Make me a story…bespoke stories and their impact.

As any regular visitor knows by now, I LOVE writing stories! Often my inspiration comes at random- an idea pops into my brain and builds until it becomes a character and a storyline that I can build upon. I love when that happens and have confused many a friend and colleague by bursting into class in the morning with “what about an alien who collects feelings?!” or “a hand, a hand who flips his lid!” (Enter Barry 😂)

But often, I'll receive a message or have a conversation with someone who will ask for a specific topic to be addressed. That's when characters take a more bespoke turn- a young man who struggles with respecting personal space and loves dinosaurs gave rise to Derek the dino. A student who loved fairies but would become very upset hearing the words “stop, no” or “don’t” led to Flora the Fairy and students who were struggling with the concept of the long summer break sparked the idea for Otis, the baby owl who misses his friends the stars.

Why do bespoke stories work?

• Empathy. A bespoke personal story resonates with the reader. If students can see elements of themselves in the characters it builds their empathy as they relate to the character and their problem.

• Relatable. As well as building empathy, a character which appeals means that the listener will be more engaged and is more likely to hear the message.

• Targeted. Designing a story for a specific issue means that I can really hone in on the issue and make it relevant for the student. However, it's also really rewarding when my stories, written with a specific student in mind, resonates by chance with others.

How do I request a bespoke story?

That bit is really simple. Either use the contact form on this website or message me on the Facebook page and see what a tailored bespoke story can do for your child or student! Even better, comment below with ideas for future stories!

M xxx

When the story ends…activities to support storytelling

If you’ve spent any time in a classroom you’ll know that for any event, be it a YouTube video, PowerPoint or a visit from the Fire Service, there will inevitably be a follow up activity to embed and transfer the skills and knowledge gained. These can take the form of a worksheet, a sensory or practical activity linked to the theme. The stories you see on this website are usually delivered as part of “Feel Good Friday” and so the activities are usually very creative, and, more often than not, food based! From making fruit kebabs with the Fruit Bowl Bunch to bumblebee cakes with Buzzbee there is no end to the possibilities!

With Barry Flips His Lid and the transition stories on this website, there are accompanying worksheets. Students can create their own little Barry and explore what makes them flip their lids and, importantly, what they can do to put their lids back on. The transition worksheets look at identifying similarities and differences between the new and the old and allow learners to begin to process the transition period.

One of our decorated bee cakes. The conversations generated by this little fellow were incredible!

Whilst these more formal types of activity may seem like the most effective follow up, never underestimate the power of a less prescriptive, creative activity for encouraging conversation and further thinking around the themes raised in the story. This week my students listened to the story of Buzzbee, a little bee who decides he can manage perfectly well on his own after getting fed up of being told what to do by the other bees. It is only when he has to try (and fail) to make honey all by himself that he realises how important his fellow bees are and he returns to the hive and his family -because teamwork makes the dream work! We then used mini rolls and fondant icing to make our own little Buzzbees. Whilst walking around the class I could hear snippets of conversation, children sharing resources, talking about what they were doing and asking how their friends were going to make stripes or eyes and just epitomising the moral of the story. These beautiful conversations allow for the themes of the story to be explored and embedded in a much less formal, less pressured manner than a worksheet or direct discussion and give learners a chance to develop other vital skills in the process. All this from a mini roll and some fondant icing!

In short, however you decide to follow up these stories, let your instinct guide you and be creative - often the most effective ideas are the most simple!

M xx

Being more Barry: The Amygdala - a tiny processing centre for big feelings

What is the Amygdala? 

In the human brain, the amygdala is a tiny section with a huge job: this almond shaped structure is responsible for regulating emotions. Its a part of the brain which, in our caveman days, would have kept us safe from predators; it is responsible for the essential fight/flight/freeze response which has kept humans alive (and safe from sabre toothed tigers) for centuries. Part of the limbic system and located within the temporal lobe, the amygdala is part of the management system for a range of feelings including:

• aggression

• memory

• social communication

• emotions which relate to parenting and caregiving

• emotions connected to memories

It can be affected by a variety of conditions such as anxiety, mood and panic disorders, PTSD, ASC, epilepsy and stroke. In usual circumstances the amygdala is kept safe by the cortex, which is responsible for planning and reasoning amongst other things but, on occasion, the cortex can’t keep the amygdala under control which is when we can have dramatic outbursts of feeling.

Don’t flip your lid!

Dan Siegel’s amygdala theory asks us to imagine the brain as a closed fist, thumb under fingers. The thumb represents the amygdala whilst the folded fingers are the cortex, hiding the amygdala away safely. When circumstances become stressful and life does what it does (imagine your alarm not going off, toast getting burned, major traffic jams and so on), the cortex can come away, exposing the amygdala and that fight/flight/freeze response to the elements. When that happens, our reasoning skills lose the battle and we can lose our temper- usually over something which seems trivial or without an obvious trigger. Seigel calls it ‘flipping the lid’ and this is a powerful image for students and educators when exploring how to manage those out of control big feelings.

Introducing Barry!

Barry is a hand from Planet Handy who has a tough day, causing him to flip his lid. With help from his teacher, Barry thinks of ways to regulate and get his lid back on. This story came about when talking to a number of students about how they experience big feelings and how they can help themselves to regain calm and perspective. I am a huge believer in supporting students to find their own way so that they aren’t forever reliant upon others to “manage” their big feelings. So I needed a relatable character and simple story that would start a conversation. And so Barry was born! I have used his story in a number of classes with a range of students and he has hit the mark every time - children see themselves in him and want to think of their own ways to get the lid back on, the book has been printed and sent home to share with parents and I now have the joy of hearing “what would Barry do?” and “Miss Mel, I nearly flipped my lid but I did x, y and z and got it back on before it flipped”. And that my friends is the biggest mark of success I can think of!

M x

In the beginning…there were stories!

It could be said that, as long as there has been language, there have been stories (National Geographic 2024). Stories have been used to make sense of the mysteries of the world, to help understand, to provide warnings, lessons and moral guides since people began (Van Pelt, 2018). From cave paintings, to folk tales, right up to the TikTok sensation Dhar Mann, humans have used story to educate and inform as well as to entertain.

Stories encourage the development of empathy which enables us to make social connections (mencap 2024). Without the ability to put ourselves in someone else’s shoes and understand how they feel it is very difficult to build positive relationships (wellbeingpeople.com, 2024). Stories also provide a non threatening, indirect method of addressing social problems - think about those fairy tales you were told as a child - did it occur to any of us when listening to the story of Little Red Riding Hood that we were learning about stranger danger? Or that Jack and the Beanstalk was an example of seizing the opportunities that life gives you? Maybe, but maybe, like me, you just enjoyed hearing someone create a magical world of escapism and wonder. And maybe there was a little bit of incidental learning thrown in.