Bag Books – Sensory Storytimes

Leigh, Service development Coordinator for South area libraries, has shared her story about delivering Bag book sensory Storytimes. 

Emma Frost and I have had the pleasure of delivering Sensory Storytime’s to the children of Ashgate Specialist Support School, we move around the different classes all named after birds, so we go to the Swifts and the Starlings and so on. We use the Bag Books to deliver our sensory sessions, bag books are multi-sensory books designed to be used with children with severe or profound and multiple learning disabilities, the books are un-bound, and each page has a sensory experience for the children to use and bring the story to life, we take each book page around so all the children get to explore the different sensory experiences, we use hand over hand to encourage and help each child follow and become involved in the story. The books use sight, sound, smells and texture, so all the children get something out of the story. 

The sessions are lovely to deliver, and being part of that moment when a child smiles, laughs or say’s something is amazing, we really see the value in these sessions as they allow children who don’t get anything out of regular books and Storytime to get the joy, pleasure and benefits of a good book. 

Hannah Smith, teacher from Ashgate school said:

“Thank you for delivering the Bag Book sessions this year at our school. They have been extremely engaging for our pupils and have encouraged our children to read for pleasure. We can’t thank the library staff enough for delivering these creative sessions.”