Story Box Making: #1

About this time last year, I was asked by a local daycare owner to create a storytelling class for her 18 month-4 year olds. I immediately jumped at the opportunity and developed a story time called "Storybox", with the idea that the day's stories would magically emerge from a box in the form of simple objects and puppets that would help build the world of the story in the little ones' imaginations.

To create the story box I used the nifty cardboard box that our Christmas cards had arrived in, painting most of the outside with grey chalkboard paint to draw scenery or tell picture stories, and laid the backside of the box with green and blue felt to be used as a landscape with felt characters. I was very excited about this creation and felt pretty proud of myself for my DIY-ness.

Until the box started falling apart from lugging it around the neighborhood as my daycare and preschool clients grew.

I nursed it along for quite some time, ignoring the crunched in sides and cramming puppets inside that were way too big to actually fit.

Well-- knowing I was limping my cardboard box along, my wonderful and very talented brother-in-law made me a large, gorgeous wooden box for Christmas. My new story box!

I love this box already for so many reasons! To me, it feels like there truly is magic inside, just waiting to be born. I love that he left it plain and simple for me to decide how to finish it. I've got lots of ideas for this box, and am excited to chronicle its transformation into a full-on imagination inducing story box here on my blog!