If you're into bringing stories to life then this is for you! Wooden spoons are cheap, easy to get a hold of and make EXCELLENT story props! So easy for little hands to hold too!!

I got two sets of these spoons from @countdown_nz. They come in a pack of 3 and they're 3 different lengths - so they were crying out to be turned into the 3 bears! I painted them with the FAS paint I bought for August, and I covered them in a layer of mod podge to make them shiny/ give them a finished look. They went down an absolutely treat during story telling and August now gravitates to them and carries them around - you can see he's climbed up his learning tower holding one and is eating a snack! 

There are two sides to this creation. YES these are amazing story props but also - they're just great toys. Children LOVE faces on things. Children are hard-wired to recognise faces and start to do so the second they clap eyes on their parents. Drawing a face On ANYTHING can really draw them into something. My mam always has a wooden spoon with a really simple smiley face on it which she shows Auggie on facetime and he LOVES it! That's why kids love things like 'forky' from toy story 4 - a face on anything makes it exciting!
So if you have some spoons and don't have the time to paint story book characters on them yet - try just adding a smiley face and letting your baby hold it!! . Remember - anything with a face can be personified (made to be like a person) so it automatically adds more language to play. E.g. You wouldn't invite a Lego brick to a tea party but you could totally invite a spoon with a face on it and they could talk and eat cake etc!

I introduced August's new story spoons this morning. He had never seen them before, nor had he ever read the story. So it was all very new! Here you can see a bit of how I introduced them and used them as props to read the story.
August's role at this stage is just to be present and listen (and bite the spoons a bit!). As he grows, I expect he'll want to make the spoons act out the story. Once I know he knows the story and is familiar with the other key words such as porridge, chair and bed - we'll be able to tell the story without the book.