It was an extremely hot day (for Ireland!) and so I was glad to have packed my sandals and that I hadn't added too many layers to the finished outfit!

So this year, I thought very carefully about what I was going to create.  I decided to go with this irridescent purple and gold dress.

I hadn’t intended to post this topic, but recently, while performing a few different storytelling sessions in a school and libraries, I was so bowled over by so many things, I just needed to share it with you.

My first stop during the first week of the summer holidays was for a summer camp in a Dublin boy's school. I was to perform for two groups, first 4-7 year olds and then 8-9 year olds.
For these sessions, I decided to go with my favourite theme these days; Dragons!

I stood there, fascinated, at the amount of skills these children were exercising in a such a short time.
Imagination, language, sentence formation, creativity, confidence AND public speaking. Not only were the stories, so imaginative, they were also interesting, funny and relevant.

Storytelling in schools is an amazing dynamic for me. The children are in a learning environment, ready to absorb everything like sponges and I am always so delighted to witness what their teachers, so obviously nurture and encourage in them.
What amazing teachers that these little boys have, that they had even thought of something so special to arrange a storyteller to visit during their summer camp. 

My next storytelling event for summer time, was in Tallaght library with the theme of "Space".  As usual, I started with a story. Starting with an actual book is great for opening the imaginations of little ones.
The book was about two Russian dogs that were sent into space to see if it was safe for humans to travel there.  This was an amazing story for the group of wide-eyed 4-8 year olds who listened, spell-bound. 

This group came with their parents, and it was obvious that they were regularly read to.  After 10 years in the business, I can usually tell which children have the active imaginations for storytelling.
To invite the children to create their own story with me, I used Space-themed prompts (pictured below). This time, Aliens, slime and storytelling dice, mixed with some actual magic and rainbows.
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For these little ones, they got so involved that they were jumping out of their seats with ideas of new planets we could explore (ice-cream planet, cheese planet, rainbow planet...the list was endless) and again, their ideas were mind-blowing. I'd say they would still be there telling me all about their imagined planets, had I not started the bubble machine!

I will give more information in further blog posts about setting up storytelling sessions and storytelling prompts/props in your own classroom or at home with your own kids.  
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And I really hope that this post has made you realise how important storytelling is to nurture active imaginations, creativity and fun in the lives of children.
Happy children, grow up to be happy adults and lead to a happier world!