Lap Board Stories

What to do:

1. Take a small board that will fit in your lap and a lump of playdough. Sit with one child or a small group of children.
2. Pinch off one or two small pieces of dough. Form them quickly into something resembling your story theme.
3. Say to the children, “This is a dog who is just meeting a new neighbor dog for the first time. He doesn’t know anything about this new neighborhood. Tell me what happens next.”
4. Jimmy might say, “He meets another dog.” Take another piece of clay to represent the other dog. “Here is the new dog that just moved in and here is the old dog who has lived here for a long time. What happens to the two dogs?”
5. As children get older, they will learn to add to the story in sequence. You can add a new piece of dough if another character is introduced, or you can add a line to the story. Encourage all the children to talk and to listen to each other.

Variations:

• Substitute any characters that you would like. You may even use this technique to solve problems. For example, if Linda and Mary both want the same doll, what could they do?