Creating Audience Participation Stories with Children
Ages: This activity is good for pre-school on up. This section is followed by a section on suggestions for creating audience participation stories for older children to perform for younger students.
For Younger Students:
Read a story to a group of children. Fables work best because they are so short. Now, talk the story through. First, have the children identify the problem in the story. Next, list and describe the characters. You may want to have them draw pictures. Make sure to have them talk through the meaning of the story. Their understanding will help guide you as you adapt the tale. It is fun here to ask them about the moral of the story. I am often delightfully surprised by meanings children find in stories.
Now, list the actions in the story. The key is to identify at least five actions. If you are working with a fable, you may not be able to identify five actions based on the text of the story. Be creative. Ask questions. Brain storm! What other sorts of activities might these characters engage? List the actions on a board or newsprint.
The Ants and the Grasshopper
The Basic Fable: There were some ants who worked really hard. There was a grasshopper who only played the fiddle.
The weather got cold. The ants said, “You should go home now.” The grasshopper said, “I never built a house, I played the fiddle.” The ants said, “You’re going to freeze.”
The Moral: Work or Freeze!
Initially, we could only find two actions. The ants work and the grasshopper plays the fiddle. Then I asked the children what sort of work ants do. We came up with a long list. In the end, we picked three actions: to dig, to pull, and to pile. I asked them what people do when they hear a fiddle and someone responded – They dance! We had five actions: to dig, to pull, to pile, to play the fiddle and to dig.
Go through each action, one at a time; ask for volunteers who can show you a particular action “from their middle on up.” This is key as most young children immediately want to jump to their feet. Once someone has shared a gesture, have everyone practice it.
For each action or gesture, have the children pick a complimentary sound or word. If you can’t come up with a unique sound, use the verb. So, if you are doing digging, the children might make a shovel gesture and say, “Dig,” each time they make the gesture. Have everyone practice the combination of sound and movement. By the time you have completed this step, you will have five sound/actions.
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Time for you to adapt and rehearse. Take the fable away and, on your own, study it. Your goal is to rewrite/adapt the story so that each of the five actions appears in the story at least three times. Make a list of all of the details in the story and look for ways to include the gestures wherever possible. You may have to add an episode. Write this adaptation as a list of words and phrases. This list will serve as a record of the story.
Incidentally, I read The Ant and the Grasshopper to a roomful of second graders and they were appalled at the ending. I knew I needed to expand the story so I began to ask them about what would be fair. When you read the text of the story below, you will see how they chose to “fix” the story. I joke that Mr. Aesop has not complained so far. Of course, he’s been dead of 2000 years. I don’t think it’s an issue for him any more.
The Story List for the Ants and the Grasshopper
Ants Worked Hard Dig Pull Pile Grasshopper Plays the fiddle Ants dance Ants have energy Go back to work Dig Pull Pile Take breaks Fiddle
Dance Gets cold Grasshopper shivers Ants meet Some say, “Let him freeze.” Others want to be able to dance They build him a house Dig Pull Pile Two room house One for the grasshopper One for the dancing floor The grasshopper plays They dance
When you are preparing the story, I sometimes find it fun to do the sound and movement several time each time they get to it. So, “dig” and the gesture becomes and The Ants would, “dig,” (gesture) “dig,” (gesture) “dig.”
Last, as you work on the story, continue to ask the children what the story means. Do they agree with the meaning of the story? Is it fair? How might you change the story so that the meaning is something you all believe in?
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Complete Text of the Audience Participation Version of the Ants and the Grasshopper.
TEACHER: Once upon a time, there were ants and do ants work hard. First they… CHILDREN: Dig (gesture), Dig (gesture) Dig (Gesture). TEACHER: Then they… CHILDREN: Pull (gesture), Pull (Gesture) Pull (Gesture).
TEACHER: Then they… CHILDREN: Pile (Gesture), Pile (Gesture), Pile (Gesture) TEACHER: But if that is all you ever do, life gets CHILDREN: Boring. TEACHER: One day they heard a strange sound CHILDREN: (Children gesture as if playing a fiddle and hum a tune.)
NOTE: it can be any tune. I prefer an Irish ditty. TEACHER: Over the hill came a grasshopper playing a fiddle.
CHILDREN: (Children gesture as if playing a fiddle and hum a tune.) TEACHER: The ants listened. (They do.) TEACHER: The grasshopper played some more. CHILDREN: (Children gesture as if playing a fiddle and hum a tune.) TEACHER: Suddenly, for the first time ever, the ants began to dance. CHILDREN: (The ants “dance.” It can be a little thing, arms out, no sound, as they sit.) TEACHER: When the ants went back to work, they had a lot of energy. First, they’d CHILDREN: Dig (gesture), Dig (gesture) Dig (Gesture).
TEACHER: Then they’d… CHILDREN: Pull (gesture), Pull (Gesture) Pull (Gesture). TEACHER: Then they’d CHILDREN: Pile (Gesture), Pile (Gesture), Pile (Gesture) TEACHER: Taking breaks to listen to the music. CHILDREN: (The grasshopper plays.) TEACHER: And they’d dance CHILDREN: (They dance.) TEACHER: Then it got cold. And the fiddle music sounded strange. CHILDREN: (The children do shivering fiddle bits) TEACHER: Well, they couldn’t dance to that. They asked… CHILDREN: What’s wrong? TEACHER: The grasshopper said, CHILD: It’s getting cold. TEACHER: An ant said… CHILD: You should go home. TEACHER: The Grasshopper said… CHILD: I don’t have a house I never built one. I played the fiddle. TEACHER: Some of the ants said… HALF OF THE CHILDREN: Let him freeze. TEACHER: The others said… THE OTHER HALF OF THE CHILDREN: But what about the dancing? TEACHER: So, on Saturday morning, CHILDREN: Ant Day Off!
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TEACHER: They decided to build a house for the grasshopper. First, they’d… CHILDREN: Dig (gesture), Dig (gesture) Dig (Gesture). TEACHER: Then they’d… CHILDREN: Pull (gesture), Pull (Gesture) Pull (Gesture).
TEACHER: Then they’d CHILDREN: Pile (Gesture), Pile (Gesture), Pile (Gesture) TEACHER: When the house was done it had two rooms, one room for the grasshopper and one room for their… ALL: Dancing floor!!!!!!! TEACHER: Every night when they were done with their work, the grasshopper went to work. He played the fiddle. CHILDREN: (They play the fiddle and hum the tune.) TEACHER: And the ants would do some… CHILDREN: Ant Dancing! (They do.) TEACHER: And that’s a new fable about … ALL: The Ants and the Grasshopper.
This technique will work for any fable or folk tale. The rule of five is not a hard and fast rule. In the following version of The Lion and the Mouse, I do seven sound/movements and plug each into the story in five places. Pretty cool!
NOTE: I have worked with groups of kindergarten teachers and parents who have gone so far as to help the children create construction paper Ants and Grasshopper costumes. This may be a perfect way to deal with Halloween. Here you have a literature based performance activity that includes costumes.
NOTE: You can either assign the lines of dialogue or do them with all of the children saying them or incorporate them into the teacher’s narration.
Sharing Audience Participation Stories with Strangers: Once you have prepared a story, why waste it. Take it out and tell it. When you get to the audience participation parts, instead of stopping to teach, simply do each sound / movement bit through the first time very slowly. Continue the story. When you get to the sound/ movement bit again just say, “Everybody!” and repeat the bit again. With that simple step, the audience gets the idea that you are cueing them. Keep the lead-in lines to each sound/movement the same so that the audience gets their cues. In the Lion and the Mouse, whenever the lion roars I say, “And the lion roared.” The audience hears their cue and the roaring begins.
Putting a Halt to Audience participation: Two bits seem to work quite well. In one, when you want to draw sound to a close, start with your hands together at your middle. Make a wide gesture with both arms, hands open, down then away from the body and up to about the height of your head and back to center. As you bring your hands together close touch your thumbs to your index fingers as if you were pulling apart a bow, like you are a symphony conductor. It works. You might have to say, “When you see me do this (Make the gesture), you do this (Put you finger over your lips).”
