Storytelling @ B'day parties 5 & under

Subject: Storytelling @ B'day parties 5 & under
From: Folkie101
Date: 15 Jun 07 - 08:27 PM

i've been hired to do storytelling at birthday parties for children five years and under. the storytelling will last for 20 minutes. of course boys and girls will be in attendance. I may even play the guitar and sing during the story, and have the children join in.

I'll need to feature props of some sort to keep them entertained as well if not now, then later on.

What suggestions do you have for entertaining children 5 & under. Games will be considered too.

Subject: RE: Storytelling @ B'day parties 5 & under
From: GUEST,highlandman
Date: 15 Jun 07 - 08:37 PM

I'm not a storyteller, but I have plenty of kids, and I do some teaching and coaching on the side...
20 minutes seems to me to be a bit optimistic on the attention span. The "experts" say plan on 3-5 minutes per year of age, but in a busy environment with distractions about, I think that would be high.
Definitely give them something physical to do, several times during the 20-minute period, to break it up into smaller bits for them.
Something else that works is to start off promising them something to look forward to at the end if they are good, like the answer to a riddle, or the punch line of a short funny story. That will help keep them on their best behavior, the little beasts.
Small children are great. Have fun!
-Glenn

Subject: RE: Storytelling @ B'day parties 5 & under
From: Mo the caller
Date: 16 Jun 07 - 03:50 AM

"Under 5" is a very big range.
I used to run a playgroup and found that I could read more complicated books to the over 4s. And nowadays that age may be used to school disipline.
I agree that 20mins is a long time for them especially if you have under 3s, baby brothers etc
Under 5s will have their parents present, especially the young ones. Make sure you invovle them, they can be most distracting to you and the children if they sit at the side and chat. Whereas a circle of chairs for adults, with children at their feet or on their laps would be an asset.
I would break things up with a vigourus action song (wheels on the bus, 5 little monkeys jumping on the bed etc)to allow them to move, young children don't have the muscle control to sit still comfortably.

You could use action stories too. Bear hunt is a good one.
Family coach: each child has the name of a character in the story of a family outing, when they hear their name they are supposed to stand up, do an action, sit down again. I remember this from a childhood party, I never tried it at PG. You would have to be careful not to embarass any shy littlies, maybe a group of them could be trees (stand up and wave branches), flowers, grass.

I have done a few children's barn dance parties, they vary according to the adult involvment and excitement levels from a pleasure to a nightmare.

Do you use puppets? That could keep the interest alive, waiting to see which comes out of the bag next, you could let the children hold and move the puppets for you (e.g.3 bears)

Best of luck

Subject: RE: Storytelling @ B'day parties 5 & under
From: Jim Lad
Date: 16 Jun 07 - 04:04 AM

A very good story teller (whose name escapes me right now) kept my two and a half year old and every other child and adult, entertained for close to 30 minutes. She adopted the characteristics and voice of every individual in the story. Was polite, never scary, responsive to the spontaneous shouts of excited girls and boys, used her necklace to create cat's cradles etc. as she narrated and seemed to really enjoy what she was doing.
Twenty minutes, I would say, is quite realistic.
Good luck with that.
Cheers!
Jim

Subject: RE: Storytelling @ B'day parties 5 & under
From: Blowzabella
Date: 16 Jun 07 - 04:20 AM

Don't mean to sound rude or cheeky but, if you're not sure what you are going to do to entertain the children, was it the right thing to do accepting the job? Or are you just starting ou - it wasn't clear from your post - sorry.

Subject: RE: Storytelling @ B'day parties 5 & under
From: Jeanie
Date: 16 Jun 07 - 05:32 AM

I thoroughly recommend this book (tried and tested !):

"Drama and traditional story for the early years" by Nigel Toye and Francis Pendiville - publ. Routledge ISBN 0-415-19536-5

It contains the framework for 16 story/dramas and more than 30 starting points from which to develop new story/dramas.

It includes Hansel & Gretel, Sleeping Beauty, Jack & the Beanstalk, The Pied Piper, Little Bo Peep, Billy Goats Gruff. Using the framework you can devise your own, to suit the particular children and occasion.

All of the story/dramas involve (minimal) props, with the storyteller taking on roles and leading the children into role-playing, keeping the whole group involved all the time: there is plenty of variety.

Also has useful introductory chapters on working with this age-group and such matters of behaviour management and control. Very useful !

Wishing you lots of fun,
- jeanie

Subject: RE: Storytelling @ B'day parties 5 & under
From: GUEST,Northerner
Date: 16 Jun 07 - 06:47 AM

Action songs are great.

Puppets can be good too, just make sure that they the puppets are non-threatening - large puppets can be frightening for little ones. I took along some lovely puppets to a nursery volunteer session and found that one of the larger ones (a beautiful bird with movable mouth) really scared one small boy. I stopped taking that particular puppet along with me. If you use puppets make sure they are hard-wearing and allow the children to handle them. Small children can be very grabby (speaking from personal experience there!!!).

One storyteller I saw had a collection of small toy farm animals under a cloth. He invited the children to come up and choose an animal or two and then told a story round the animals that they had chosen.

