There is broccoli on your elbow. There's a carrot in your hand. And a green bean for an earring?

There's Broccoli on Your Elbow is a lively, funny pre-K audio story that teaches the names of fresh fruits and vegetables through the silliest possible geography — your own body. As produce lands on elbows and ears and noses and knees, children learn both their vegetables and their body parts at the same time, in the most delightfully ridiculous way imaginable.

Performed with enormous fun and warmth by Fanni Green, this story is built for the pre-K years: short, energetic, easy to follow, and irresistible to listen to again and again. It's the kind of story that turns into a game — children start pointing at their own elbows and announcing what's on them before the story is even finished.

Free read-along words in English and Spanish at

https://www.sparkscreativestories.com/story-words-activities

Made with love and with gratitude to The Edible Garden at Daystar Life Center, a Food Pantry Farm in St. Petersburg, FL — a reminder that fresh, beautiful food is for everyone.

A Spanish version, Hay Brócoli en Tu Codo, is available on this same channel.

Written and produced by Sheila Cowley. Performed by Fanni Green. Made possible thanks to a grant from the St. Pete Arts Alliance and the St. Petersburg FL Office of Cultural Affairs.

Great for: pre-K stories | fruit and vegetable vocabulary | body parts for kids | healthy eating | toddlers and preschoolers ages 2–5 | kindergarten readiness | repeat listening | vocabulary development | speech development | fun food stories | garden learning | screen-free pre-K

🎙️ Performed by Fanni Green, professional actor and educator

🎧 sound design of a beautiful garden

✨ Screen-free | Sensory-friendly | No ads | No AI voices

📻 Free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Overcast & YouTube — search "Sparks Creative Stories"

🌐 sparkscreativestories.com

Also available in Spanish: search "Hay Brócoli En Tu Codo" on this channel

Feature image – head gardener Robin Clemmons at Daystar Life Center's Edible Garden & Food Pantry Farm

#foodDesert #gardeningForChildren #healthyKids #preKpodcast #childrensPodcast #screenFree #fruitAndVeg #bodyPartsForKids #toddlerStories #preschoolPodcast

Celebrating what a cool person you are on the other 364 days of the year! A joyous, empowering unbirthday story – because you're worth celebrating every day!

Who decided you could only celebrate you on your birthday? Let's celebrate you today!

Today Is Not My Birthday But I'm Celebrating Anyway is a joyful, funny, irresistible audio story about the radical idea that any ordinary day is worth celebrating — and joy doesn't need a reason, a cake, or a date on a calendar.

It's a story for children who love parties and for children feeling left out when it's someone else's birthday – showing that wonderful things can happen right now.

Through warm professional performances and immersive sound design that crackles with laughter, this story is a party that children can carry with them — into the car, into the morning, into any moment that needs a little more joy in it.

Adults who listen alongside children will find it opens a natural conversation about self-esteem, identity, and simple ways to make an ordinary day amazing.

🎈You can find an illustrated Lego art version of this story, and this story in Spanish, Bilingual and in ASL, on the Sparks Creative Stories YouTube channel. Thanks for subscribing!

📚 Free Read-Along words in English and Spanish at https://www.sparkscreativestories.com/story-words-activities

written and produced by Sheila Cowley

performed by Jay Hoff, John Huls and Mary Rachel Quinn

directed by Eugenie Bondurant

Feature image – Lego artist Jay Hoff in front of the St Pete SHINE Fest mural he designed, "Pride and Love"

🎙️ Performed by professional stage, film & TV actors

✨ Screen-free | Sensory-friendly | Dyslexia-friendly | No ads | No AI voices

📻 Free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Overcast & YouTube — search "Sparks Creative Stories"

🌐 sparkscreativestories.com

#joyForKids #childrensPodcast #screenFree #socialEmotionalLearning #kidsStories #audioStoriesForKids #gratitude #familyListening

Your dog thinks everything you read is wonderful — because your voice sounds like home.

Read To Your Dog is a gentle, funny, quietly moving story about the special relationship between children, dogs and books. It celebrates rescue dogs and the families who love them, and gently suggests that reading aloud — to a dog who doesn't care about the words but loves the voice — is one of the most natural confidence-builders for young readers there is.

A story that makes children want to pick up a book and read to the nearest available animal. (Results may vary with cats. . .)

Great for / Perfecto para: dogs and books | reading aloud | reluctant readers | rescue dogs | children ages 3–8

🎙️ Performed by professional stage, film and TV actors

🎧 gentle sound design

✨ Screen-free | Sensory-friendly | Bilingual | No ads | No AI voices

📻 Free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Overcast & YouTube — search "Sparks Bilingual Audio for Kids"

🌐 You can find an illustrated version of this story on the Sparks Creative Stories YouTube channel. Thanks for subscribing!

written and produced by Sheila Cowley

performed by Jim Sorenson

Feature image – Lili and Her Favorite Book, photo by Kim Dohrman

#readingAloud #dogsAndKids #bilingualKids #childrensPodcast #screenFree #rescueDogs

It's hard to hug you in a hammock. It's tricky to tickle you atop a tricycle. And the situation with the portly platypus is getting completely out of hand.

Hard to Hug You in a Hammock is a wildly funny, tenderly moving audio story about something that turns out to be surprisingly hard to do: just ask for a hug. Every time the narrator gets close, something intervenes — a pirate ship, a trampoline, a splendid steamroller, an ostrich in the ocean — until finally, after all the glorious chaos, they manage to say it. Hey. I love you. And I need a hug.

This is a story about emotional bravery in the most delightful wrapping imaginable. Beneath absurdist comedy and wild alliteration, it's about being brave enough to ask for what you need — and how wonderful it is when someone understands. The ending is so tender it will catch you off guard.

