On 9th October 2019, I had the honour of performing at the Red Line Book Festival this year in The Civic Theatre, Tallaght.
​Over the years, I’ve performed in many different venues...schools, libraries, offices, banks, hotels, restaurants, pubs, back gardens, outside supermarkets, inside supermarkets, shopping centres, festivals in fields, often dragging my stuff with me to the locations whilst wearing heels, wings and a gown.  So, you can imagine my excitement to be finally taking my storytelling performance on stage to an actual theatre!
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The story of my show was that all of the colours had disappeared from my magical kingdom and the audience had to help me make them reappear.
So I set my stage up, went through a few quick sound and light tests, and was ready to go:

I was to do 2 shows with a 20 minute break between. My audiences would be made up of kids from junior and senior infants (4-6 years old).
For most of them, if not all, this would’ve been their first time to set foot inside a theatre, so the excitement was palpable. Something brand new for them to experience.
This was a bilingual show, where the children hear the songs in Irish and English and they’re encouraged to join in, exercising their creativity and imaginations.
We met, An Síog Gorm (the blue fairy), An Dragún Buí (yellow dragon), Wally an Éan Ildaiteach (Wally the multi-coloured bird) and Pirate Pete, who all gave us clues to create the magic. The more magic we performed, the more colours were brought back to the books and the Magical Book Kingdom!

Because mine is a very interactive show, I usually ask the children questions, encouraging them to join in and help me tell the story.  What I didn’t expect was that the stage lights would be so bright that I wouldn’t be able to see my audience! So, luckily, the lighting guy brought up the house lights a bit for me during the second show so that I could see them properly!

At the very end, I invited the kids onto the stage to dance with me. I remember as a child being at a show in the Tivoli Theatre, where they invited us onto the stage with the cast members to check out the set and it was really the most exciting experience that I never forgot.

​I hope that these little kids will always remember their first time to visit the theatre where they danced on stage, whilst a woman in a green dress played the guitar!

And I also hope that the next time those children visit the library or the theatre, they will associate it as being as magical when they brought the colours back into the pictures in the books!

If you're interested in booking me for your event or venue, big or small, with any theme you have in mind......please click here!

During the summer holidays, there are so many events that I have to keep a close eye on my diary to make sure that I don't get confused!

In fact, I have a calendar stuck to the fridge AND one on my table as well as having the diary with reminders in my phone!  I double and triple check all bookings that have been made, the week before they're due to happen.  Then, each day, I cross out the events that have actually happened.

July and August 2019 have been as busy as ever.
​I’ve been storytelling, entertaining toddlers and facilitating book-themed workshops in schools, libraries and festivals in Dublin, Kildare and Kilkenny.

There was storytelling in various libraries to celebrate the start of the Summer Stars reading challenge, for the libraries in Dublin, Kildare and Tipperary.  
There were Sarah Sparkles Toddler Time events in various libraries too.

Newbridge library had a Toddler Time that was a little different, as it was Peter Rabbit themed Toddler Time! 
We had Peter Rabbit stories, bunny themed songs and rhymes and a Peter Rabbit challenge, which took some teamwork.  And we made some cute Peter Rabbit themed cards:

The authors of my book-themed workshops were Roald Dahl and David Walliams.
We looked at David Walliams' brand new book "The World's Worst Teachers" and used our imaginations to create our very own worst teachers as pencil toppers to take to school in September.
I met so many fans that were so knowledgeable about the great author, who I am loving more, with each book he presents to the world.  Here is Mr. Too-Greedy and Foolish Frederick (who wears swimming shorts to school, odd socks and an upside-down hat!)

Kids in some Ballyroan, Naas and Athy libraries learned how to be Magicians and make balloon dogs and swords.
And in Celbridge and Athy, other kids learned how to become storytellers.

​I love the word “empower”.  I like to feel that every time I facilitate a workshop or hold a storytelling session, that I’m in a position to empower kids, in a positive way.
Having imagination and knowing our own minds, what we like and don’t like, seeing that we are all different, but really the same.
And in this workshop about Upcycling, to teach kids that we really do have the power to change things. 

