Share a Story Month
Being bored of a book is not something I readily admit. As a teacher turned toy hunter, I pride myself on having a range of engaging, educational toys and techniques at my fingertips and refuse to suffer boredom in my children or myself.
But after many months of reading only the Gruffalo to my niece, I needed to do something to shake things up.
Inspired by the Federation of Children’s Book Groups (FCBG), who celebrate ‘Share-a-story’ month each May, I took a good look at the stock list of what2buy4kids, my online store for quality gifts for kids, and realised I had everything I needed to make The Gruffalo fun again.
On this occasion, we used The Gruffalo finger puppets. As the FCBG has themed this year’s celebration ‘A Place for Stories’, we headed to the bottom of the garden, blanket and lantern in tow.
My niece and I had a great time with the finger puppets. To my delight, she still relaxed and bedtime was easy that evening. She enjoyed the puppets so much, I’ve even managed to tempt her onto Peter Rabbit, with this adorable Rabbit in Lettuce puppet set.
If you’re keen to try telling stories in garden locations, you might find a pop up tent useful. I popped this one up before heading there to ‘tell tales’. It provided just enough shelter and a really cosy atmosphere.
Sometimes, it’s about telling a story in a different way. There’s a fantastic, fun and very educational game series from Roald Dahl (see the range here) that is centred around his most popular books and characters. They’re also affordable and make great token gifts.
The infamous Hungry Caterpillar is a book that’s inspired many wonderful toys. Taking this Hungry Caterpillar wooden stacker into the garden, park or playroom can provide a new way to talk about the story with your child.
What surprised me the most about our adventure was how easy it is to enjoy story telling, not only as part of the bedtime routine, but in other places too. We’ve since gone to a café with this Winnie the Pooh puzzle and made up our own stories about each of the characters. Walking one of the many canals near home, we started making up stories about the birds we saw, and why on earth the bumblebees might come out when it’s so cold!
How to Find a New Place for Stories
Having investigated and revived story telling with my niece, these are my top tips for finding a new place, and way, to share stories:
Use props and prepare to be silly – getting involved with puppets and props makes story telling fun and your children will adore you all the more for getting really involved. Use silly voices at the very least!
Take any opportunity – engaging children in simple story telling can be a good distraction technique when times are boring. Car journeys are a prime example. Turn a whinge into a wonder by asking what would ‘Peter Rabbit’ or ‘The BFG’ be doing now? Or ‘Can you spot any Peter Rabbit’s in that field…?’
Go into the garden – and beyond. Story telling is a tried and tested bedtime technique and a routine I’m very keen on, but there’s a place for stories everywhere. A tent, tunnel or simple canopy can provide the perfect den for a magical, mysterious, story-telling atmosphere any time of day.
Buy and borrow books – the more books you have around the house the more opportunity your child has to read and learn. Libraries are a bit of a lost wonder these days, making them (ironically) novel reading locations for youngsters. They also dramatically cut the cost of plying your children with reading material. Remember libraries can order books in if there’s something you’d particular like to get your hands on.
Keep books small and simple – many children’s books are large and hardwearing making them hefty tomes to cart around to your new, alternative reading locations. Keep an eye out for smaller, lighter books (the Ladybird range is a good option). For really young ones, soft and squidgy Taggies books are perfect.
Create your own stories – and be sure to share. This is a good after school activity. It allows them to ‘download’, can reveal what they’ve learnt and if they’ve experienced anything significant – positively or otherwise – that day. The award-winning Rory’s Story Cubes provide fantastic inspiration. Roll the cubes to choose nine seemingly unconnected images and then have fun creating a story that links the nine pictures together.
Stock up on location and book inspiration with the FCBG. They’ve published a list of participating venues, activity packs and a recommended reading list for May’s reading celebration.
Lisa is the managing director of what2buy4kids. Lisa’s wish is to make your job of finding a gift for the children in your life easier, or help you to take some of the time and frustration out of the search for that special gift for kids.
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