Holiday Listening! - Free Audio Resources

**childcareexpo** · 08-08-2012, 07:49 AM

Hey Everyone,

We've teamed up with Eleanor Johnson from StoryPhones to share some audio resources with you!

Many of these websites offer free resources and hopefully they will be sites that you love:

StoryCloud www.storycloud.co.uk: StoryCloud is a free digital project set up as part of the London 2012 Festival and is releasing a free specially commissioned story from the UK’s leading writers and illustrators. These stories are free to read or listen to each week until the beginning of September.

The Story Museum www.storymuseum.org.uk: The Story Museum in Oxford has set itself the challenge of gathering and sharing 1001 stories. You can listen online via their website.

Words For Life www.wordsforlife.org.uk: A brilliant site created by The Literacy Trust for parents and carers. You can download audio stories and listen to songs. You will also find lots of lovely ideas to encourage your children’s reading.

Rockford’s Rock Opera www.rockfordsrockopera.com/home: This is a fantastic audio experience for older children and grownups. The storyline follows a young boy as he finds out about the environment and the impact of extinction told through story, music and fabulous sound effects. The first chapter is free to download but there‘s such a good cliff hanger, you’ll want to buy the next chapter!

Storynory www.storynory.com: Storynory create free stories to download for all ages and interests. You will find a large number of audio stories to choose from such as traditional tales, myths and legends and classic stories.

Nancy Music www.nancymusic.com: Nancy is a singer songwriter based on the west coast of the USA. She uploads a free song every month perfect for younger children and you can download from her archive of songs.

CBeebies Radio www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts: You can download the best bits of CBeebies as a pod cast from the BBC website. Children can listen to 15 minutes of stories, songs and listening activities. Some of the recordings are made by children and are a very good way of introducing children to the idea that radio is more than listening to music.

If you would like to learn more about audio books and audio stories, Eleanor will be hosting a seminar at Childcare Expo 2012 (www.childcareexpo.co.uk). The session will be packed with tips and activities as well as helping you to find more free resources!