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Fairytale Festival....Costume Sneak Peek....

25/6/2019

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​Costumes; Flowers, Wings and Glitter
So I've been making my own costumes since I started with my performing back in 2009. 
That's 10 years of up-cycled dresses.  Most of my costumes were found in second hand shops or were gifted to me by other people and they got the fairy-princess treatment of flowers, diamantes, ribbons and anything sparkly that I could find.

This summer, I am so excited that I have been asked to perform for a second time at the Fairytale Festival in Kilkenny, on behalf of Kilkenny Library Service.   
At last year's festival, I wore this lovely peach, purple and pink outfit:
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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.
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I used to wear this myself in the mid 2000s and I loved it (so much, that a few holes have formed in it and they needed to be sewn up!).
So I've searched and found the flowers, headband and shoes to match it and now it's time to pin, stitch and hot glue!  I can't wait to wear the finished project at the Fairytale festival.  


Last year I felt like a Disney princess as they even gave me my own throne to sit on while telling stories (although, anyone who has seen me perform knows that I rarely take a seat!)
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When I walked around so many little ones wanted to have their photos taken with me and then came to hear my stories and see some magic. There were all sorts of fairytale characters for the kids to meet and chat to and lots of fun, imaginative events.
What a fab treat for them and what wonderful parents they have for taking them there!


This year I will have more magic, music and, of course, copious amounts of fairy dust too!  Fingers crossed for another fine and sunny day. Check back here for photos of my costume and to hear all about how the day went too.
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Storytelling....Inspiring Little Imaginations for Life!

25/6/2019

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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!

My first group was a mixture of excited 4-7 year olds, who showed great delight at the magic and singing.  They sang and danced with enthusiasm and participated with the storytelling so admirably, telling me jokes, solving riddles and responding wonderfully to the story prompts while they helped me to tell their own unique story. The hour simply flew by!
My next group were the 8-9 year olds. 
As these kids were a little older, I could ask more of them for interacting with the storytelling.
With their help, we named our characters, sent them on an adventure, the boys told jokes, sang songs and even speak “cúpla focail as Gaeilge”.
But the part for me that was the most mind-blowing, was when I divided them into groups, handed each a whiteboard and some “story prompts” (shown below) and they were asked to complete the story I had been telling.
Wow, the things they came up with, with little or no help from me or their teachers. They even stood in front of the of the class to deliver the story endings.

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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!
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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!
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    Author:
    ​Sarah Tully

    I am a Children's Performer & Storyteller, with over 10 years experience. I entertain at kids parties and events

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