It is also, for anyone who loves language, an absolute feast. The wordplay here is extraordinary — jaw-dropping alliteration, assonance, and rhythm that beg to be heard again and again. "Oscillating with you on an ostrich in the ocean." "Among the jolly geriatric jugglers." "A perilous parade upon a pirate ship." 

This is the kind of writing that makes children want to say words out loud just to feel them in their mouths — which makes it exceptional for speech development, phonemic awareness, and the pure joy of language.

written and produced by Sheila Cowley

performed by Ned Averill-Snell

🎙️ Performed by professional stage, film & TV actors
🎧 Immersive sound design
✨ Screen-free | Sensory-friendly | No ads | No AI voices 

📻 Free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Overcast & YouTube — search "Sparks Creative Stories"
🌐 sparkscreativestories.com

Feature image – Brick Walls by Kirk Ke Wang (detail), from his Human Skins series created from thrift store clothing.

#askingForAHug #emotionalLiteracy #alliteration #speechDevelopment #childrensPodcast #screenFree #audioStoriesForKids #wordplay #phonemicAwareness #funnyKidsStories

When the tuba shows up, nothing stays quiet for long — and that is completely, perfectly fine.

When the Tuba Shows Up, It's a Party! is a dance-along, move-along, can't-sit-still-along audio story about friendship, family, music and the unstoppable power of a parade.

Full of rhythm, warmth and the kind of joyful professional performance that makes children jump up and join in, this story is a party that children can carry with them anywhere — in the car, in the kitchen, in the living room.

You can find an illustrated version of this story with read-along text on the screen on the Sparks Creative Stories YouTube channel – and this story in Spanish, and a Bilingual English + Spanish version!

🎙️ Performed by professional stage, film & TV actors

✨ Screen-free | Sensory-friendly | No ads | No AI voices

📻 Free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Overcast & YouTube — search "Sparks Bilingual Audio for Kids"

🌐 You can find an illustrated version of this story on the Sparks Creative Stories YouTube channel. Thanks for subscribing!

written and produced by Sheila Cowley

performed by Jan Neuberger

music by Tuba player Kendrick Wilson

Feature image – by Shasta G. and Lisa Glaser of creativeclay.org

#musicForKids #danceAlong #bilingualKids #childrensPodcast #screenFree #familyListening

Isaac has a firetruck. And it wants to save the day!

Isaac's Firetruck is a warm, energetic audio story about a child, a beloved firetruck, and the power of imagination to turn the ordinary into the extraordinary. Recorded live with vivid professional performances and kids joining in on vocal sound effects of sirens and crazy space sounds (because Eloise is trying to save their neighborhood from interstellar danger!), this story puts children right in the driver's seat of their own adventure — and celebrates the kind of creative, purposeful play that makes childhood rich.

A story for children who love trucks, sirens, and the thrill of being the one who shows up to help — and for the grown-ups who love watching children love things with their whole hearts. Isaac's Firetruck is the kind of story children return to again and again, because the firetruck is always ready to go, and so are they.

Great for repeat listening, and particularly wonderful for children who are drawn to vehicles, community helpers, and imaginative play.

Great for: imagination stories | firetruck stories | community helpers | children ages 2–7 | vehicle stories for kids | creative play | repeat listening | screen-free stories | car rides

🎙️ Performed by professional stage, film & TV actors

🎧 Immersive sound design

✨ Screen-free | Sensory-friendly | Dyslexia-friendly | No ads | No AI voices

📻 Free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Overcast & YouTube — search "Sparks Creative Stories"

🌐 sparkscreativestories.com

written and produced by Sheila Cowley

performed by Mary Rachel Quinn, David Warner, Robin O'Dell and Bridget Bean

directed by James Rayfield

Feature image by Jenny D. of creativeclay.org

This 2023 live performance at The Studio@620 in St Petersburg FL made possible thanks to the St Pete Arts Alliance and the St Petersburg Office of Cultural Affairs. 

#truckstoryforkids

#spacestoryforkids

#interactivestoryforkids

#firetruckStories #imaginationStories #childrensPodcast #screenFree #kidsStories #communityHelpers #audioStoriesForKids

Captain Zumba is sailing to the Isle of Zumba. It's on the map. Never mind that he drew the map, in crayon. It's a completely, absolutely, and official map.

Splish Splash is a gloriously funny two-character audio story about a dreamer and a pragmatist on a very small sailboat — and the imaginary island that turns out, somehow, not to be imaginary at all. Captain Zumba has big plans: a treehouse, a boogie woogie band, a water slide as public transportation (pink, with purple zig-zags), otters who sing six-part harmony, and by far the best bananas. Bing, the long-suffering Lieutenant, has a GPS and a jib that somebody keeps luffing.

This is a story about what happens when you believe in something so completely that the world rearranges itself around you — and about the very specific magic of a dreamer and a pragmatist who genuinely need each other. 

It's also one of the best bedtime stories imaginable: Captain Zumba insists he will never go to sleep, can juggle three bananas, and is absolutely not tired — (yawns) — and then conks out the moment someone hands over his blanky.

The ending with the harmonizing otters will delight you.

written and produced by Sheila Cowley
performed by Jan Neuberger and David Warner
directed by Jim Rayfield

audio mixing by Matthew Cowley

Feature image by Suna M. of creativeclay.org

🎙️ Performed by professional stage, film & TV actors
🎧 Immersive sound design
✨ Screen-free | Sensory-friendly | Dyslexia-friendly | No ads | No AI voices

📻 Free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Overcast & YouTube — search "Sparks Creative Stories"
🌐 sparkscreativestories.com

#imaginationAdventure #bedtimeStories #childrensPodcast #screenFree #audioStoriesForKids #sailingForKids #dreamersAndPragmatists #creativeClay #funnyKidsStories #picturebook