My portable story circle classroom

Our story circles are usually "a movable feast". As I've mentioned in another post, story circle can happen practically everywhere: indoors or outdoors, online or in person. The location and the method of delivery can also change as the circumstances change: the weather is nice? Let's move outside! Flu season and lots of kids sick at home? Let's have a virtual meeting! This is why I find it very helpful to have a handy "portable story circle classroom", to take with me to whatever location we're meeting at this week.

Artist and art educator Nona Orbach, the author of "The Good Enough Studio: Art Therapy Through the Prism of Space, Matter, and Action", describes here how in the times of covid lockdowns and restrictions she helped her students to organize their own individual tiny studios with some paper and pencil cases.

I found Orbach's story really inspirational: you don't need a big well stocked studio to create art. You also don't need a big well equiped classroom to share stories...

Here's what's inside my "portable story circle classroom":

- paper and markers for visual storytelling

- chalk for visual storytelling outdoors

- foam sponge ball for active games (both indoors and outdoors)

- small Bluetooth speaker for music games

- easy setup game ("Guess Who?" and "Four in a Row" are awesome)

- books of course!

How about you - are you an educator who moves between different locations? What's in your portable classroom? Share in the comments!

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