A Sensory Story
We hope you enjoyed Castle Zoo. As well as singing or playing along to the song, we hope you might consider sharing it as a sensory story. Below is a version of the story with some suggested props / sensory elements. You aren’t expected to have all of the props or use every suggestion, just what works best for you and your group. The props suggested are not toys and should only be used under supervision and with your own judgement about what is appropriate for your group.
You can download text only versions of the story and suggested props list / alternatives from www.magictorchcomics.co.uk/access
There’s an old stone castle by the River Clyde and you’ll never believe who lives inside…
Share a container of water and a rough natural stone to present the feel of the river and the castle. You could tap the stone in the water to create the sound of waves lapping against the castle.
Behind a big creaky, squeaky old door, there’s a lion named Max, who’s lost his roar. For each of the animals in the story, there is the option to have a small cuddly toy associated with them to show and share throughout. Or different colours / textures of faux fur. You could also use a squeak toy for the door noise.
Up at the top of the twirling stair, sits the once great dancer, Harry the Bear. The spiral stairs provide the opportunity for motion, perhaps assisting audience to gently turn and spin. Or the spinning could be represented by a spiral fidget toy.
The Castle’s Great Hall is filled with food, for Saffie the monkey, there’s nothing good
There could be squeaky toy food or fruits (with NO banana present at this point) or if appropriate, natural fruit smells.
Grace cheers them up whenever she sings, about seashells and sunshine and happier things
Some seashells could be shared / touched, held to ear. Or a heat lamp used to generate the warmth of the sun.
Grace knows a ghost who won’t give you a fright, and she asks her friend Maggie to help her one night. The motion of a fan could represent the ghost passing, or some light material such as chiffon could brush against audience members.
Now, Maggie knows where to find the zoo key, so she’ll unlock the castle to set them all free. A set of chunky keys to rattle and touch, the fan could be used again over the next 3 sections as Maggie the ghost floats around.
The door swings open and Max finds his roar, pounces out of the castle and down to the shore. Once again the lion toy or material and the squeak of the door as it opens.
The gate is up, this is Harry’s big chance, he twirls down the steps and he has a wee dance. A gentle spin or fidget toy as the bear spins away.
Out of the window, there’s no turning back, there’s just time for Saffie to grab a quick snack. Squeaky banana toy, or scent of banana as Saffie finds her snack.
There were lots more animals trapped in there! A penguin, a puma, a polar bear… You could share the keys again as the animals escape or pick one of these other animals and choose a sensory element just for one of them – for example, penguin might be ice cubes.
Now they are free and can all sail away to find somewhere safe they can play all day. We could have the motion of the fan again for the wind as the boat sails away, or assisting audience to sway from side to side to represent the boat on the waves.
Did you know?
Castle Zoo is based on Newark Castle in Port Glasgow. There are historical sightings of a mermaid at the shore and the ghost of Lady Margaret in the Castle going back hundreds of years.
One of the Castle owners, John Orr, was an animal trader, often trading in big cats and bears. The animals he traded were often kept in the castle cellars.
While there are no records of any animals escaping, there have certainly been sightings of mystery big cats in the hills behind Port Glasgow and Kilmacolm over the years...
