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HEMS School, Kathmandu, Nepal

At the school, I saw no toys, no games, nothing to stimulate creative play. My goal was to make learning come alive. One day, I gathered the children around me, and said: ‘Remember the stones you gathered at the river, around your house, and on the way to school? Remember how we saved all those stones in barrels? Were you wondering what we were going to do with them?’ The children looked at one another, curiosity aroused. I told them to select as many stones as they could carry of the ones they liked best.

This in itself was a freeing experience — choosing stones of different sizes, colors, and textures. Then, I asked the children to arrange their stones however they wanted. This might have been the first time in school that each child had worked individually, rather than as a group. The results amazed their teachers — and me as well. Children created stone people, stone animals, or just simple shapes. One child made a helicopter, another her temple and family. They were busy, but contemplative, quiet, totally immersed in their creations. “Once they had completed their stonework, I asked them to give a title to the stone drawing they had made. This was the impetus for Stonework Play.

Stone Stories

Saturday, May 4, 2013 - 11:00 AM - 2:00 PM

Stonework Play was conducted in the garden area at Providence Children’s Museum. It was a lovely outdoor setting. The stones were placed in containers along the garden’s edge, encouraging the children to choose their stones from many sources. They were acting like explorers, searching for just the right stones. One child used her dress like a basket to hold the stones she had gathered. She said these were her baby rocks.

There was running water near where the children gathered their stones. The children delighted in wetting their stones, then placing their shiny wet stones in the sun to make their stone pictures. When the stones dried, the children took them back to the water to wet them all over again. Running water added the senses of hearing the sound of trickling water and touching the wet stones to the Stonework Play activity.

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Fitchburg Art Museum

Workshop for Early Childhood Professionals

Tuesday, April 30, 2013 - 6-8pm or 6:30-8:30pm
Location: Fitchburg Art Museum, Fitchburg, MA

This workshop invites an open-ended response to the invitation to play by working with stones, inspiring participants in storytelling, in feeling active and competent, and in trusting their own choices while problem solving. As an observational tool, this also provides an opportunity to build more understanding of children in their settings.

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The Discovery Museums

Saturday June 15, 2013
Stonework Play (1PM - 4PM)
Ages: All Ages

Learn how to enhance your child's imagination and ability to create through Stonework Play, an internationally acclaimed program developed by Dr. Diana Suskind, former Professor of Education at Fitchburg State University. Through a gentle and self-initiated process of using small, natural stones to create forms and pictures, and then developing the stories they represent, the creative minds of children blossom.

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Visiting Artist Workshop: Want to be a Rock Star? with Diana Suskind

Sunday, June 16, 2013 - 1:00pm to 4:00pm
SPECIAL EVENT
Location: outside on the boardwalk
Ages: All Ages

Come be closer to nature! 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. This workshop invites you to work with stones, a natural resource, using the stones as a storytelling device. Share your story with us. It's a great way to celebrate Father's Day.

Diana Suskind, Ed.D, RIE Associate, is an accomplished and passionate educator, artist, consultant and international advocate for early childhood development and elementary education. She recently retired as an Associate Professor in Education from Fitchburg State University where she taught courses in early childhood education focusing on the arts and RIE parent-infant guidance classes. Dr. Suskind travels the world, including Asia and Europe, bringing “Stonework Play” directly to children and their caregivers. Currently, Dr. Suskind is working collaboratively with the Elizabeth Jarman Foundation to bring Stonework to even more places worldwide.

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