5 Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed: Mini-Storybox Fun

Awhile ago, while browsing Pinterest, I “happened upon” fun uses for empty Altoid Boxes. I immediately put out a request on Facebook for friends that may have extra Altoid boxes laying around that I could have. I have tried a couple of ideas to use with my two boys that were inspired from my searches on Pinterest.

I wanted to create some tins, that were literacy based that work for my six year old Liam who is deafblind. The first one I created was a small story box that goes with the story “5 Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed” which is one of Liam’s favorite stories I read with him.

Materials

5 Little Monkeys book (Braille version)
Little Monkeys (I found mine on Amazon for a little over 5 dollars including shipping!)
Bedding for the ‘bed’ (I just sewed a tiny pillow with leftover fabric I had laying around at home.)
Braille labels. Create labels of key words that go with the story to attach on the cover and back of the Altoid box. Ex: Monkey, 5, jump, doctor, mom, bed, hit, and head

Procedure

Tell the story (fun rhythm!) to your child or read the story together. (You can use the tiny story box at this point or in the next step).

monkeys and Altoid box — *Holding up a miniature monkey in an Altoid box*

Retell the story again using the monkeys from the tin. Count the monkeys together. Have one jump out at a time and bump his head. (Place on the other side of the tin until all the monkeys are “gone”).
Practice counting or simple math facts using the monkeys.

Altoid with braille — *Monkeys in Altoid box with braille labels*

Have your child locate the key words that were labeled in braille on their little tin.

Altoid box with braille label — *Braille labels for “doctor” and “mom”*

Altoid box with braille labels — *Braille label “bed”*

Have your child try retelling the story to you!

My next ideas for literacy-inspired Altoid tins!

Kid-friendly grocery list: with foods written on magnets
Matching game: words in braille on magnets that match with the corresponding object
Shape box: different magnetic shapes that match with the name of the shape in braille
Other miniature sized story box
Braille magnetic word strips that can be used to make short sentences

Here are a couple of other tins I have made for my boys that were just for fun and inspired by the following sites I found on Pinterest: