Once upon a time in London town...

It's been a while since we've been able to participate in Country Kids so it was with great delight that last week during half term me and the boy went for a day out in blazing sunshine and had some outdoor adventures.

We were invited to an event where the children took part in storytelling activities and dressed up as characters. My boy loved his cape and tried on many hats during the morning.

On our way back to King's Cross Station we discovered these beautiful fountains - it's so nice to find a treat like this hidden behind somewhere you've been so many times.

Even better as we had a little bit of time to spare when we did get to St Pancras station I asked if my boy wanted to go on this swing that was right in the station forecourt. It was like a big birdcage and with the sun streaming through the bars it was just lovely.

Of course being my boy, he decided that the bars made a perfect fireman's pole to slide down. I'll say this much for my boy, he's single-minded in his career pursuits.

Finally on our way back home we had a sneaky look behind this sign - it was no more exciting than a broken down escalator, but my boy still wanted to check it out.

It was so much fun to enjoy the sun and spend the day out and about with my boy. We're all back at school and work this week so I'm glad we made the most of the chance last week. 

This post is shared with the Country Kids linky hosted by the lovely Fiona of Coombe Mill

 

Are you sitting comfortably ? Then I'll begin...

Once upon a time there was a little baby boy who hadn't been born yet. He was so wriggly in his Mummy's tummy that his Mummy and Daddy called him 'Jiggly Puff' and they loved to talk to him, telling him stories and singing to the bump.

Mummy would talk to him and use funny voices and Daddy would make sounds and noises to make him laugh. It seemed to work as the growing bump would jiggle about even faster. He sometimes got hiccups too - that always made Mummy and Daddy laugh.

There was another member of the family who hadn't met Jiggly Puff yet and that was Neo the cat. He was a big white cat with a loud miaow and he would sit on Mummy's tummy sometimes. When Jiggly Puff was being playful he would kick Neo and make him jump.

Then when Jiggly Puff was born Mummy and Daddy loved to tell him stories even more and he laughed at the funny voices and the silly sounds and when he was old enough he joined in too. He loved making naughty noises and animal sounds the most.

Trying out the app with Daddy 

One day Mummy was sent an app for her phone that played funny sounds and noises. She asked Daddy to tell Jiggly Puff a story using the sounds and he couldn't wait to have a go himself. So, using the Halloween sound board Jiggly Puff decided to tell a scary story that made Mummy and Daddy jump and even made the cat run away to hide in another bedroom. The app was so easy to use that Jiggly Puff was able to choose the sounds he wanted to use and he could make the story up as he went along.

Spoooooky sounds

There were so many other sounds to use he liked to mix them up so sometimes stories would feature pirates, a fairytale frog and a rocket ship all at the same time. It was a lot of fun to play with the different sounds and made story time so much more fun for everyone in the family. Even the cat would sit and listen - unless it was a scary noise of course - then he'd run away !

Mix and match story sounds 

With this new app Jiggly Puff was the king of storytellers. When he wasn't being a pirate, or a brave knight, or a magic frog that is. All he needed now was a magic wand to make it always story time and never bedtime.

The End.

The Deets: the Storytime app from Notonthehighstreet is a free app and works on iPad or iPhone - we found it was great on both with good sound quality. You can download the app here: Storytime Sounds app

Lost shoes, black & white photos and music - that's where the magic begins.

If we all have a book inside of us then I must have taken a few other people's share of books. I'm always coming up with ideas for stories and when I was younger I used to make up stories for my younger sisters. I created characters based on their toys and incorporated their favourite things into songs and stories. They still remind me of the silly songs I would sing during story time and it makes me blush. Hubbie does the same thing with our boy and I trust he will have some lovely memories of story time too.

So, the Big Idea are running a great competition and have asked what inspires me to write ? Well, to be honest I'd be hard pushed to say what doesn't inspire me. Overheard conversations, news events, absent-mindedly listening to the radio, everything does. I have, however, chosen some things that I find especially inspiring.

Photos: in my parents house there was a black and white photo on the wall unit - which was in the home of every family member. I had no idea who the Sikh man in the photo was, but he was very serious looking and quite young. When we were looking through my parents' wedding album I remember carefully turning back the crinkly tissue paper leaves that concealed magical images from another time and place, people I hadn't met and who I might not. I asked Mum who the elderly Sikh man was and she said it was her father. The man from the photo on the unit. I thought he had died long before I was born, but apparently he was alive until just before I went to India aged 2 and a half.  The story of time in between those two photos captivated my imagination and I have created so many stories based on that time period and the adventures he had.

Music: I love music and hearing a tune or a short clip of music often reminds me of a moment or a place and immediately I have a story taking shape in my head. Growing up with Bollywood music in my home was amazing with the contrast of the sombre and romantic ballads and the crazy pop tunes. From soothing tones to upbeat dance numbers all songs are the potential soundtrack to the script in my head.  

Walking is inspiring

Walking: I used to walk everywhere and would often see things that would make me stop. People having an argument, or an unusual event going on. Having travelled for work I have spent a lot of time observing the world around me. I remember seeing a jacket on the ground by a telephone box - it was sad and sent my mind swirling into the possible reasons for how it had ended up there.  By the time I was home I had imagined the whole tale from the messy break up to the girlfriend throwing the clothes out of the window and one thing being left behind in the melee. 

Windows: Looking out of trains, buses, hotels and in fact any windows provide a wide range of
opportunities for finding stories. The shoe on top of a bus shelter could be either a heartening tale of childish high jinx or a sad and frightening one of bullying. It entirely depends on what mood I'm in whether the tone is dark or light really. 

There is so much more that inspires me, but I'm not going to go on about it. I've got writing to do over here. Now go shoo, get out there and live a bit to get inspired yourself :)