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Overview
Project title:
Big Stories for Little People
Project Location:
Sandwell
Date of Project:
February 2007 - March 2009 (years 1 and 2)
Project Participants:
Children aged 3-5 from Early Years Settings across Sandwell including schools, private nurseries, play groups and children’s centres.
Project Funders:
SMBC
Neighbourhood Renewal Fund
Working Neighbourhoods Fund
Project Overview:
In the first year the activity was delivered by two different storytellers, Fiona Collins and Ellen Mills. In year two, the activity continued with one Ellen. Fiona and Ellen have very different skills, styles and experience and developed their own story-telling sessions to reflect this. The planned outcomes for the activity were:
- Children and parents/practitioners develop expressive story telling techniques.
- Children and parents/practitioners become confident in telling their own imaginative stories.
- Increased frequency in children sharing stories with their peers, practitioners and parents.
Further info.
Fiona’s Big Stories for Little People sessions focused on the use of rhymes and songs along with stories. The sessions followed a set structure each week which helped to make the children feel comfortable and meant that. by the end of the three workshops the group had built up a repertoire of activities which could be continued in staff in the setting. Fiona would transform the classrooms which she visited, using simple techniques to make ‘Story Corners’, cosy, welcoming nooks for the children to tell stories in.
In Fiona’s sessions the children also created their own ‘Story Bag’, a special storytelling resource that they could take home and share with their families or leave in the setting and use as part of their class group. Each Story Bag contained a selection of items such as a finger puppet, a plastic animal toy or an unusual pebble. The practitioners were encouraged to add to the Story Bags with interesting items that they found with the children. The items acted as prompts for the children to make up their own stories. Fiona also made ‘Us Puppets’ for the children; these personalised puppets made it easier for the shy children to communicate as they had a miniature representation of themselves to speak through.
Ellen developed a series of workshops which allowed her to use her drama skills. Taking inspiration from traditional tales as well as her own specially developed stories, Ellen took the children on a series of magical journeys in their imaginations, going to the market, into a dark cave then off to Africa before travelling down the plug hole!
Each week Ellen dressed up as a different character and used a selection of props and specially composed soundtracks to ignite the children’s imaginations. Ellen’s sessions were developed to allow the children to have the maximum amount of input; in each step of the story the group was asked for their ideas changing the story each time it was told.
For more information about the rest of the Time to Talk creative activities click on the project links below.
- Baby Talk
- Lightfoot
- Nursery Rhyming
- Puppets
- Transform
- Unfinished Stories
- Creative Professional Development
Links:
Storyteller Ellen Mills can be contacted at the following email address.
ellenmills@yahoo.co.uk
Gallery
Below are a selection of images from the Big Stories for Little People sessions.
Feedback
Leave a comment about the Big Stories for Little People project below.
Less confident children who participated have been able to use their puppets and story bags as a way of communicating. We have observed them speaking more confidently with these simple but really effective tools.
April 7, 2008 at 4:45 pm
Loved parent participation and the use of children’s knowledge and understanding being stretched.
April 22, 2009 at 12:01 pm