Jumble House Creativity, Early Learning, Education, Learning for young children

CIRCLE STORIES

Children love to be told stories but it’s good for them to make up stories too. The stories don’t need to be written down. They can be recorded on a phone or iPad but it’s not necessary unless you or your child would like this. It the telling and te creative thinking and the ordering of thoughts that is important.

So how do you start?

Well there are lots of ways of initiating a story telling session but here is one way which can be used for children from two to ten.

First ask the children to draw some pictures on small pieces of paper. The younger the children, the fewer pictures. For children under six I suggest two people, two animals,a super hero, and a monster. Then you need a few places ( an island, a house, a wood, and the sea always work well). Then a few objects that fit in with your places. Maybe a boat, a plane, a treasure chest and a cave) These pictures can be changed as children become familiar with them.

For tinies and for first time players, place all the pictures face up on the table.

Someone starts by picking up any picture and saying a sentence to start the story. It’s a good idea to have a few ‘Story Starters’ like:

  • Once upon a time
  • One day
  • One stormy night

The first child ( or an adult can start) May pick up a picture of a boy and say “Once upon a time there was a boy called Tim.”

Then the next child chooses a picture and carries on the storyline , ” Tim lived in a house deep in the woods.”

This continues until all the cards are used or someone can’t carry on the story. In that case they pick up the card saying ‘ The End’ and finish the story with a suitable sentence.

So a story may look like this:

Once upon a time there was a princess called Sally.

Sally lived in a green house.

The house was in the woods.

One day there was a fire in the wood.

Spider-Man flew in and rescued Sally.

He took Sally to the beach

They found a boat

And sailed off to a desert island.

And lived happily ever after.

As children became familiar with the game it can be made more difficult by having the cards face down on the table.

This can also be used as a ‘CIRCLE TIME’ activity with a group of children sat in a circle. No pictures. One child sets the scene…. the kind of story it will be ….by starting with a particular story starter and then it goes round the circle. No one is forced to supply a sentence. If someone can’t think of one then it passes to the next child in the circle. To help an object or toy is passed around. Only the person with the toy can speak. If they don’t want to they pass the object to the next child.

We call this activity a ‘ Circle story’.

Jumble House Challenges, Children, Creativity, Education, Learning for young children, Picture Books for Children

Story Writing

I recently ran a series of story writing workshops for children between the ages of seven and ten.

The challenge I set was to design a series of characters around fruit and vegetables and to use these characters in a short story that a very young child (aged about two or three) would enjoy.

The first workshop centred on looking at picture books designed for younger children. We disused the language, the use of rhyme and repetition and the use of illustrations to help tell the story.

During the second workshop the children drew and described their characters using pencil crayons.

The third workshop was about writing an introduction.

The fourth and fifth workshop covered the development of the plot.

The sixth workshop was about writing a good conclusion.

The seventh workshop concentrated on illustration.

During the eighth and ninth workshop we published our stories using the ‘Book Creator’ app.

The tenth and last workshop gave everyone the opportunity to share their story to the rest of the group.

In order to guide the children through the whole story writing and illustrating process I followed the challenge myself and during the ten week period wrote five stories myself about the little folk who lived on ‘ Five a Day Hill’

The illustrations of all five books are in Pencil Crayon as this was the medium used by the children during the workshops. It is also the medium available in most homes. One of the books also uses digital images created using free apps easily manipulated by seven year olds.

You can listen to the narrated story of PEDRO PEAR using the link below. I chose this story because it was and still is, one of my granddaughter Maia’s favourite. (Aged three).

She loves joining in with the many repetitions especially the ‘BOO’ and ‘YIKES’!!

LINK TO THE NARRATED STORY OF PEDRO PEAR

Jumble House Creativity, Early Learning, Education, Learning through Play, Lesson resourceS, PreSchool

It’s FUN learning at JUMBLE HOUSE

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It IS fun learning at JUMBLE HOUSE! There are new learning  activities every week for children from two to seven plus lots of Art and Craft and Science projects for all ages.

The resources are all free and I am very happy for them to be used in nurseries and schools (a nice comment and a ‘follow’ on FaceBook being appreciated in return!)

My Channel has over 150 short videos aimed at motivating children to be proactive rather than passive.  To develop a child’s natural creativity and to encourage a love of learning.

            The Jumble Fun YouTube Channel
The videos are free to watch and  to share but again, if you are using them please subscribe to my channel or comment or drop me an email. 

I love Italy and now spend most of the year there so for Italian children I have set up a separate website and channel containing fun interactive English lessons. 

               Lezioni D’Inglese per Bambini e Ragazzi

Jumble House Creativity, Early Learning, Education, entertainment

In search of BLUE


I made this little video for my granddaughter who would like everything to be BLUE! 

She also loves the Jumble Tufts. 

I hope other under fives will enjoy it too. 

In addition to introducing the basic colours, the video has an important message:

                                                                                          To be observant! 

