The Little Arts Academy’s “The Art of Storytelling” program struck me as a platform, an opportunity to give back to the arts community through a simple fairy tale, Peter Pan, and exposing the children to simple drama-related activities to enhance their understanding of the story told. The experience was fulfilling right from the start when the kids burst through the door with smiles plastered to their faces. Whatever apprehension I had with conducting a one-hour session with 5 to 11 year olds dissipated once their enthusiasm and energetic selves came through and spurred me on.

After the children had settled down, they responded to the story well, prodding at the pictures of Captain Hook and laughing at the crocodile that was chasing him. It was an interactive experience where I hoped to engage the children in the story by pausing at different segments to explain terms such as a “Saint Bernard”—where the kids happily barked back at me once they learnt that Nana, the Saint Bernard is a dog and tried out the Red Indian calls after looking at the character Tiger Lily that was saved by Peter Pan. Through the pre-session talk I had with Janice, one of the staff at LAA, I was told to take note of “children clumping around me” and to make sure that “all of them could see the storybook”. It was good to see their eager faces peering at the book, but I felt that it was a challenge to make the story visible and engage all of them at the same time.

Through the first activity, I intended to begin with a focus activity inspired by the theatre game “Zip, Zap, Boing” changing it to an activity with 3 of the main characters of Peter Pan. They sat in a circle, passing a clap around and squealing out “PETER!” for every clap to the right, “WENDY!” for every clap to the left and “TINKERBELL!” for every clap that went across the circle. There was a disparity in responses as some caught on faster than others did. In future, I think I need to explicate the aims and instructions for the game with more clarity and simplicity so that the children can fully understand and participate in the activity.

Thinking on my feet, I altered subsequent activities to suit the children. I needed to utilize the high spirits of the group in a physical activity yet use something that they would have been familiar with. Therefore, another activity was related to a childhood game, “What is the time Mr. Wolf?” that I altered to one where they were all pirates and called “What is the time Mr. Crocodile?” with the Crocodile chasing them back to their pirate ship after it said “DINNERTIME!” This game was more successful than the first in engaging the children though it was not as contained as the first. The children scampered around, hurtling across the room chortling at each other, clearly having a lot of fun with the game and I soon found myself smiling reminiscently at their gaiety.

Peter Pan is a story about the joys of childhood and the inevitable need to grow up. I wanted to portray this need to relish childhood through the games, to let the children be children and have the opportunity to take a break and have fun. On that note, I felt that they did enjoy the session, though I will need to restructure future sessions to combine the element of fun and simultaneously have them learn in a constructive manner. Activities organized should be simplified in order to reach out to the children across the varying age groups. On the whole, this experience was refreshing and I definitely look forward to more sessions with LAA again.

Today was my first session at the Little Arts Academy doing Storytelling for kids. Prior to the session, I had prepared a story, taken from the internet and prepared a origami-related craft linking to the general theme of the story.

When I arrived and the kids started streaming in, I realized that some of the kids were younger than I expected – I was expecting a group of majorly kids aged 8-12, although I had a whole range of kids from the ages of 4-12. I had prepared a really simple story however, called The Lion’s Minister of State which is about a Lion’s search for a new minister of state and how a quiet, clever rabbit eventually passed the Lion’s tests and became the new minister of state. The kids seemed relatively interested in the story, although I did realize after the telling of the story that it might have been quite short, as we finished the story telling within 20 minutes of the 1 hour slot for the storytelling. I did use actions and sound effects during the story, which caught on with the kids for a while, but wasn’t quite as effective as I would have liked.

After this we moved on to the craft, where I taught the kids to make little rabbit ears and stuck magnetic tape on it so they could take it home and stick it on any surface that attracted magnets, or just simply put it on their fridge. The craft involved folding and coloring initially, which the kids were quite good at and managed to finish much much faster than I had expected. Because I wasn’t sure if they were allowed to use staplers and scissors themselves, I made the kids stand in a queue and wait their turn so I could help them staple their rabbit ears together and cut ribbon for them to secure it better. However, this proved to be slightly challenging as there were some little quarrels that broke out while they were standing in the queue and they seemed to be rather restless while waiting. Perhaps next time it would be good for me to pick a craft that involves more aspects that they do on their own rather than having to wait for my assistance.

This marked the end of the session, although Janice suggested I did a wrap-up summary of the story for the kids who had come in at different points of the session and missed out on the story.

After the session I had a quick chat with the staff at LAA, Janice, who suggested that perhaps I was telling the story too fast and it would have been useful for me to have some visuals while telling the story.

I found these comments extremely constructive and I do agree that using visuals would have definitely helped in capturing the children’s attention – I also felt I could have perhaps prepared a story with more literary value, perhaps something they could learn new words from, although I picked a simple story because I did not know what the kids were like before the first session.

