Things to do with your children after a Performance of Starlight

Make a Little Possum out of a Handkerchief.

Talk about the story of Little Possum with your children. See what they have remembered and enjoyed.

Create a Story Corner for Little Possum.  Create a cave for Little Possum by covering a table or a box with material. Build a bridge, with things to see below. You could hang up some fairy lights to be stars or make them together. Talk about what it’s like to be in the dark.

Look for Starlight. Outside of course – but inside as well. Hold a colander up to a light in a dark room. Watch the patterns it can make.  Get torches and see if your child can catch a beam of light on their hand. Use two torches to chase light over ceilings and walls. Look for shiny things around the house that remind your child of starlight – like spoons, foil, glasses, taps, buttons! Look for star shapes everywhere you go on signs, displays, adverts, food, decorations, fabric designs… Make a scrap book of stars that you find.  Go out at night and look at the stars.

Make a Shadow Screen. Using a piece of lightweight cotton hung over a table tucked in at the bottom. Put a light source behind it. Tie some bits of fabric to sticks and see what shadows you can make. They can become anything your child sees. You can also make shadows with your hands.

Look for Reflections. In the story, Little Possum looks at himself in a river. Put some water in a dark bowl and let your child see their reflection. Drop little stones into the water and see what happens. Look for reflections in puddles, shop windows, TV screens, washing up bowls and so on.

Draw a picture with your child of what you think Little Possum looks like.

Find and Tell other Stories that have an owl, tortoise, rabbit, wood, river or starlight in them?

Storytelling Games :

  • Everything has a Story to tell. Take an everyday object, a piece of paper, a shoe, a rubber band, a pair of socks, a cushion, a spoon, a chip etc… and turn it into a character. Tell your child the object’s life story, where it came from and how it came to be in your house. Then hear their version.
  • Instant Story Start from a few initial questions to your child… ‘Does this story happen inside or outside? Who is it about? Where do they live? What’s the matter with them? Where do they go?’ Start telling the story using your child’s answers. Keep asking them how they think the story should go.
  • List Games Start with a simple sentence … ‘I went to the shop and bought some apples …’ Ask your child to repeat the sentence and add an item of their own. Think of an action for each item.
  • The Shopping Bag Examine a few everyday objects in a shopping bag and see how they can be used to tell a story. A banana can be the moon, an orange can be the sun, a carrot a sunburnt man, cotton wool a cloud, frosties snow and tissues clothes.
  • The Story Bag/Box.  Create a special story bag/box to hold objects that can be used for storytelling. Ask your child to take one or more objects from the bag without first looking inside. Make or tell a story together from the objects.

Your Own Story.  Tell a story of something that happened to you or your child when you went on a journey. Don’t forget to share all the feelings you had along the way, particularly if there was a funny incident or you got into trouble! Make some really obvious mistakes and then encourage your child tell the story properly.