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The other technique is The Three Shush Rule. I always say to the audience, “Whenever you hear me go Shhhhhh, Shhhhh, Shhhhhs by the third Shhhhhh, please Shhhhhhh, so I can get on with the story. It always works.
The Lion and the Mouse
Background: I read a version of the Lion and the Mouse to a roomful of third graders. We made a list of the actions in the story. I identified the seven that occurred most often. I then rewrote the story with the goal of using each of the seven sounds in five places in the story. I will mention the sound/movements as we go but you can make up your own or let children select them.
The basic story: A mouse was walking through the jungle when it came upon a lion. The Mouse was terrified.
The lion roared and said, “Why don’t I eat you?”
The mouse was clever and said, “Save me today; some day I may be able to save your life.” The lion agreed and the mouse walked away. One year later the mouse was walking along and happened upon the lion. The mouse was terrified but the lion said, “Can’t you see I’m trapped inside a net the hunters are coming for me. Run!”
The mouse remembered his promise and began to nibble on the net. All the animals and away.. The hunters got closer. The net broke free and the lion ran away and was saved.
The sound/movements the children suggested:
Mouse walking Lion roaring Mouse thinking Mouse being afraid Mouse nibbling Hunter’s guns
Net breaking Animals running
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I took these actions away and came upon some problems. •    I didn’t want guns in the story. •    I couldn’t figure out how to get the mouse to think or to nibble five times. •    The story ended with the lion running away and leaving the mouse.
I brought these concerns back to the class. We decided on three adjustments.
•    That instead of guns we would use hunter’s horns like they use in fox hunts. •    To combine the two sound/movements and make thinking and nibbling the same. •    The lion would stay around long enough to save the mouse and they’d exit
together..
I then asked the students to suggest sounds and movements. We did some experimenting with this and came up with the following.
1.    Mouse walking became mouse “singing and dancing” – move your hands over your head and hum a little tune. (You will notice that almost all of my characters sing and dance as they travel. Just walking is rather boring in a story. Of course if you want them to perambulate or saunter along, now that’s a whole different story.
2.    The lion would roar using claws and all. 3.    The mouse would freeze in fear. That was a silent freeze that looks like a
scream. 4.    Nibbling and thinking would be quick little noisy toothy chews. 5.    The net breaking would be hands popping open and a “bing” noise (Bing,
bing, bing, bing, bing – always five, I don’t know why). 6.    The animals running would be the word, “Stampede!” and a lot of
slapping of the thighs. 7.    Hunter’s horns would be a tooting noise (toot toot toot toot!) with a hand
held up like a bugle.
I took the story away and worked those seven actions into the story in five places. Here is the script. You are free to use it and/or adapt it. I have numbered the sound action 1-7 to correspond with the list above. In the story, for the sake of pace, I call them bits.
Good luck and e-mail me and let me know how it turned out.
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The Lion and the Mouse, A Script with Prompts
A Mouse was walking through the jungle one day singing and dancing (Bit 1). It came upon something in the path and wondered what it was (Bit 3). It couldn’t figure it out, so it climbed up and over (Bit 1). The mouse jumped down turned around and looked right into the face of a lion. The mouse froze in fear (Bit 3).
