Melbourn children took part in a Festival of Stories and Bunny Hop Trail at the weekend to inspire their love of reading.

The festival was held at Melbourn Hub and was organised by Melbourn Primary School teaching assistant Jacey Stewart, in partnership with Talking Together in Cambridgeshire.

There were three workshops which were fully-booked. The first saw the author Ellie Sandall read from her book 'Everybunny Dance', after which she invited the children to join her in getting dressed up with bunny ears, tutus, rainbow print leg warmers and colourful wigs.

She asked the children to show their best dance moves, which she illustrated in bunny form on a flip chart. The children then sang and danced along to Ellie playing 'If You're Happy and You Know It' on a ukulele and singing and were given the opportunity to create their own bunny ears out of craft materials.

The second workshop was a story time where children listened to a variety of stories, from the classic 'The Tiger Who Came to Tea' to the more recent 'Quick Barney Run!'

For the final workshop Jacey asked the children if they like to play with sticks, and then read them the story 'Not a Stick' by Antoinette Portis. When the story was finished the children collected sticks from the front of the marquee, and used their imaginations to turn them into something other than a stick.

Jacey said: "The results were amazing - from a story stick that makes people read a story at the shake of a story wand, to a magnifying stick that helps you seek out the tiniest objects."

Royston Crow: Ellie Sandalls read from her book 'Everybunny Dance' at the Festival of Stories event in MelbournEllie Sandalls read from her book 'Everybunny Dance' at the Festival of Stories event in Melbourn (Image: Jacey Stewart)

A Bunny Hop Trail was also held around the village, with 36 families taking part. The children had to seek out bunny posters and fill in the missing word on the trail guide. When they returned the completed trail guides to the hub each child received a chocolate bunny.

There was also a book trail, and children found all the books which Jacey had hidden around the village for them to take home and enjoy.

Jacey said: "We received positive feedback from the day's activities and hope to put on another event similar to this in the future."