I’ve been holding weekly workshops in Athy library this summer and I’ve been loving every one of them.

Last Friday, I had the chance to empower these children by teaching them the value of Upcycling. Which also turned into the importance of planting and the value of sharing with one another.
I wanted to teach them how, by taking small steps, by making our own decisions, that we can help the planet in whatever way we  possibly can. The media floods us with images, frightening news stories and everything that can cause despair and anxiety about this earth right now. Plastic, climate change, pollution....but I wanted to show the kids what they CAN do to help the planet.

I was delighted to find this amazing book in the library:

So I started the workshop off with this and we continued to chat throughout the making process too.
In simple terms, when we create, we calm the part of our brain that lights up when we are under stress. So, chatting to children while they create is so relaxing. They let their guards down, share information, recall and remember what they’ve been taught or heard before.

We started off with the humble egg box....

​And, with the help of reused coloured paper and stickers, they turned them into treasure chests....I don’t need to tell you how all of the creations blew my mind, yet again! Take a look for yourself:

Our next part involved the bottoms of large bottles and milk cartons. We glued a lid on to be a nose, drew on eyes and a mouth and made plant pots. ​

​I think it’s highly important to teach children of the importance of trees and plants. Nature will be the savior of us in the future and we need to teach children how to benefit from this.

As a little treat, I filled the treasure boxes with some smarties for the kids to enjoy when they went home.

And hopefully, this will help them remember their day of learning about upcycling and helping our earth as a fun and happy experience.

As one thing usually leads to another in creativity, the egg carton craft gave me a great idea for making a magical storytelling treasure box! I will reveal all in an upcoming blog soon.....!

Go dtí sin, slán is beannacht....

So, the day finally dawned...it was time to go to the Fairytale Festival 2019! ​

So here’s my costume!  Ta-daaaaaaaaa!!!

I was sooo excited to see “my” tent for the day and the whole set-up! ​

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July is here and it's time for me to start travelling the countryside to summer camps, festivals, events and parties.
And while this busy time kicks off, some of my regular sessions come to a close for the summer months. One of these is my Toddler Time Session in County Library, Tallaght.

Every Wednesday, since 2018, we have had our session in the Library.
My first group was of just 3 toddlers and their parents.  Now, we can have anything from 30-40 babies, tots and their parents/grandparents/minders with them! 
Each week, we start with the magic umbrella and our hello song to welcome everyone.
Then, the book of the week comes out of my bag and the kids have fun telling me which is the correct way to hold the book before we can read it!  It's fun and it makes them laugh, but what the kids don't realise is, that it's introducing them to just one of the important life-skills they will need when they start school.
We have a different book each week. Some are about animals, some are about humans, some are funny, some are sad. No matter what the book, I love to watch the intent look from the toddlers as they process all of this new information.

Wally pops out of the bag to say hello.....but only if the kids can remember the magic word....!  He always has something fun in the bag to teach us about too.
With the help of music, puppets and props, we learn so many new things in a fun way! Colours, parts of our body, ways we can move our body, our feelings and emotions....the list goes on and on!
It's fascinating for me to watch these little people grow from babies in buggies and on knees on to wobbling toddlers and then to walking, talking mini-humans.  

I love how, even after all of these years, I'm always surprised to watch how their legs get stronger, their backs get straighter as they dance along to the music.
All of a sudden, a baby that used to just watch open-mouthed while I performed, stands in front of me, dancing and singing all of the words!

Summer close can be a sad-happy time, as I say goodbye to some of the tots who are off to pre-school in September.  But it's a joy to see them head off to the next big chapter of their lives, with the knowledge of familiar songs and rhymes in their little heads, hopefully making it all a little less frightening for them.
Often, their younger siblings and new babies continue to come to me afterwards too, so sometimes these "older" kids can visit me on their school holidays, which is always fun for me!

This year, I bid a fond farewell to some of my little fans. Good luck to Henry, Darcey, Tadhg and Skye. I know you'll have a truly fab time at your new schools and I hope you'll visit me again from time to time.

To everyone else, see you all in September! And check on my facebook page and here on my blog to hear all about the events I have coming up during the summer months!

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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.

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!