What are Storysacks?
 A Storysack is a cloth drawstring bag. It contains a child's picture storybook, specially chosen to be of good quality and to appeal to young children. Also included are:
*A non-fiction book which complements the story. Learning to distinguish between fiction and non-fiction, and understanding their different uses, is an important skill. Children can use the non-fiction book to "read around" the subject of their story.
*A selection of toys and props which allow the user to "act out" the story; perhaps a doll or puppet of the central characters, perhaps a scenery card or a selection of stuffed toys or articles mentioned in the story. Some contain dressing-up clothes or masks, so children can play the characters themselves.
*A game - e.g a simple word game of some kind such as word cards or lotto. It allows children to play about with the familiar words or situations they have just encountered in the story, and may test their memory and understanding of the text in a fun, friendly way. It might be a jigsaw, counting game or something else connected with the story.
*A tape of the story. Can be useful where a teacher is working alone and cannot read and manipulate the props simultaneously, but also allows the child to use the sack and follow the story himself. Where sacks are used at home, it allows parent and child to sit together and go through the story without necessarily reading aloud themselves.
*A set of notes (prompt sheet) for teachers or parents, with simple comprehension questions and suggestions for further activities.
This helps to widen the storytelling "experience" but you do not have to stick rigidly to it as you will often find that you have been asking the sort of questions suggested anyway. This extra activity encourages dialogue between storyteller and children, thus widening youngsters' vocabulary and understanding of the world around us and everything in it.
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