Today I nominate Stones to the National Toy Hall of Fame.

Stones are natural open-ended and endless use toy. On a similar vein of the stick, tree cookies, leaves, or a field of grass, I don’t see why it shouldn’t be included. Stone work lends itself to an outlet for children and adult of all ages to express their thoughts through the creative avenue of art. “Stonework helps the artist, no matter how young, to explore and express emotions, thoughts and feelings via the act of creating, both the art of the stone arrangements and the stories they elicit. Stones are a kinesthetic medium, never fixed in their place or meaning, the ground an endless canvas and small hands the brushes that move them.” – Diana Suskin, Stonework.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_Snk2gDufk

Children will often engage in stonework on a daily basis. I have been able to document development from infancy far into the preschool years as I wait, watch, and wonder, as children use stones in their play.

One of a child’s first play objects, is a medium sized stone about 3 inches across. As an infant she spends hours each week pushing the stone, turning it over,  placing it in containers, balancing it on her body and on other simple objects in our infant area. As she grows older the play includes two stones then more stones, different textures, sizes, and shapes. Now that she is in preschool she uses buckets of stones of all kinds, inside and in the garden. In her play she makes a lunch with her friends and for her dolls and pet dog, she lays designs to represent her home and family on a sun warmed tree stump, she lifts a large stone to see the natural world living beneath it, moves much larger stones around the lawn to create boundaries for her imaginary outdoor world, wonders what environment and events lent themselves to create the swirling and layering of the stones intricate composition, she climbs on top of the largest stones to see the world from a new angle, hides behind another stone to plan her next game, uses them as seats as she reads a story to her dolls. Stones played an important part of her development of math, literacy, movement, art, dramatic play, science, social studies, and self identity.

Stones. I nominate stones.

Did you know how amazing they were?