Overall I thought it was a generally good experience as I realized there is a lot more to storytelling than just reading out a story and managing a group of kids of varying ages is not that easy at all. I think for my next session there will be a lot more thought put into the story I pick as well as the craft I teach to the kids.

Today I had my first session of storytelling at LAA. Never having had an experience with such an activity, I was rather nervous as I was afraid I wouldn’t be able engage the kids’ attention or their interest. However, upon arriving, the kids excitedly came running into the room, anxious for me to read.

It was a very good and enriching experience for me to interact with such young kids. After the storytelling, I got the kids to create their own masks according to the story told, The Little Mermaid. The kids’ enthusiasm and creativity was quite inspiring. It humbled me as I got reminded of being a kid, enjoying the simple things in life. This one session with the kids was truly one that taught me more than it taught the kids. I am excited and looking forward to further sessions, in hopes that it will enrich both the kids and my experience, no matter how little.

After my first storytelling experience at LAA, I felt spurred to do something inspiring and memorable for the children. It was then when I chanced upon Barack Obama’s book to his daughters about aspirations and dreams. Unfortunately, I could not find it in time! Instead, I dug out my books from my nostalgic past and I found this book that I really loved and read over and over again.

“You Are Special” by Max Lucado is a book that I thought was quite apt for what I wanted the children to realise – their potential and their worth. I feel it is important for children to grow up knowing that they have the ability to be someone special one day.

After I told them the story, I got everyone to draw a self-portrait. It did not have to be a picture of themselves per se; it could comprise of things that represented them or objects that they liked. The children took the activity seriously and took pride in their work! I was pleasantly surprised when many of them were very spontaneous and willing to share what they drew. Many of the boys wanted to become soccer coaches. A few girls wanted to become dance teachers. They basically wanted to do what they loved and were passionate about!

Going away from this session, I felt deeply encouraged that these children have a strong zeal for what they love. I really hope that they will continue in their pursuit of their dreams!

Storytelling at The Little Arts Academy has been a wonderful experience for me as the children and I were able to escape into a world of make-believe for an hour and a half. When I first volunteered to do a storytelling session, I found the choice of books rather daunting. There are so many brilliant stories out there – which should I pick? I knew I had found my story when I chanced upon Emily Lim’s “Bunny Finds The Right Stuff”. Emily Lim is a local author and supporting the local talents has been something I hold close to my heart. In fact, the mission statement of the Little Arts Academy is in line with my personal philosophy – to reach out to the local community through social equity.

During the storytelling session, the children’s active participation and high level of engagement was evident in their facial expressions and responses. As the age group of the children who attended vary from two and a half to eleven years, some of the vocabulary used in the book may be difficult for younger children to understand. Through a conversational Q&A interjected in my storytelling, young children were able to acquire advanced vocabulary for their literacy development. It was very heartening to see children raising their hands to explain their version of what a certain phrase or word means.

The story revolves around a stuffed rabbit who doesn’t feel that he is good enough but through the support and love of his friends, he found acceptance and regained his confidence. The children could relate to the bunny’s low self esteem as everyone had periods in their lives when they feel that they are not good enough, or they may compare with others whom they deem to have it “better”. As an extension to this story, the children and I each made a “Thankful Bunny” to bring home and the “stuffing” would consist of the special persons in each child’s life.

The purpose of this activity facilitates self reflections and creative expression. During the craft activity, some of the children asked for help to draw their rabbit, but I refused because I know and believe that each child is capable of drawing their own version of their Thankful Bunny. When they finally drew their rabbit and received words of encouragement and compliments, it empowers them because they did it all by themselves. More often than not, we tend to indulge children because we love them.

Personally, I believe that children need to have the opportunity to develop their autonomy and identity through personal accomplishments which they are capable of achieving. All they need is our support, love and encouragement. As adults, we need to uphold each child’s right of access to these.

About the Story

In Singapore writer Emily Lim’s Bunny Finds the Right Stuff, Bunny, a floppy rabbit with flat feet, thinks he is missing out when he notices that the other toys are better stuffed than he is. He searches for the right stuffing to fill himself up and makes a mess along the way. Grizzly, Dinosaur and Kangaroo wonder if they can help their friend find the stuff he is looking for.

This final book in Emily Lim’s Toys series is a tale about friendship and personal journeys. The inspiration for Bunny Finds the Right Stuff is drawn from the author’s journey of seeking God and fulfilment in life after she came down with Spasmodic Dysphonia, a rare voice disorder. She has since come to realize that the knowledge that God loves me and meaningful relationships are the right stuff for her.

The Art of Storytelling takes place every Saturday at 4pm and is free for all LAA students.
If you are interested to volunteer your time to regale our children with the magical and fantasy world of the stories, please contact LAA at enquirieslaa@toph.com.sg or 6513 3013.