Why do we die and what happens to us after death? The answers to these questions form the basis of belief systems all over the world. The stories we believe form the basis of our relationship with each other and our planet. So what stories can we tell to help foster a love of our planet and deepen our connection to the web of life. After all author and storyteller Ben Okri once said, “Stories are the secret reservoir of values: change the stories individuals and nations live by and tell themselves, and you change the individuals and nations.” Here are five ideas for ‘earthing’ through storytelling and story making 01. Stone stories Ask the tamariki to find a stone and reflect on what stories that stone might know. “I wonder what the stone might have seen/heard/felt?” Encourage the tamariki to tell the stone's story as the stone. This activity can be extended to voicing the stories of other entities in the environment – a tree, a frog etc. 02. Water stories Encourage the tamariki to consider all the places they can think of that they can find water. Encourage tamariki to go on a ‘wai/water hunt’ in their own environment. Share and discuss the discovered sources of water? The word for water in te reo Māori is wai. Ko wai ahau? Who am I? For further ideas on how to move storytelling into dance check out this free resource story dance of the water cycle, https://vimeo.com/465568032. 03. Creation stories Ask the tamariki if they know any creation stories – stories that explain how something came to be as it is. If they don't share a creation story with them. “Stories are the voices of human curiosity?” Encourage tamariki to find something in their environment to tell a creation story about. The provocation for the story comes from a question, such as, "I wonder why bees are yellow and black?" "I wonder why the sea is salty?" "I wonder why the sky is blue?" 04. Sand stories Tell a story by drawing pictures in the sand. For thousands of years humans have recorded stories on stone, earth and sand. Encourage tamariki to tell a simple story by drawing pictures in the sand. These could be recorded on a phone to share. Thee are many examples of Sand Art online including this example, Ugly Duck Sand Art Story, by Colette Earthed Storytelling with Tanya Batt Planting a story in a landscape Dedyn, https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=pjoP7wiaceI 05. Story walks Embed a story in a landscape. Our environment can work as a mnemonic device (think of how when travelling through a landscape we recall experiences from that place). Australian Aboriginal people have song lines – sung stories/map embedded in memory and the landscape, for information about these maps go here: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=kVOG-RKTFIo Take a story for a walk. Leave different parts of the story in different places. Repeat the walk, several times retelling the story. Happy story creating and sharing! About the author Tanya Batt is a storyteller, arts educator and author who specialises in early years education who lives on the Awaawaroa Bay Eco Village on Waiheke Island. She shares her thirty years of experience in her monthly story and arts based online webinars called Batt on the Matt, https:// imagined-worlds.net/batt-on-the-mat December 2022 { 31 }
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