According to Wikipedia,
"Storytelling is the conveying of events in words, and images, often by improvisation or embellishment. Stories or narratives have been shared in every culture as a means of entertainment, education, cultural preservation, and instilling moral values. Crucial elements of stories and storytelling include plot, characters, and narrative point of view."
This is one of the new activities I'm trying to incorporate into our daily routines. I noticed during our kiddos' playgroup session, our 4.5 years old boy was getting more interested and intrigued during storytelling session, especially when the story is something he has heard/read before (like the 5 little monkeys and the crocodile) and stories with creative actions and tools and props (Joshua and the wall of Jericho)
So, since I'm stuck at home with 3 kiddos, what else to do but to search online for tips and ideas, right? And ta-daaaaaa... the power of online purchases! I bought this set of finger puppets for less than USD4 and was so excited when I received them!
Now according to some websites, the Three Little Piggy story end up horribly where the first 2 piggies get eaten by the wolf. I've decided to change my storyline a bit. I started off with the 3 little piggies wanting to stay in their own houses and asked permission from Mummy Piggy to leave the house and Mummy Piggy agreed with the promise that 3 little piggies must come back to visit her often. Then off the piggies go and one by one started separated after they found the materials to build their houses with - straws, wooden planks and bricks.
I also told our kiddos that the first 2 piggies laughed at the last piggy for taking so long to build his brick house but the last piggy persevered on without complaining or feeling bad at being laughed at as he believes that the brick house although takes long to build will be sturdy and strong and able to protect him.
Then I started introducing the big bad wolf into the storyline, of how he knocked the door (yes, wolf has manners too!) asking the piggy to open the door so he can eat them and how the wolf huffed and puffed and blows the house away after the piggy said 'not by chin of my chinny chin chin' in not opening the door.
The climax of the story was when the wolf followed the first 2 piggies that ran off to hide in the last piggy's brick house and after failing to blow away the brick house, the wolf decided to climb up the roof and came in through the chimney and the 3 piggies decided to put a pot of boiling water underneath the fireplace to trap the wolf and scared it away.
I end the story with the first 2 piggies apologising to the last piggy for making fun of him when he took long time to build the brick house and that the first 2 piggies also ended up building their own brick houses too. I also add in the part where the 3 little piggies still go back to visit their mummy piggy every now and then.
The first time I told this story (mind you, I had to nurse baby Carolyn as well) we did it on our bed, I put a bolster in front of me to hide my fingers and hands (while cradling baby Carolyn) and I'm so happy to see our kiddos face lit up when they saw the finger puppets appearing. Had to hold them off from grabbing the piggies away from my fingers! Our boy was so focused on the storytelling session, worth it, worth it!
Am going to see what else I can create using the same finger puppets. I also tried to incorporate some moral lessons in my storytelling as well (manners - to seek parent's permission, respect - not to laugh at others, filial piety - to still visit parents, forgiveness - saying sorry for making fun of others)
That's all the updates I can share for now, feel free to ask and share if you have feedback!
