Category: Moffle Creative Activities

Here is a Moffle Story Mountain to inspire you to create some stories together!

Start at the beginning – who is your main character & where are they?

Then comes the build-up – what is happening & why? What does the main character want? What are the problems or obstacles in the way?

Followed by the climax – what happens to make things get worse? How can your character be strong and steady like a mountain? How do they feel?

Then the resolution – What choices does your character make? How do they overcome the problem they faced?

Lastly, the ending – how does it end? What does your character learn?

You can add to the fun & creativity using story spoons. The Moffle story spoons are the characters from Tippy Moffle’s Mirror, but you can create any characters you want to. The only limits are you & your child’s imagination & concentration span. You can improvise & role play – ask questions about what the characters might be feeling or thinking & create dialogues between them.

We all have a story to tell & as Phillip Pullman says, ‘After nourishment, shelter and companionship, stories are the thing we need most in the world’.

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We found some patterned discs that we think are beautiful for creating mosaic Moffles & exploring emotions or feelings together. Here’s a Moffle stencil – if you don’t have mosaic tiles, fill it with anything shiny & bright – buttons, flowers, stones – or use colouring pens or paint. The invitation is to choose a colour for each emotion & think about where the Moffle might feel it in its body.

Children who have lived with neglect & trauma in their early lives have often missed out on good enough support to make sense of their thoughts & feelings. To learn the words for how they are feeling & to have the opportunity to talk about them. Emotional articulacy is not innate, it is a skill that needs to be practiced, within caring relationships.

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Whilst the rainy weather has done wonders for the garden it’s nice to have some sunshine here in the UK at last, so we can enjoy all the lovely flowers in full bloom! Why not save & press some of them to make some beautiful Moffle cards?

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Why not play Moffle’s emotions noughts & crosses?

You can find a range of Moffle emotions & feelings cards to use on the website, free to download, or get the pens out & create some Moffles of your own!

1. Markers: Use the traditional O’s & X’s, or any other small markers of your choice (for example, Lego bricks, coloured paper counters, shells or pebbles)
2. Each time you have a go & place your marker on a square, choose to talk about the feeling in the square; name a time you had that feeling, or act it out.
3. You can add your own rules to make the game feel as safe & comfortable as your child needs.

For example, you might make some ‘pass’ cards, & let your child know that if they just want to place their marker & not explore the feeling, that’s fine. Or if they want to see or hear you talk about it first, that’s fine too. Your child might need lots of pass cards to start with & then see if they need less over time, or on different days.

Choose different feelings cards for different rounds – if there are feelings you know your child really finds difficult, you might want to limit those or not use them early on in the game.Remember the most important part of the game is for your child to experience enjoying playing it with you. Only keep it up as long as your child is engaged in it with you & having fun. For some little ones who struggle with feelings, this might not be for very long! Let them know that this is ok & you can play again if they want to another time. Your relationship & connection with them is always more important than the game.

Glitter jars (or bottles) are easy to make & can be a cute, visual aid to help children practice calming their minds & their bodies. They also can be a useful aid for taking ‘brain breaks’ for children that have trouble concentrating for long period of time & need short, frequent rests.

The idea is that they can shake the jar up & watch the glitter whirl around. Shaking the jar can provide a nice, physical release for any jumbly feelings or frustration. Then they can put the jar down & watch the glitter slowly settle to the bottom. As they watch the glitter sink, they can be encouraged to see how many deep breaths they can take before the contents of the jar become still again.

You can invite them to notice whether they feel any different after the glitter has settled & compare the glitter to swirling thoughts & feelings. Encourage them to notice whether their own thoughts & feelings are clearer once they have watched the glitter jar quietly, as they breathe. Let them know that all their thoughts & feelings are ok & we aren’t trying to get rid of them, just to notice them & manage them more easily. 

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We’ve made some story spoons that can be used with Tippy Moffle’s Mirror!

Children gain so much of their vocabulary & deepen their imagination & thinking through stories. Using story spoons together can be a fun, shared activity. They can be an engaging way to help involve your child in story reading & story telling. If you want to get creative & messy, you might even feel brave enough to involve your child in making the spoons!

Story spoons can be as elaborate or as simple as you want to make them, depending on the time & materials you have available. A pack of plain wooden spoons is the basic starting point. We’ve used some paint, glue, coloured felt, ribbon & pens to create our Moffles.

Once you have your Moffle spoon characters, you can use them in all sorts of ways. The only limits are you & your child’s imagination & concentration span. You may want to model playing with the spoons for your child, so that they get some ideas for how to use them.

You can hold the spoons & act out Tippy Moffle’s story as you read together. Try using different voices for the different characters! Ask questions about what the characters might be feeling or thinking.

Or you can improvise & role play – ask questions & create dialogues between the characters. Remember it’s ok for the story to go in any direction your child wants to take it – just make things up & go with the flow! As long as your child is enjoying the activity & is engaged in the process with you, it’s all good. & you can keep your story spoons in a jar close to your books, to use any time.

The Moffles stories are all about helping children to explore feelings & thoughts & here’s an invitation to get creative & make a Tissue Box Moffle for storing them!

All it takes is an empty tissue box, some old card or pieces of felt or coloured paper, some colouring pens & some glue or sticky tape & scissors. We’ve used an old egg carton for the eyes. Let your imagination & whatever craft items you might have guide you – every Moffle will be unique!

Instructions:

1. Start with an empty tissue box. You can make this work with any size box.
2. You can decide if you want to cover or decorate the tissue box, using coloured paper, felt, or coloured pens or paint.
3. Stick on any details you want (e.g. spots, sparkles, coloured feathers etc).
4. You can use the coloured felt for Moffle ears, nose, whiskers & eyes – you might need to stick some card to the back of the felt to make the ears stand up, if you want to.  
5. You can stick the felt eyes directly onto the box or use the cut-up egg carton to attach the felt to first.
6. Use glue, blue tac or sticky tape to attach the different pieces.

Once you have your decorated box, your child can write down or draw their feelings or thoughts & feed them to the Moffle. If they don’t want to draw or write, they can cut out pictures from old magazines to post that represent their feelings, or find small objects, like feathers, shells or coloured stones.

Choose a quiet time together later to sit down & empty the box & chat about the contents & what they might mean – just as much or as little as your child wants to. It can be a lovely opportunity to support your child to reflect & process feelings & learn about their inner world.

Have fun!