Toy and Books Shelfie
A little update to this post (August 2023 – Floss is now six). I’ve updated the links to resources at the bottom of this blog post. Do feel free to drop a comment or an email if you can’t find something and I’ll try and help.
It makes me smile when I look at toy shelfies from three years ago knowing that 95% of these toys are still played with now. I brought many of them feeling they would have good longevity and I love how they grow with her and the play evolves. Here’s the original post below…
It’s been a while since I’ve posted about one of our toy shelfies. Floss is now three years old and she still loves her small world play. Her play has got much more elaborate. There are now conversations between her characters and the story lines in her play follow stories we have read together intertwined with every day happenings in our day. It’s lovely to watch.
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With this in mind I’ve made sure there is lots of book play with story props. Some we’ve been enjoying for a while and others are new. I’ve also added the house, boat and forest area above each little book box so that she can act out different scenarios.
I’ve popped links at the bottom of the page for resources and toys if you’d like to know where to get anything from.
Small world Play
I LOVE this house. It’s so versatile and often gets used as a cattle shed! I’ve kept this set up really simple so that Floss can take other characters and props to make up her own stories and scenarios.
The Snail and the Whale
The Snail and the Whale has been a very popular story sack for Floss. I love the chalk houses and how I can make different bits of settings and characters to add to our props. If you’d like to know more about setting up story sacks there’s a link to a post I wrote here.
The Girl and the Dinosaur Book
This latest book is totally magical. It’s beautifully illustrated and has rhyming verses throughout. Floss always makes me smile. She was most impressed by my volcano made out of scarves!
Dogs Book
Does every child go through the stage of being a dog or is it just mine? (We’re frequently a cat now – 2023!) There’s been a lots of woofing and fetching and rolling! I love the illustrations in the book Dog by Emily Gravett. Well not just this book, I love all her books. If you haven’t come across her yet check out her other books here. We’re huge fans.
The Man on the Moon Book
Man on the Moon has been another favourite. We’ve set up sensory small world play around this theme too – here’s a link to what we did.
Toys for Book Play
You don’t need to have all the characters and props for different stories. Children have incredible imaginations and will use anything and everything to help them act out their stories. We also enjoy making lots of our toys and resources and using natural materials and loose parts in play.
Although for some little ones having a few key pieces, a character, or part of a setting can really help to bring the words of a story alive. It helps them to connect ideas and develop narratives in their play using the visual clues that they see.
Descriptive language increases when children can see and feel materials in their play. Asking questions with props becomes easier for children to give answers. What does the grass feel like? What was the water like when they fell in? How is the character feeling when that happens?
If you’re looking for more book play ideas then check out this toy rotation above with fiction and non fiction books to explore.
Book Resources
Shelves
Top Shelf
- Boat is sadly no longer made
- House we got ours from Myriad several years ago – this one is a newer version.
- Bears
- Fairies
- Elephants
- Ocamora Trees
The Snail and the Whale
- The Snail and the Whale book
- Lighthouse/ Sign/ Waves – Chalk Houses – the ones we have are no longer available but these are really similar.
- Mermaid are very hard to come by – worth checking eBay.
- Snail
- Whale
- Pastel Mini Rainbow
The Girl and the Dinosaur
Dogs
The Man on the Moon
- The Man on the Moon book
- Rocket – Chalk Houses – the ones we have are no longer available but these are really similar.
- Flockmen
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