Lighthouse for the Blind in Chicago approached Tellin’ Tales Theatre about bringing a new storytelling workshop to young children who are visually impaired. Tellin’ Tales has responded with the concept of a “story club” to engage children and their parents in activities around a particular story.

Books will be chosen based on the ages and developmental stages of the kiddos. Two well-known children’s books have been selected for the first workshop. Along with the story being read to the children and their parent over Zoom (for now), there will be structured physical activities specifically designed to complement the story that will enhance the following areas of development:

1. cognitive development (recognizing how characters solve problems, reinforcing basic concepts that appear in stories)
2. social and emotional development (understanding other points of view; highlighting empathy, cooperation and conflict resolution in stories)
3. speech and language development (vocabulary words, comprehension of ideas and themes, applying ideas from stories to real life experiences)
4. physical development (activities that target fine and gross motor skills)

The workshop will run for 6 -7 weeks. Approximately 30 children are expected to participate. There is no funding available from either organization at this time.

EXAMPLE: Book 31 - The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
First, the workshop leader will read the story to the kids over Zoom. She will create a Zoom backdrop from one of the illustrations in the story, which will hopefully add a little visual interest to those with some vision.
The Very Hungry Caterpillar eats something new on each day of the week. To reinforce the concept of 7 days in a week, I will share the Days of the Week song—a simple song with a fun beat based on the Addams Family theme song.