Dear Zoo Story Sack

Even though Hartley is only 12 months I decided we should do something fun for World Book Day. He has always loved sharing books with me, his favourites are the ones with bits to touch and feel.
 Just recently he has started to enjoy proper story books and will sit with me for the whole story.

I have used story sacks a lot in schools but thought Hartley would really enjoy his very own story sack to bring the story to life.

What is a story sack?

A story sack is a large cloth bag containing a favourite children's

book with supporting materials to stimulate language activities and

make reading a memorable and enjoyable experience.

 You can include;
 soft toys or puppets 
items from the story
 audio tapes
games or puzzles related to the story
masks or dressing up items
information books related to the story


I decided to use the book Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell as Hartley loves anything animal related at the moment. He has never heard this story before so this made it even more special but of course you can make a story sack for your child's favourite story.

As Hartley is only one I decided to keep the story sack simple. I collected all the animals from the story. We had most of them already, the ones we didn't have I picked up from charity shops.
To make the story even more fun I put each animal in their own parcel or container. I added labels and tags which were the same as the book. Even though Hartley cannot read, it helped me know which animal was in which container.

I read the story to Hartley and then gave him the parcel that contained the animal on that page. He really enjoyed opening the parcels and finding the animals.

 Hartley recognised the elpehant and made an 'elephant' sound!

 Hartley was so excited as I gave him each parcel.

 He loved looking at the pictures. Dear Zoo is a lift the flap book, which he really enjoyed too.

We spent all afternoon playing with the animals and the boxes. Hartley loved putting the different animals into the different containers. This book was absolutely perfect for him at the moment as he loves 'posting' items at the moment.
I was amazed how long he concentrated on this activity and re read the story many times throughout the day. 


What did Hartley learn?
- Enjoying looking at and handling books with interest.
- shape and space - enjoying filling and emptying containers
- using sounds in play (making animal noises)
- recognising animals
- fine motor skills - opening the different parcels

My friend makes story sacks ready for you to fill yourself.  Please Check out her facebook page
Story Sacks by Little Miss Butterfly