The lion roared (Bit 2). The lion said, “Why don’t I eat you?” The mouse stopped to think. (Bit 4) The mouse said, “Lion, if you save my life, I will be your friend. Some day you might be in trouble and I could save your life.” The lion said, “Get out of here.” The mouse ran away singing and dancing. (Bit 1) A year passed. The Lion forget the mouse but the mouse never forgot making that promise. One day the mouse was coming down the same path singing and dancing. (Bit 1) It came upon something in the path and wondered what it was (Bit 3). It couldn’t figure it out, so it climbed up and over (Bit 1). It jumped down turned around and looked right into the face of a lion. The mouse froze in fear (Bit 3). The lion didn’t roar. “Didn’t you notice, mouse,” said the lion, “I’m trapped inside a net. The hunters are coming for me. Save yourself.” It was then the mouse heard the hunter’s horns. (Bit 7) The animals began to stampede. (Bit 6) But the mouse did not run. He remembered his promise and he stood there and tried to figure it all out. (Bit 3) Now mice don’t have much going for them but they do have very sharp teeth. The mouse began nibbling on the net. (Bit 4) The net began to break. (Bit 5.) The hunters grew closer. (Bit 7)
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The animals continued to stampede. (Bit 6) The mouse kept nibbling. (Bit 4) The net kept breaking (Bit 5) Hunter’s horns (bit 7)
Stampeding ( Bit 6) Nibbling (Bit 4) Net breaking (Bit 5). Finally the net began to break (Bit 5 over and over – bing, bing, bing, bing, bing, bing, bing, bing, bing.)
The lion jumped up and joined the stampede. (Bit 6) The Lion stopped. He bent over the mouse with those great big teeth. The mouse froze in fear. (Bit 3) The lion picked the mouse up by the tail. It became like the Olympics. The mouse flew through the air. He did three somersaults, (A gesture) three big twists, (A gesture) and landed right between the lions ears. The mouse screamed, “Run!” and they joined the stampede. (Bit 6). The hunter’s horns grew softer (Bit 7) So, they ran a little more. (Bit 6) The hunter’s horns grew softer. (Bit 7) So they ran a little more. (Bit 6) Finally, you could barely hear the horns at all. (A very soft bit 7) The animals stopped. The reason we told you this story? Some day you may get to Africa and if you do you you’re going to notice something strange. Most lions love to roar (Bit 2) but there’s now one lion who prefers to sing and dance.(Bit 1) Most mice still freeze in fear (Bit 3) but there’s now one mouse who roars softly. (Bit 2) If you asked them why, they will say, (This could be a line everyone in the cast says.) “Haven’t you heard out story yet? It’s the story of a friendship, a friendship between a Lion and a Mouse.
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Adapting Audience Participation Stories for Performances, Assemblies and Special Presentations
Set the children on the stage or the floor facing your guests. If it is a small group, the floor will be fine. If it is a large group, in a large room, then you might want to sit the children on music risers. You, the narrator, sits in a chair at the side of the performers. Now, when I suggest this many adults shake their heads and say< “Tom, it’s all well and good to perform for children. If I make a mistake, who cares but if I perform for parents and adults, I am going to be nervous and I will never remember all of the words. Have no fear. You can have the entire sequence on a clipboard.
Suggestion: You might dress a folder up. Put the words “Once Upon a Time” on the cover. This folder will be used by you or any other narrator when you want to read a script as a part of a presentation.
Detailed Written Narration: Here you have a number of choices. Much depends on the memory of the narrator and how much emphasis you want to place on the narrator. If you are serving as the narrator, you want to work quickly, and you are not too nervous, simply write out the sequence of the story list and tell the tale as best you can, simply making sure you have the right sequence for the audience participation bits.
If you would like more emphasis placed on the printed word, you are intensely nervous or you would like a child or children to serve as narrator(s), have the entire story printed out in a large prop book. When I say printed out, I do not suggest you follow the text the story as you first read it to the children as the story will change as you add in audience participation bits. Instead, you should write out the story as you have rehearsed it and include prompts for where the pauses need to be, so the children can do the audience participation bits.
If the story is going to be read, place the narrator in a chair, maybe a rocking chair, in the middle of the children with a large prop book. It makes a wonderful picture. Once the program has gotten underway, get out of the way and let the parents record and photo to their hearts content.
A Recipe for Creating Audience Participation Stories for Older Students
This is an activity that works well if you are preparing a festival of if you plan to share stories with a younger grade.
•    Divide your class up into teams of three. •    Have each team read through a collection of Aesop’s Fables. (This technique can
be done with other types of stories but fables are best because they are so brief.)