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Jumble House Children, Early Learning, Education, parenting, Science, toys

Why Science for young children ? 

Why is science important?  

Because it answers all the questions that kids ask like ‘what are clouds?’ and ‘Why is the sky blue’ and ‘Why do bubbles pop?’ 

Because it explains how the world works. Why earthquakes happen. Why we have thunder and lightening. Why we sprinkle salt on icy paths. Why food goes bad. 

Because science helps kids learn to predict, to problem solve, to research. To persevere and be patient. They learn that not everything works first time and that you learn from your mistakes. 

Because they develop their own opinions rather than being contented accepting those of others. 

Through science children learn to think about the outcome of their actions. The possible results. It motivates them to problem solve. To come up with new ideas and maybe new inventions when they grow up. It also gives them a head start in the future since creative thinkers are sought after in every field of work.

Do you like science? Are you interested in science? Do you enjoy helping your child find out the scientific answers behind his questions? Can you think of fun, practical ways to do this ? If your answer is ‘No’ then it’s probably because you had a bad experience in your early years. Perhaps you didn’t enjoy science at school?  

Primary school teachers have a huge responsibility. It is SO important that they are not just confident in their scientific knowledge but that they are really interested in science. If children are taught by people who don’t have a passion for a subject then unfortunately it is very likely that this negativity will be passed on to their young pupils. 

Research shows that children have formed either a positive or negative opinion about science by the time they are seven or eight. Once formed its very difficult to change that opinion. 

This is so sad because all children are born as creative thinkers. As scientists! They are naturally inquisitive. They want find out about the world around them. Through their play children are discovering and problem solving every minute. For them science is exciting and fun! 

So what can we, as parents do? Well, it’s unlikely you will be able to change your child’s teacher! It’s also unlikely that you will be aware of how they are influencing your child. But nurturing a child’s interest in science begins well before they go to school and once established should see them through any negativity. 

After all science is just part of our every day life. Opportunities arise every time you make bread or dry the clothes or make ice cubes or boil an egg or put soap in the bath or wipe condensation off the windows.  


Children are never too young to investigate. Watch them playing in water, in sand, with play dough, colour mixing,  building towers with bricks. Without realising they are testing volume, density, diffusion, balance, temperature, weight and so much more. This is why hands-on play is so important.   

With support and guidance and motivation a pre school child will enjoy trying to find out the answers to their own questions rather than relying and trusting the answers of others. 

But what if you are not interested in science or unsure how to help. If you can’t think of open ended questions or activities which will stimulate their interest? 

There are plenty of books and science kits and internet sites available but beware of those which require buying specialised equipment. There is no need! You probably already have everything you require in your cupboards! Also be wary of any which simply demonstrate how to carry out an investigation and provides the answer! 

Children require programmes to make them think and question.  The link below will take you to a site which does just this. 

            FUN SCIENCE FOR YOUNG CHILDREN

Jumble House Creativity, Education, Lizzy Witch, Science

Colour volcanoes. Fun Science Experiment for Home and School.

A fun and easy investigation for children from 4 years upwards. 

At Jumble Fun we don’t spoon feed !  We want youngsters to ask questions, to think creatively, to try out their own experiments and not just copy ours! 

Children need to be encouraged to predict the possible results before watching or doing an investigation and to draw conclusions from the results. 

This experiment is a fun way colour mixing as well introducing acid reactions. 

                 Click on this link watch the video

Jumble House Creativity, Education, Festivals, Holidays

What’s Georgie doing? 


What’s Georgie doing? 

She is updating her Travel Journal ! 

Georgie likes to keep a journal of the places she has visited.  Its fun to do and great to share with friends. 

Every time Georgie goes away on holiday she starts a new journal.  Her journal is like a diary. It is a record of where she has been, what she has seen, meals, weather, friends ……. just about anything and everything ! 

Sometimes Georgie writes in the journal but many of the pages are filled with pictures and things stuck in. 

During the day Georgie will collect ‘memories’ and then later stick them into her journal. A memory might be an empty sugar packet from a bar they stopped at for a drink. Or a receipt from a train ride or restaurant or entrance to a zoo or pleasure park. Maybe an advertisement from a festival or the business card from a hotel. A sweet wrapper, a postcard, a shell from the beach.  

Georgie is never bored!  On a journey or sightseeing trip she is always looking for something to write about or a ‘memory’ to stick into in her journal. She takes photographs too so she can add these when she gets back home. 

Her journal is very useful if they go to the same place another time because it contains useful information like how long it took to get there and the restaurants they liked or didn’t like and the festivals and weather  and the contact details of friends they made. 

At the moment Georgie is at home but it’s the summer holidays and so she is keeping a journal of what she has done each day.  Yesterday was the last day of her village festa so this morning she is sticking in the little poster to remind her and jotting down what she ate and the people she saw and the funny things that happened.