stones | Creative STAR Learning | I'm a teacher, get me OUTSIDE here!

Story Stones and Thinking Skills

Apr 17, 2024 | Literacy Outdoors

My painted stones remain a much treasured resource that I continue to adapt and refine. Children like them and are happy to spend time looking and talking about the simple illustrations. Some are themed. Below is my minibeast collection. Here is is fairly easy to work...

Multiplication Pebbles

Jun 14, 2015 | Maths Outdoors

Multiplication pebbles are a very simple resource. I have put 10 pebbles in one bag to represent the 3 times table. As illustrated above, each pebbles has the number 3 painted on it with acrylic deco pens. Each pebble is a different colour. For some children, learning...

Dry Creeks, Streams and Riverbeds

Apr 25, 2015 | Developing School Grounds & Outdoor Spaces, Early Years Outdoors

A dry creek is just what its name suggests. It’s a simulation of a stream which has dried up, leaving stones and other mainly (but not always) natural materials for children to use in their play. I’ve seen lots of wonderful examples over the years. They...

A Number Pebble Game

May 13, 2014 | Early Years Outdoors, Maths Outdoors

Recently I was browsing Childhood 101’s blog and stumbled across this post about using Uno to play an attribute game. It reminded me of several summers of serious card playing where my sisters and I played a lot of “Black Jack” which is similar to...

10 Rock, Pebble and Stone Play Ideas

Mar 26, 2013 | Early Years Outdoors, Nature Play & Learning, Science Outdoors

Everyone needs a rock. Enjoy endless hours of play in the forest, in your back garden, at park, on the beach. Here’s some suggestions… Pebble Toss Create a hole. Each player needs 5 stones. Take it in turns to toss a pebble into the hole. The person with the...