Silly Stories for Kids

This is about alumnus Sam Ramsden (Year 12 Donvale 2008). He's got four kids, runs an electrical contracting company to put food on the table, contributes actively to his church youth group and in all the resulting spare time pops into his own home-built recording studio to record a podcast called Silly Stories for Kids ...

Don't take my word for it - meet him here.

Sam took time to build his studio because, he says, "Good sound is important to me. I just looked at lots of YouTube videos (Isn't that how anybody finds out how to do practical things?)  and bought stuff off Facebook marketplace."

He started the podcasts about six months ago, with the aim of perhaps subsidising his kids’ school fees – despite their success, he's not making any money yet! I wondered whether Sam starts off with a clear outline of the story he's going to tell?

"No, I just go into the recording booth in the evening with the name of the kid who’s going to feature in the story and then just make it up – I don’t start with any kind of plan, because I enjoy seeing where the ideas take me. I do a bit of tidying up afterwards to edit out any really inappropriate parts or stuff-ups."

Sam's target audience is kids aged from 3 - 8, and he has two great stories to tell of the value of his podcast. 

One day there was a new kid in the church youth group that Sam runs. On being introduced, the response was, “Are you the guy who does silly stories for kids?”

“Yes," said Sam. "And do you have younger brothers or sisters who listen?”

“No,” came the answer, “I listen.” 

On another occasion, a mum told Sam that one night her child was really sick and wouldn’t settle, so she played him one of Sam’s stories - and that immediately settled him to sleep.

So if you need a silly story - or you know someone who does - you can find Sam's podcast  here.