I was recruited to be a storytime facilitator for Dramabuds.
Dramabuds is a children’s workshop company for 3-6yrs that visits schools to encourage children to use their imagination through storytelling and creative play.

“Yo, hello, how you doing!”
These are the greetings that I got the children to say at the beginning of my Dramabuds weekly sessions.
I mainly did this so that the children could introduce themselves to each other and myself, but I also did it because I am bad with remembering names and it was a great way to hear the names again, (well except for the child with the really low voice, that I couldn’t hear and had to keep asking them to repeat themselves louder.
“Can you say that again, louder? Nope? ok”.
“Roger, its Roger”
Luckily for me the kids love shouting each others names out for them, so I was saved every time lol!

The sessions consisted of :

• A warm up game (that usually had to do with the theme/story of the day)

• Musical statues making sounds, of animals, vehicle poses

• Marching around the room, then doing an action when the music stopped, eg:fairytale theme -When I said Sleeping Beauty, they had to fall asleep on the floor. (This was a great way to get the kids to be quiet lol)!

-Prince Charming (They galloped around on a horse)

-Evil Queen (Making scary faces)
-Cinderella (Scrubbing the floor) etc.

After the kids are all warmed up, the story begins.
If it was a continuation from the last session, I would re-cap what we did then carry on.
But for a new story I introduce the characters and then the adventures would begin, with props and music.

I have been through many stories / themes with the kids, Peter Pan, The Mouse Hunt etc.
I had fun with all of them and the kids had fun too (well thats what the nursery staff told me).

Image supplied by Woodleywonderworks

Reward experiences with Dramabuds
One of the rewarding things for me is seeing how the kids have grown in height and also in confidence, from the first time that I had met them.
Some of them were shy to say their names or to use their imagination and get lost in the story, but by the end of my time with them this was not a problem.

It was also great hearing from the nursery staff, who told me that one of the kids doesn’t join in with any other outside visitors, but he always joined in my sessions.
This made me feel very proud of myself, because believe me it can be hard to get a child to join in with something new, and keep them interested for 30-45 mins. So I am very proud of that. (Isn’t it funny how the reactions of a 3year old can make or break your day!).

It was also great when one of the kids whom is slightly autistic, answered his name correctly after a few months, without me having to ask him again and again.
His usual answer was “shark”, so imagine my surprise when he said his name straight away one week. It shocked me so much that I had to ask him to repeat it again, but I was asking too much and he shouted “shark” again lol! (hey once is better than nothing lol!).

Things I learnt working with young children
You have to be a quick thinker and have the ability to adapt to change, so that when one idea is not working, don’t stress or get angry or frustrated. Just change it.
Example: I wanted the kids to stretch out a large multicoloured piece of large fabric (parachute) for the story.
Now I could see the excitement in their eyes, and knew that as soon as I opened it, they would either run over it, try to get under it, and mess about.
Sooooooooo I made it into a game and whispered to the kids, (a handy technique I used so that they had to be quiet and listen to me), that we had to wake up the parachute.
Each child had to hold on to the sides of the parachute handles and raise the parachute into the air, without moving their legs, then they had to look at each other under the parachute and said “hello”.
It worked a treat, and was really cute seeing and hearing them.

I also loved it when I said they were only allowed to move when I said go.
So I would start a game with “ready, steady, BANANAS” or “ready, steady, SAUSAGES”.
It was always funny seeing the kids start to move and have to stop themselves, we all laughed a lot!

Its amazing the amount of things you can pretend to make using a piece of fabric and a large imagination.
Castle
Car
A butterfly cocoon
Bed covers
Rain cover
A Pot for holding soup etc…

Oh my goodness! I will also never forget the great stories that the children told me, that somehow made sense to them, but you had to decifer a code in order to understand what they were talking about, and I can credit myself for finally breaking the code.

Moving on
I will miss working with these kids, and will have some great memories that make me smile everytime I think about them.
The kids will never know the joy that they gave me with their “hello!, hi there!, how you doin!”.
Also the little and large hugs that they gave me, and the fab doll that they made of me (mini Pammy).

I want to thank the staff for joining in with the games, and getting involved in my funky stories…
(I’m sure they thought I was crazy)

Random Fun Moments
I always introduced myself as Pammy to the kids, so I was pleasantly surprised when I walked in one day and one of the kids shouted “Hello Pamelaaaaa” with a very serious face… This made the staff and myself laugh haha!!

Also when I asked the kids to think of a magic word to wake up the magic carpet, one of the kids said “Biggy Smalls” now how he knew that name I have no idea….

Conclusion
I have learnt that I can teach young children and should continue too, because it does make an impact on both them and me… (oh yes and that I have more patience than I thought I did lol!!).