February Book of The Month

Wow, where did January go? As we step in to February, we are looking forward to lots of storytelling and crafting fun for St Valentine's, Shrove Tuesday and, most of all, Chinese New Year. With Chinese New Year in mind, we have chosen 'We're Riding on a Caravan' as our February book of the month.

This beautifully illustrated story from Barefoot Books is an exciting tale of a year long trek along the famous Chinese Silk Road. The exciting lyrical tale takes children on an adventure, stopping off at significant places along the road and teaching children new facts about China. There are great endnotes, with information of important Chinese cities and map of the Silk Road, making your storytelling session educational as well as fun. You can bring your story to life with gathering any Chinese themed items that you have around the house, such as chopsticks, drums, materials or dragon puppets. Add a little music for ambiance and you have a fun filled story time ahead of you. Head over to our Facebook page to enter our giveaway, in which you can enter to win a copy of this book in time for Chinese New Year.

Why not enjoy a Chinese New Year craft, once you have finished reading your story. A classic paper lantern is a cheap and easy activity or you can make your very own goat mask, to celebrate 2015's Year of the Goat.

Other great books for Chinese New Year storytelling  include, Lin Yi's Lantern, Little Leap Forward and The Great Race.

Happy New Year

Storytime:Dragons

After picking up a copy of Hector and the Big Bad Knight at the library last week, we have been dragon mad in the Little Scribbles household. The book is a fun journey taken by little Hector saves the day, despite his doubters, after his Grandmother's wand was stolen by the bad knight. With plenty of laughs along the way,  Hector's escapades offer great fun for toddlers and older children alike.

The book started us on a dragon book spree, taking in Barefoot Books fantastic Herb The Vegetarian Dragon then dancing along to A Dragon on the Doorstep singalong CD book.

We left the CD playing whilst we got stuck in to our dragon crafts. After returning from France with a knight helmet, we had previously made our very own shield so it was time to make a dragon so we could go into battle. We used an old tinfoil tube for the body and cut a dragon head from some cardboard before paining it all read and adorning with feathers and gold crepe paper. A simple crafts that allows for lots of messy play and creativity.

If you don't have time to make your own dragon, you could always use this fun Folkmanis dragon puppet or make your own little paper dragons with this Djeco Dragons and Chimeras Folding Paper Toys.

Once our crafts were finished and dried, it was time to get active and have some dragon fun. I love how a simple bit of cardboard can a lot of imagination can allow for hours of fun. Free play is an essential part of a child's development in terms of nurturing creativity and spontaneity. Although I admit that after 3 hours of playing shopkeeper I get a little bored, I can see how much fun my daughter has during role play so it something that I always want to encourage. Speaking of which, its time to leave you and get practising my dragon roooooaaaaaaar !

Storytime: Big! by Tim Hopgood

We have been BIG fans of Tim Hopgood ever since we came across a copy of 'WOW, Said the Owl', a colourful insight into the world of an owl who decides to stay up all day. I love the simplicity of Hopgood's books, taking themes that young children will engage with and bringing them to life with bold illustrations. Big! has been on our 'to read' pile for a while now, so on a rainy day when we were both feeling a bit poorly, me and Sofia decided that this was the book to brighten us up.

Big! is a refreshingly simple book that celebrates growing up. The stylish art work give life to an endearing little boy to life as he contrasts himself with an ant, a bear and an elephant...The boy grows throughout the story, and by the end he's bigger than his best friend. This book confronts a preoccupation of every child, and every child will recognise and empathise with this little boy's wish to be BIG!

Sofia is forever telling me off when I refer to her as a little girl, always insisting that she is in fact big! We had lots of fun reading the book and exploring the items around us that were bigger than her or vice versa. The book may come in handy for exploring feelings about other children at nursery being bigger or not being able to do everything they would like to do right now. 

To bring our own story time to life, we thought it would be fun to make a life size Sofia drawing.  Using a large roll of poster paper and a felt pen, we set to work. 

Once all the giggling was out of the way, we were ready to set to work in getting messy and decorating our figure. If you plan on having a go at this activity, it's a great way to incorporate a little messy play in to your day. We used a mixture of colouring pens, paint and glued various bits and bobs that we had in our craft box. Let you imagination run wild!

