30 Loose Parts to Use in Story Workshop

        If you're interested in incorporating story workshop into your writing lessons, you'll be needing a stock of open-ended materials, or loose parts, that students can manipulate as well as use to represent different aspects of their stories in as many different ways as possible. Here are 30 ideas of materials to get you started:

1. Glass marbles, round and flat
2. Playdoh
3. Pine cones
4. Small sticks 
5. Bark chips
6. Various fabric squares
7. Fake flowers (detached from wire stems)
8. Small plastic animals or play figures
9. Various types of blocks
10. Toilet paper rolls
11. Small stones
12. Seashells
13. Buckeyes and acorns
14. Buttons
15. Beads
16. Various types of paints
17. Small containers
18. Lincoln Logs
19. Straws
20. Sand
21. Plastic and wooden spools
22. Corks
23. Fabric place mats (great for representing landscapes as a story's setting)
24. Round clothespins
25. Popsicle sticks
26. Pom-poms
27. Pipe cleaners
28. Foam shape cutouts
29. Leaves
30. Wikki Stix