Welcome to our Agony Artist series – where each month we’ll be answering your questions about using the expressive arts with young children! Book Week Scotland is coming up soon, so we thought we’d collaborate all our favourite ideas for exploring books and storytelling with early years.
Books as Loose Parts
As storyteller Amy Hall-Gibson says, a book is one of the best open-ended resources, so why not explore them through loose parts play? Get books off the shelves and let wee ones explore them. What does the book smell like? What does the paper feel like? When you turn it upside down – suddenly all the characters are standing on their head! They don’t have to sit still or look through them in order, but you can still explain that we need to be gentle with books and not rip the pages so we can keep enjoying them.
Books can be intimidating for wee ones who don’t have English as a first language, or who don’t spend time reading at home, so this is a great way for wee ones to learn how to look after books, whilst still getting comfortable with them as an object. The more familiar books are to children, the more relaxed they’ll feel about engaging with story time.
Creating a photo story
Charlotte Allan, early years researcher and theatre-maker, thinks a great way to get into books and storytelling, is to go through the process of making one yourself. Start with a character – use a soft toy or a puppet to create someone “new” to visit the setting. When you’ve got your character, have them explain they’re new and need to be shown around the setting and ask the children to help you. If you need some puppetry inspiration, see our ideas here.
Photograph the visitor’s journey. Who did they meet? What did they get up to? Where did they visit? Did they find something they were looking for? If you’re stuck for ideas, check out Amy Hall Gibson’s “Once Upon an Egg…” project, where she created a creature that visited a nursery and left behind things for the wee ones to find, like paw prints, a nest, and sometimes a mess!
You can compile the story and photographs into a ring-binder to create your own book, meaning the children can revisit the story again and again! And remember, there’s no rule that says the photographer has to be an adult! Photography can be a great way for young children to express themselves and share with you what they find interesting, particularly if they’re pre or non verbal. See our Bunny’s Eye View video below for more ideas.
Bringing stories to life
There are lots of ways to engage with stories that don’t involve sitting down “nicely” – you can explore narrative and fall in love with stories using all the wonderful skills young children are busy developing, like imaginative play and gross motor movements. Here are some of our favourites from our Wee Inspirations:
Amy Hall Gibson’s “Between the Lines” uses what’s already in a book’s narrative as a jumping off point for imaginative play. Similarly, “To Be Continued” is great for helping children build literacy skills through understanding that stories have a beginning, a middle, and an end – but that we can always revisit them!
A book doesn’t just have to be contained within a book corner – why not take a story for a walk? Go on an actual bear hunt or try and find the Gruffalo! Or, make it a sensory experience by preparing a sensory bag – use a piece of fabric for the bear’s fur, or autumn leaves to create crunching as you walk through the forest. Revealing items one as a time as they come up in the story is a great way to keep children anticipating what will come next!
If doing silly voices for stories makes you nervous, remember it’s amazing for engagement and bonding together. If you ask children to give you a sound, then they have an element of decision-making without entirely putting you on the spot to create something new! See “Give Me a Sound” for more tips.
This idea is about playing with books as objects before we even dive into the story. Get the books off the bookcase, and have a look at them together - what does a book feel like? Or smell like? When you turn it upside down, suddenly all the pictures are standing on their head!
Wee ones don't always sit still with a book but we can still share stories! Choose a story you know well, gather objects in a bag or box (like teddies and bowls for Goldilocks). Reveal the objects one by one as you 'act out' the story.
Ready for a challenge? Download a free beat maker app on your phone. Start a beat playing and, at the same time, read a rhyming story to your wee one. Read aloud to the beat. Hey presto, you're a rap star! Give it a go and have a laugh.
Den-making is a fantastic form of imaginative play. A den can, after all, be anything! After you build your den, secretly add objects with a variety of textures, weights and shapes for your wee one to discover… Who left them there?!
Explore what your favourite story book doesn’t tell you! Wonder aloud what a character might sound like, or move like, or where they might sleep. How do they dance? Get those imaginations going!
Ask your wee one for a sound, then copy their noise and turn it into a funny voice. The voice can be used for a character during imaginative play, or to bring a new dimension to well loved stories – maybe Rapunzel can be narrated by a cat!
This is great for helping wee ones understand story structure, using three phrases: beginning, middle and end!
Go outside... on a mission! Is there someone who needs help? Or something you need to find? It can sparked by "clues" in your surroundings, based off of their favourite toys/stories, or whatever randomly pops into someone's head.
When wee ones use cameras, we get to see their perspective of the world and they can show us details and views we might normally miss!