We stuck to a straightforward self-portrait, that allowed Sofia to express how she sees herself in the here and now but you could always ask your little one to draw themselves how they see themselves in the future. A ' want do you want to  be when you grow up ' painting would be fun to keep. Whatever you do, I am sure it will have a fun filled afternoon, like us. We just need to find a place to put our masterpiece.

Sensory Storytime: Spring Garden

With the sun shining, the air fresh and the trees beginning to bloom, a spring themed story time session is sure to get little ones at one with nature. We based our recent spring garden themed sensory story time session around two Barefoot Books titles, ' Who's in the Garden ' and ' What's This '.

Our session began with a round of nursery rhymes and spring themed songs, as well as a few children's favourites. Good spring songs include, 'Baa Baa black sheep', 'Mary had a little lamb' and 'Mary Mary quite contrary' as well as the ever popular sleeping bunnies and 'dingle dangle scarecrow'.

Once our little book worms had danced off a little energy it was time to move on to our stories. 'Who's in the Garden ' is a fun peep style book that introduces featuring animal that the children can recognise and emulate, which allows for great interaction. ' What's This ' will get children on their tip toes as they try and grow as high as the sunflower in the story.

After our stories had finished, it was time for a bit of exploring. We created a simple worksheet that encouraged the children to search the sensory garden for sights,sounds and textures.

Our garden were made up grass, plants and flowers from the garden along with shredded paper, toy animals and slug slime ( a pot of goo!). For some pretend play, we had two trays for vegetable planting, one containing real soil and another filled with rice, stained with red and green food colouring, and both filled with toy vegetable and a variety of pots and garden tools. Lots of messy fun was to be had!

With play dough out for creative, squishy fun and paper flower making, there were lots of activities to keep everybody entertained. Our painting with twigs was particularly popular and resulted in a bath to two at home time. The list of activities to accompany a spring story time is endless but we finished off our session with planting sunflower seeds that will bring lots of smiles as they grow,

Storytime:Sunflowers

Inspired by our Book of the Month for April, 'What' This?', we decided to hold sunflower themed storytelling sessions this week. In 'What's This? ' we learn the basics of how plants grow in this bubbly, springtime story. When a young girl plants a seed, she learns she must be patient to achieve results. She is rewarded by a beautiful sunflower, and brings her flower to school to share the seeds with her entire class. It may not be quite the weather for sunflowers yet, but there is plenty of sunshine at the moment and we need to get sowing our seeds so that we have a blooming garden at summertime. 

If you have younger toddlers or babies, you may want to start your storytelling sessions with some classic nursery rhymes. The new Clare Beaton Garden Rhymes from Barefoot Books is an ideal collection of short rhymes that get you in the mood for spring and summer stories. In ' What's This?'  you will find a relaxed, slow paced story with lots of opportunity for children to step inside the story. Ask the children to stretch and see how tall they can grow, just like the flowers in the story or make it an educational session by asking what flowers need to grow or what they grow at home. You can also hold a handful of seeds to show the children as the book describes what they seed looks like and if you are telling the story in summertime, you can have a sunflower at hand for when the flowers finally spring to life in the story.

Once the story is over, why not have a go at planting your own sunflower seeds. All  you will need is some little plastic plant pots, compost/soil, seeds, a trowel and lots of little hands to help plant the seeds. Follow the instructions on the seeds, sing a little song as you sow and water the seeds, then wait until summer to see your smiley flowers come into bloom.

Another great story, to extend your sunflower story session, is The Sunflower Sword. This books is a lighthearted and warming story about a boy who uses a sunflower instead of a sword, to slay a dragon and bring world peace! A children's book that challenges gender stereotypes and one that will have boys and girls up on their feet, mimicking the actions of the little boy as he befriends a dragon and runs through the village proving that fighting is not necessary.

All the swishing and swooshing in The Sunflower Sword made us want out own flower to wave about and bring peace. As we will have to wait until summer for real sunflowers, we went off in search of sunflower craft ideas and came across this fabulous giant sunflower craft, over at Crafts for Kids blog. Don't worry if you don't have materials for a large sunflower, you can easily adapt so that you make smaller flowers from toilet roll holders and lolly pop sticks or any size card you have.

