The Art of Storytelling

Over the last seven years, I have enjoyed spending quality time with my grandchildren.

The day was initially with my grandson Alexander, but now that he is at school, it is with his little sister Isabelle.

Our day each week is a regular Thursday. (My Woo Hoo! Day)

Drawing on my Playbus experiences, we have filled each visit with play, imagination and fun.

We read lots of books and Nanny makes sure that they are certainly not ones the children might know or see on TV. We talk about the stories and use them for role-play. I have also written book reviews on behalf of the children, based on their reactions to a given story.

Our days have certainly been filled with adventure.

EYFS Home Learning

During lockdown, I was invited to take part in a few EYFS Home online learning days.

The day would start with a given theme and would often be linked to one of my storybooks.

The day would start with an introduction for me and my books.

I would then begin the day by reading one of my stories.

This would be followed up with activities to support the chosen story.

The activities might be a craft activity, a role-play suggestion, a drawing or writing activity, a song to sing or music to play.

My first EYFS Home day was bus running day. Perfect for me and my buses. 

The day seemed to take me back to my Playbus days.

The bus day's activities included making a role-play bus ride with tickets and toys, choosing toys for the toy cupboard, playing with playdough (always a favourite with the children), and rhymes and poems. I remembered my favourite poem 'Five Minutes More' by Eleanor Farjeon, a child enjoying playing and not wanting to stop, for me, summed up immersive play.

Wheels on the bus with Isabelle

Isabelle would like a Wheels on the Bus song, or one of her many 'Wheels on the Bus books.

How many versions do you know?

The day would end with a bedtime story. Not a story read, but a story told.

This storytelling has since led me to write storybooks to go with these stories.

Videos for these are now on YouTube, and the links can be found on the book's pages on my website.

Mother Earth Day

The activities for this day involved taking care of our planet, keeping our environment tidy and recycling.

On one of Alexander's visits, we used these ideas for our own ‘Mother Earth Day’; his sister Isabelle and I will have our own ‘Mother Earth Day’, too.

Read about Alexander's Mother Earth Play Day 

The bedtime story I told was about my brother, and how, as a little boy, he played a game as a binman.

The story of ‘David’s Binday ’ has since been written down and published.

The EYFSHome bedtime story is now on YouTube, and also has a link on my book page.

The story also led to some real adventures with our friendly local bin men.

Read about Alexander and the binmen

Positivity Day

For positivity, the activities included making badges, making a positivity rainbow, drawing and talking about our special people, and we sang, ‘If You’re Happy and You Know It’.

I certainly think Isabelle and I could have a positivity day too.

The bedtime story on this day was another story about my brother David; this time it was about him enjoying his bath, being himself and having fun.

The EYFSHome bedtime story is now on YouTube, and also has a link on my book page.

‘David’s Bathtime Adventure’.

Recently, Isabelle and I looked through and found some of her water toys pictured in the back of the book. We talked about the pictures and David's antics, then we read the story.  We talked about David and his bath adventures.

Then, as it was a hot sunny day, she put on her swimming costume and had her own bathtime play adventure, with some of the toys.

We will certainly make sure we have a positivity day together soon.

The Carnival Day

The Carnival Day ended with another story about my brother David. His favourite story was how he enrolled all the local children to help decorate our plain red Playbus ready for the Carnival. 

The theme that year was 'The Circus '; Jay-Jay's carnival theme, in his storybook,  was 'Flight'. With Airport connections, he fitted in well, with his Supersonic Aeroplane painted along the sides of the bus.

David's story inspired me to write a story about a circus bus.

The Sparkly Waistcoat

My latest book is ‘The Sparkly Waistcoat’, which I shared with Alexander one Christmas.

I told Alexander about the Christmas when my sparkly waistcoat went missing; he listened with interest and even got to see and wear the real waistcoat.  Having listened, he wanted to tell me his version of the story.

Read his story here. 

I remembered I had also told that story on the EYFS Home day too.

The EYFS Home bedtime story is now on YouTube, and also has a link on my book page.

The Weather Witch

My next book, currently being written, is also a story I have told on many occasions.

It is called ’The Weather Witch’. Her story continues to grow. She now has stories and poems to go with her tale. With the changes to the weather, her story is taking many turns.

But hopefully she will be written soon.

Story telling

I have encouraged my grandchildren to use their imagination and to tell me stories too. I’m pleased that they are very good at storytelling, reading, and writing.

Check out my YouTube videos