Riddles are fun but I suspect these children may well be too young to really work with them.

If your host is having balloons at the party ask for them to kept away from the storytelling as squeaky balloons (they squeak when you touch them) are noisy and intensely irritating for someone trying to tell a story. I saw one very experienced storyteller being driven to distraction by noisy balloons at a Fun Day (not much fun for him!!). So every so often he would get up and grab a balloon and put it right beside him saying in a jolly voice, "I'll just put your precious thing here for safe-keeping."

I hope the gig goes well.

Subject: RE: Storytelling @ B'day parties 5 & under
From: Folkie101
Date: 16 Jun 07 - 11:29 AM

hi Blowzabella,

i'm somewhat new to this and i'm also a developing Storyteller (i did my first Storytelling Festival last month.) what a blast for me! great fun!

i'm up for the challenge and ready to put my best foot forward. i've gotten some super tips and advice from the posts already. i will continue to use my imagination and ideas along with what information i get in this thread.

thanks to you all,
Folkie

Subject: RE: Storytelling @ B'day parties 5 & under
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 16 Jun 07 - 04:48 PM

Long ago I used to run a story hour for as many as 30 four-years olds. We used pictures book from the public library, did finger-plays and some simple dances, such as "Here we go Looby-loo" and "Farmer in the Dell.

We "did" the picture books by sitting on a low chair while the children sat on the floor. We held the book so the children could see the pictures, read the text and talked about what was in the pictures.

for example, point to a train and say What's this?   point to a sad face and ask the children how the face looks.

The little games using hands and rhymes, such as "Here is the church and here is the steeple," are called finger plays. Google "Finger plays" and you will find lots of them.

I bet one book and some finger plays would cover 20 minutes. By book, I mean a quality book with artistic pictures, not some cheap thing from the supermarket. Go to your public library, and you'll see the difference.

Order of events:

Get hostess or parents to make name tags & apply to children.

Get children to sit on the floor in front of you. It will be best if their parents do this for you. They are used (I hope) to obeying their parents.

Sit on the low chair. Tell the children your name and what we are going to do. Read a book, (use lots of expression!) play finger plays.

When the twenty minutes are up, say "That's all, boys and girls. Now it's time to ..."

As you do this, look at the kids, and if it's appropriate, call them by their names.

I have always found that young children are thrilled that an adult is stopping work to pay personal attention to them. I saw an article in the paper recently where a child psychologist said that "To a child, love is spelled T-I-M-E."

If possible, borrow a few kids from friends and practice first.

Finally - twenty minutes doesn't sound like much time. Why twenty minutes? It can take almost that long to get all the kids in one place.

Subject: RE: Storytelling @ B'day parties 5 & under
From: GUEST,patty o'dawes
Date: 16 Jun 07 - 07:24 PM

Check out 'The Gruffalo' - a new tale in rhyme. I sat watching kids being entertained of the age group you mention recently. The reader delighted them with the reading, it has repetition that they could get the hang of and join in with. They made gruffalo masks afterwards and went hunting high and low for the Gruffalo outside amongst the trees etc...they loved the whole shebang.

It has recently been turned into a stage dramatisation and gets rave reviews across the UK.

Subject: RE: Storytelling @ B'day parties 5 & under
From: katlaughing
Date: 16 Jun 07 - 10:20 PM

I wrote a little story and made hand puppets to go with it, one for each child of the main character, a snake, and used lots of action, slow, clear speaking with expression and pauses, and dramatic facial expressions, along with repetition as patty recommends; this age esp. likes repetition. If they hear it enough they can say it along with you by the end. Anyway, I told the story to my grandson's school group, a mix of anything from young babies up to seven years old. They and the parents loved it. I would estimate it probably took about 10-15 minutes.

I echo what has been said about sitting on a low chair with children on the floor and parents, etc. on low chairs behind them. Also, the personal attention really makes them feel special.

There was a time I took my kids to see a woman storyteller in CT. She was very, very good. She also had an obvious speech impediment and English was a second language to her. None of those things, which could have been detriments, mattered at all. There were some giggles from older children which were quickly discouraged. She was superb and carried on, keeping whole groups engaged. A great storyteller will do that. You obviously have the enthusiasm. Have fun and let us know how it goes, okay?

All the best,

kat

Subject: RE: Storytelling @ B'day parties 5 & under
From: Folkie101
Date: 18 Jun 07 - 11:28 AM

hello,

thanks to all again for the helpful, quality information and tips!

Folkie

Subject: RE: Storytelling @ B'day parties 5 & under
From: Bee
Date: 18 Jun 07 - 11:41 AM

Thirty years of experience storytelling to under five's, here: the very favourite stories to tell, and props easily come by, for me have been:

1. The Three Billy Goats Gruff (all time favourite)
2. Goldilocks and the Three Bears
3. The Gingerbread Man

Subject: RE: Storytelling @ B'day parties 5 & under
From: Mo the caller
Date: 19 Jun 07 - 08:27 AM

Does anyone else remember with affection the sung/spoken version of 3 billy goats, from Children's Hour, nearly 60 years ago?