Session 9

Session 9

Last day of term - and a wonderful way to finish this first series of pre-schoolers storytelling!

Now there are children present who have come especially to hear the stories. They were so engrossed in the stories that the session went on for 45 minutes instead of the usual half-hour.

This meant I was a little later than usual leaving the premises, and parents were already gathering. One mother came over to my car to thank me. It was really helpful to hear the effect my storytelling was having.

This session started in chaos as there were builders working in our usual room and we had to use the main classroom, full of toys and distractions. Everyone was running wild, overexcited by this change of routine. Poor BumbleBee was being pounced on and chased until even her placid nature was being tested.

But the Tibetan cymbals worked their magic and we all settled down. The first story was Five Threads from Margaret Read MacDonald's 'celebrate the World'. I had found some seeds and threads; made a little nest and some tiny bright birds (out of soft, fluffy feathers). The children loved them. A very simple story and one that I would never have thought of telling before working with these little ones.

Then I told the lion cub's story from Papa Joe's 'Jinook the Lame'. Another very simple tale that would not work by itself for an older audience, but just right for this age group with the help of an appealing lion cub soft toy.

The final story was another from Margaret Read MacDonald - 'The Magic Garden of the Poor' - simplified a little for this young audience. I had more beautiful birds made, very simply, from bright ostrich feathers, a bag filled with gold, a golden apple and an expressive boy-doll to play the student. It was the birds, of course, that really held their attention - such bright colours fluttering around my head.

Next term the sessions shift from Friday to Wednesday, for a different group of children, so that I can have a chance to consolidate what I have learned and get to tell all the stories again.