A bright, fun, flowery storytelling session, to get you in the mood for summer!

Storytime: We're going on a Bear Hunt

We're Going on a bear hunt, we're going to catch a big one! Recognise those words? If you do, then you will know then, like me, you will probably never tire of hearing them. We're going on a Bear Hunt is a favourite book on the shelves of children and adults alike. It is such a fun book. The book will keep your attention if you are reading on your own but it is most definitely best when reading aloud to little ones. Whether you have one child or reading to a small and large groups, Michael Rosen's retelling of the story will have your audience engrossed.

If you are looking for storytelling ideas, this story is perfect for outside reading, where children are free to move about and really get to grips with the swishing and swashing through the grass and stumbling through the forest. If reading outdoors is not possible, you don't have to worry, the book can kick start the a child's imagination in any setting. Little Scribbles has read this book over and over and it is a firm favourite on our storytelling schedules.

The story is great for children of all ages, from toddlers through to adults! This classic book is a great read aloud that will engage various age groups, so it is a sound choice if you are reading to a mixed age group. Younger children can enjoy the engaging adventure through it's magical rhymes and older children can get lost in their imagination when looking at Helen Oxenbury's thought provoking illustrations. With an abundance of resources and activities to accompany the book, it is sure to be a favourite for years to come. You can choose to colour in a simple image taken from the books, invite older children to write their own bear adventure or get to work on fun educational play with work on understanding of the grammar used. I love to work with the onomatopoeia, whilst working with different colours and textures. All you need is a piece of plain card, a pen to write the 6 different stages of the bear adventure and lots of bits and bobs to create your own grass, river, mud,forest,snowstorm and cave. Of course, you will need an abundance of glue and scissors to cut lots of different shapes for those imaginative little minds.

This We're Going on a Bear Hunt craft activity is so simple but is so much fun to do, especially accompanied by lots of little ones shouting " hooo wooo '" and " Splash Splosh " as they create their pictures.

If you and the children have a little energy left, why not finish the session with a sing a long version of the story, just like Michael Rosen himself!

Storytime: Dinosaur Party

My daughter Sofia, decided that she would like to have a dinosaur party for her 2nd birthday, mostly due to Peppa's brother George but also because she loves reading dinosaur books. I do love a good theme, especially when it comes to parties and entertainment, so dinosaur inspired fun sounded great! Having read ' I Dreamt I Was A Dinosaur ' at a recent storytelling event, Sofia was keen for the book to be featured in her party.

We found lots of cute dinosaur decorations, including cups, plates, confetti and bunting, all of which made the part room look fun and fabulous; our little party guests loved it.

With lots of tasty food prepped, including our very own dinosaur egg ( a hollowed out watermelon, filled with fruit!) there were just a few finishing touches to make to the buffet table. I had prepped some dinosaur shaped biscuits and the first activity of the day was for the children to decorate their own biscuit

Whist the children's biscuits all looked very tasty, the highlight of the table was our amazing Say It With Flours cake. Just wait until you see the inside!

Before tucking in to our lovely buffet, it was time to settle down on our storytelling rug for Dinosaur storytime. ' I dreamt I Was A Dinosaur ' is a great little book from Barefoot Books. In the book, we join a young boy on a dreamland adventure, to prehistoric times, where he meets dinosaurs of all shapes and sizes. The rhyme filled text is followed by fascinating notes about the age of dinosaurs.

Storytelling is a great addition to a toddlers party, as it is a fun and interactive activity to bring the children together at the beginning of the party. Starting with popular songs and nursery rhymes to get everybody in the mood then moving onto a specially chosen book, to fit in with the party theme, storytime offers something for all ages. After all the roaring throughout the story our little dinosaurs were very hungry, so they tucked into the party food, before moving on to more party games. The obligatory pass the parcel was fun for all, as was dinosaur musical statues and 'pin the balloon on the dinosaur '!After a little bit of dinosaur dancing and stomping, it was time to move on to the final activity; our dinosaur piñata

Once our T Rex piñata was open ( after A LOT of bashing) it was time to gather up the sweets and toys, pop them into the children's dinosaur themed party bag and to finally sing ' Happy Birthday ' and crack open the fantastic cake. Happy 2nd birthday Sofia!

