s personality and life that heavily influenced the character of victor.

Making the Monster, The Science behind Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, is a fascinating read, which would appeal to adults and YA readers who are interested in sciences, social histories or literature, as it brings a beautifully penned and accessible in-depth look at all the aspects that had to culminate for Mary to write the book. It is definitely worth investing the time to read this fascinating book.

Ready Steady Mo! – Mo Farah, Kes Gray & Marta Kissi – Biography Story Sack

 Over the past few weeks here on SOTB we have explored and the concept of Story Sacks to prove them to be an exciting resource which can inspire a wider audience of readers. We have looked at creating story sacks for different ages of readers from key stage one pupil’s right through to young adults, proving that they are adaptable and versatile. But now we are stretching the concept further and we give you is our first Biography Story Sack.

It has become apparent to us SOTB contributors that publishers seem to no-longer publish exciting biographies/ autobiographies for children, akin to; Roald Dahl’s Boy, My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell or When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit by Judith Kerr. This is a shame as biographies can be an excellent way to introduce children to reading non-fiction but in an understandable narrative form. With this in mind, we set ourselves a challenge to assemble a Biography Story Sack based on someone who children are aware of and who is both a passive and inspiring role model. Therefore we thought very hard and picked the formidable Mo Farah.

So we have picked the vibrant and picture book Ready Steady Mo! By Mo himself along with Kes Gray and Marta Kissi, as central core to build the story sack around. Ready Steady Mo!, is a funny, vibrant beautifully illustrated picture book, following Mo, as he runs through extraordinary settings inspiring others to get active too. We have paired this up with Where’s Mo, a fun Where’s Wally style spotting books full of puzzles and based around London 2012.

For the obligatory non-fiction book element of the story sack, we have included Roy Apps, short biography ‘Dream to Win; Mo Farah’ which concentrates on Mo’s story from when he was a boy and his extraordinary journey from Somalia to the UK and young sportsman to Olympic champion. The book is told in narrative form and is interjected by lovely illustrations by Chris King. In addition to this we have included another non-fiction, Richard Brassey’s fully illustrated picture book of ‘The Story Of The Olympics,’ to help put Mo achievement into perspective to young readers.

However the essential soft toy element of the story sack was problematic, as after searching toy shops, the internet and even charity shops, it became apparent that it is near on impossible to by a soft toy/ rag doll or plush of a person unless you want a white blonde haired girl. Therefore our Mo, has been homemade, and we have tried very hard to make the likeness as close as possible to Marta Kissi’s illustrations of Mo in Ready Steady Mo!

For the game part we have chosen the Top Trumps GOLD 30 Legend of London 2012, which includes a Mo Farah card, and we also included a god medal so children can pretend to be a gold medallist too.

So here we bring another adaptation of the Story Sack, a biography, hopefully this will excite children and hopefully inspire them to read and run! I much hoping that it would meet Mo’s approval.

Poo at the Zoo by Steve Smallman and Ada Grey - Story Sacks – DIY - Poo Bags

Getting children engaged in stories from an early age can be the cornerstone to them developing a love for reading. There are many ways to accomplish this but one of the most fun ways, which is adopted by schools and pre-school and can also be easily adapted for the home, is to use Story Sacks, (press here to read our last Story Sack DIY guide).

Over the next few post, we at space on the bookshelf will be exploring the concept of story sacks; looking at how to create them, how to put-together story sacks for older readers like Middle Grade and Young Adults, and looking at creating Story Sacks on a frugal budget. But to start off our Story Sack features, we shall begin with; Poo Bags. It is pretty universally acknowledged that children find poo funny, so why not use their amusement to both engage them in stories, and slipping in a bit of education on the way?

What’s a story sack?

Story sacks are another way of getting children excited about reading. A story sack is a bag and inside there is a good quality fiction book (usually a picture book) and a non-fiction book which is related. There are also soft toys a game and sometimes an activity sheet. All the contents of the sack relates to the story in the fiction book, and are designed to explore the story in other ways, and to ignite the child’s imagination.

Tips to make best use out of your story sacks...

Teaching assistance and story sack creator Janice Markey (whose been making story sacks for over ten years) shares some tips for making story sacks and how to use them best to excite children about reading.

• Don’t forget the toys -There MUST be a soft toy and a game in the sack!
• Fewer are better - We keep four to five story sacks in the class room at any one time allowing the children to borrow them on a rota system. A child can take them home for a week and read them together with their families. The rota system means they look forward to their turn the children often ask when their turn is to take home a story sack.
• Keep them Fresh- I’m always keeping them fresh and making news ones and keeping up with trends. I did an Olympic one and a queen’s jubilee one last year. If they get tired I take them out of circulation and remake them. Keeping them fresh means they are always exciting for the children.
• Scrounge – Story sacks cost to compile, so scrounge funds wherever you can!

Poo Bag #1 Poo in the Zoo by Steve Smallman and Ada Grey

Poo in Zoo is a funny and vibrantly coloured picture book following the adventures of Little Bob McGrew the keeper at the zoo, whose job mainly consists of shovelling up – you’ve guest it - poo! The illustrations of the differing type of poo from varying creatures are amusing, and you feel a little sorry for Bob McGrew, but it’s when the naughty Iguana starts greedily guzzling everything he can find, and then deposits it in a glowing smelly plop, which is when the keepers job becomes really horrible.

Poor Bob doesn’t know what to do with glowing poo, but it soon becomes the main attraction, with people flocking to see it, so much so that Hector Gloop for his Amazing Poo Museum, meaning that Bob can buy an automatic Poo picker-up-er!

I chose this book for the basis of the Story Sack not only because it is funny and beautifully illustrated, but because when I was a teenager I had a pet – you’ve guest it – iguana! And indeed iguanas do have the smelliest most horrendous poo, on account that they only do a move every few months! My iguana’s poo was so bad that it will smell out the whole house, for days even after it had been cleared up!

My very Smelly Iguana  - Iggy.

The Other aspect of the book that I thought was quite topical was the Poo Museum, as earlier this year an actual Poo Museum; The National Poo Museum, opened up on the Sandown Zoo on the Isle of White.

Of course a Story scam need to be educational as well as funny, so I’ve paired Poo at the Zoo up with the factual ‘Animal Sciences; Poo a Natural History of the Unmentionable’ which is an interesting picture filled book full of interesting poo facts.

To make the Story Sack educational and fun, there are an array of soft Zoo Animals, plus a hand-puppet Little Bob-McGrew Zoo Keeper and of course a cuddly iguana, a pretend poo, and lastly a game of Plop Trumps!

This Story Sack should cause lots of fun and laughter, and maybe even slip a bit of education in without children even noticing! But if maybe Iguana’s aren’t your thing, then you could always try one utilising the classic ‘The Mole who knew it was None of His Business!’

Poo Bag #2 The Mole who knew it was None of His Business - Werner Holzwarth & Wolf Erlbuch

I hope you've enjoyed this Story Sack post, and please come back and visit for more Story Sack inspiration!