"Perseus" in school



Have you ever told the same story 7 times to 7 different groups of children? I have, and will have to every Monday for the next 3 to 4 months! I am filling in for a friend who wants a break from storytelling at a school near my place. She has been doing this for 4 years now!.Amazing.
So for my first story, I planned to do, Perseus from the Greek heroes myths. Story is great, right elements of heroism, monsters and magic so children should like it, and I was not wrong on that. I made simple drawings and in my signature style , converted them into stick puppets for use in the class. I made a good looking paper helmet of Invisibility, a Shield, and a pair of paper Sandals with wings to fly.
The children loved the props, and especially got a lot of compliments for my rendition of Perseus. "Awesome" was the word one kid used to describe my drawing of him! Who doesn't like accolade?! I just lapped it up and basked in it!
I threw in a bit of Geography, showed them where Greece was and then started the story. Std 4 was familiar with the story of Hercules and they had many questions to ask, lots of information to share. They knew that Athena was the Goddess of wisdom, etc
Thanks to Harry Potter, children could guess how Perseus cut the Medusa head. Comparing it to the Basilisk, one or two of them shared the mirror idea. Perseus sees the reflection of the Medusa on the polished mirror like shield and then beheads her. If she does see him he will be turned to stone.
So my journey with stories continues, now I have to find a new story every week. I just love it.
Check out my props.

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