To book your own dinosaur party for an event or private party, get in touch for details on our range of  storytelling and party packages.

Rhyme Time

When children arrive for our storytelling sessions they are usually excited for the session, displaying lots of energy whilst exploring their new surroundings. For this reason, I always like to begin my sessions with a few lively songs to bring the children together and release a bit of their energy before settling down to our stories. Bookstart have a great little CD full of traditional songs to sing aloud, including a great ' hello' song to get everybody in the mood. After a few songs from the rhyme times CD it is time to settle down on out storytelling blankets and cushions and dip into the nursery rhyme sack!

The nursery rhyme sack consists of these great finger puppets by The Puppet Company, placed in a simple drawstring tote bag. The bag is a great way to ensure that all children are actively involved in storytelling sessions, with each child taking a turn to take a puppet out of the bag.  Having puppets to choose and hold on to is a great way of drawing children back into a storytelling session, if their attention has been lost. It is lovely to see the surprise on each child's face as they discover what puppet they have and what songs they can sing.

The puppets in The Puppet Company set  come with a book of old favourites;  ' Twinkle Twinkle ', 'Humpty Dumpty', 'Hickory Dickory Dock', 'Baa Baa Black Sheep', ' Incy Wincy spider ' and ' once I caught a fish alive '. I have added extra puppets to cater for a large group and to add a bit of variety. You can either buy extra puppets or just use dolls or toys that you have around the house, as long as you can think of a song to match the item.

It is great to see children interacting with the puppets, chatting away to them to involve them in the session. If the child's is distracted or starts to wander, then you can encourage her to come back into the story by by speaking to the puppet and asking her to question the puppet, i.e " what does the mouse want to do next " or " does Incy Wincy want to come and sit on the Mat ".  Of course, if a child really wants to roam about then that is fine, they can jump in and out when they can, if they are curious about checking out their surroundings. If there are a lot of children up on their feet and wanting to have a little wiggle about, I like to play a few action songs, such as ' If you are happy and you know it ' or ' The Hokey Cokey '. Once all of our voices are exercised and the little legs are ready for a rest, it is time to settle down for a story and prepare for other surprises!

Pictures are courtesy of Lisa Green Photography, a wonderful family friendly photographer based in the North West, from her shots taken at the fabulous Big You, Little You open day in Liverpool.

Storytime: Owls

Twit Twit Twooooooo. Whether it be in fashion, textiles or art, owls are very popular at the moment and we have to say that we are big fans too. Who could resist this cute little owl puppet?

I have a large collection of puppets for storytelling, and this Folkmanis owl is just perfect for little hands. It is great to see children interacting with stories and puppets really help to keep them engaged. There are lots of great owl books that children and carers will love in equal measure. My absolute favourite owl book is ' A bit lost ' by Chris Haughton. I bought this book because I just adored the illustrations and the story allows for a lot of expression when taking on different characters. The story follows a little owl that falls off his tree, as he falls asleep, so has to go in search of his mummy with the help of his forest friends. Children can mimic the actions of the animals and can make lots of noise, to keep them involved in the book and have lots of fun.

Another favourite owl book, is ' WOW! Said The Owl ' by Tim Hopgood '. This book was given to us by Bookstart and has been a firm family favourite. I think my daughter has read it a million times and it has really helped her to learn colours and put them into context. This book follows the story of an inquisitive owl on an exploration of daytime, after he decides to stay awake all day. Again, this book allows for great intonation and exaggeration, to really make it fun.

For a quieter tale, more suited to bedtime, look no further than ' Owl babies '. This children's classic is adored by many parents and it a firm bedtime favourite for lots of children.

If, like me, you like to incorporate crafts and activities to your storytelling sessions, there are lots of fun things that you can do. Use your imagination and whatever crafty bits and bobs you have in the house, or you can simply look for an owl colouring template and keep it simple

Have fun Twit Twit Twooooiing!