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A Suggestion: You might want to review the fables and select a bunch of them
that you feel are appropriate. Some Fables can be a bit rough. •    Have each team member select a fable. Each team will produce three fables. •    Have each team member read their fable to their team members. •    Just to make sure they are on the right track, have team members identify the
problem in the fable, the moral and the essential characters. •    Have team members list all of the actions in each fable. They want to find at least
five actions. If there aren’t five, have them great creative and add actions as long as they are true to the characters and the problem of the fable. (If this is confusing look back to the beginning of this article for more details.
•    Have team members show each action “from their middle on up.” When they have experimented and ultimately agreed on a movement or gesture, have the team members write it down and rehearse it.
•    Have team members pick a sound or word that “goes with” – compliments each action. If they can’t come up with a sound, use the verb. Have them write it down and practice.
•    Move onto the next fable until they have worked out all three. (This may take a number of sessions.)
•    Once, sounds and movements have been picked and rehearsed, have the team member who selected the fable (the primary teller), take the fable home and work on it following this formula: retell the fable so that each sound and movement appears in the story at least three times. (If this is confusing look back to the beginning of this article.) The Formula: Five actions X Three places = an audience participation. In order to get all fifteen bits of participation, almost always, the teller will have to expand the tale and possibly add additional episodes.
•    As a way to rehearse the story, have the storyteller/narrator prepare a basic “Story List.” (Described earlier.) In early rehearsals, the tellers can tell from this basic outline. As a first rehearsal, have the teller stand and share their story with their team members. If you are working with a number of teams, you can all rehearse in the same room. Young tellers seem to find comfort in all that noise. Your job is to just walk about and be supportive.
•    After each team member has told their tale, have one teller stand in the middle while the other two members of the team kneel at the teller’s feet at about a 45 degree angle from the teller to the audience forming a triangle or trine with all three facing slightly inward. As the teller tells the fable, the two kneeling “assistants” do all of the audience participation parts, teaching the audience by example and encouraging them to join in once they’ve done a sound at least once. Some groups may even want to teach the audience all of the sounds and movements before they tell the tale. As the rehearsals proceed wean the teller away from the story list. They can hold it, then put it at their feet and, finally, it can be put aside.
•    This technique of working in trines is particularly effective for novice tellers because they do not have to stand alone. They are working as a team. If a teller is positively terrified, have the kneeling partners face toward the teller and when the teller gets nervous simply have the teller simply tell the story to their partners. In
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this instance, when the partners get to the audience participation parts, they simply look over their shoulders at the audience, do the sounds and movements, and, almost automatically, the audience joins in.
Creating a Festival: You now have teams of tellers. You can send them out to do performances. In
fact, if your project is school-based, you can inform the teachers that the tellers are available and leave it up to the students to “book” performances in individual classrooms. These performances will prove to be just the right size. On average, a fable will take about five minutes to tell. With each team of three, you will be able to offer a lively fifteen minute performance.
If you wish to stage a grander event, you can feature all if the tellers in a festival. You have two basic options: move the tellers or move the audience.
If you have access to a number of rooms, you can have each group of storytellers assigned to a room and have the audience move from performance to performance. In this format each group of tellers would tell their tale a number of times. The tellers would tell their tales, then there would be a break as the audience moved to another performance, then the tellers would repeat their performance.
The other format would have the audience placed in a large space like an auditorium and the teller teams would come on one after another. This is easier to set up but far less intimate and a little intimidating for young tellers.
Broader Applications of Audience Participation: Non-fiction
Not only can audience participation stories be used for fables and works of fiction, I have adapted a number of non-fiction tales using the same format. Two years ago I was reminded of the story of Humphrey, The Humpback Whale, the whale who 15 years ago wandered up the Sacramento River and got trapped. The internet has lots of details about this true story. So, I set about creating “a whale of a tale” that fun to tell and extremely educational.
Here is a list of the actions and sounds:
Tail slapping The whoosh of water from his blow hole Whale singing The children saying “Look there’s Humphrey, the humpback whale The children cheering The scientists banging pipes The children saying, “Go. Go, Humphrey! Home is that-a-way!” I’ll leave you to look up the tale and adapt it as you wish. Good luck!