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