Once upon a time, there was a garden that was bathed in sunshine and flowers. In the middle of the garden was a wonderous tepee, where magical objects were waiting to be found inside. At the bottom of the garden, purple silks hung down from the branches of the lilac tree, with soft blankets lying in the shade, and white flowers grew out of all the green bushes and grass.
Suddenly, the red gate opened into the garden, where 2…3….4 little elfkins and a slightly older fairy called Megan crept into the garden. They all stopped and stared…then the brave Poppy elfkin ran immediately to the Teepee and found the magical objects…
Yes, the first Storytelling for Small Ones took place Sat 4th, and was a very fun and imaginative afternoon! Thanks to Jo for her Teepee and lilac canopy creations – as well as her exciting story about Theseus and his defeat of the horrible monster, the Minotaur (yes we are starting the small ones on epic stories already!) I told the Story of Creation, starting off the run of various Bible Stories that will be told each time, where our love for giraffes became apparent! I also told my ‘Beatrice the Dancing Bee’ story complete with a yellow and black stripy sock puppet (thanks again to Jo’s sock donation!) Amazingly, everyone liked the story and wanted to sing the Beatrice Bee song again (Will asked for the ‘Buzzy Bee song’ whilst we were telling jokes in the teepee – I felt v proud). After lots of drinks and the odd picking of our blackberries, the children all had the chance to play dressing up, where all the ‘magical objects’ were in the teepee. They created ‘mini’ stories themselves, with Poppy and Will taking it in turns to be the ‘wolf’ and Will liked being the rabbit as well – fantastic hopping moves! Abigail collected all the stars and pearls she could find and enjoyed being a ‘star in the sky’. Megan became a very elegant maid in a silk orange cloth, and I think Emma, Mikki and I all had to become queens at some point. Angel blew bubbles everywhere to add to the effect. Poppy chose very interesting characters, including a princess who wore black rimmed glasses with headphones, which was an excellent example of steering clear of stereotypes!
The next 'Storytelling for Small Ones' will take place on Sat 8th September, 2pm where blackberry picking will be apart of the storytelling J We found that children listen more attentively when parents try and withdraw a bit, so that would be something to consider for next time, if possible! Also, babies and children aged 0-2 years, would enjoy the second half of the storytelling, which is the ‘dressing up’ and play fun bit! We will have 2 stories told in the first half. Thanks to all who came and made it a lovely afternoon!
RoSi* xx
