A great story is even better when the listeners actively become involved in the storytelling experience. Children especially love to participate. They can repeat lines like “Aha!” or “Who will help me?” They can sing a little ditty or make sounds like screams and giggles.
They also enjoy physical motions such as scratching their chins, clapping their hands, moving their arms. They especially enjoy dancing little jigs! You can certainly get them up and moving. You may want to tell them before the story that you have a signal when you want them to stop or sit down.
Some motions come automatically in a story, so just ask your audience, “Can you help me tell that part next time?” They will pick it up immediately. You will not lose the flow of your story. When you get to that part, give a slight nod or pause; they will join right in.
I have found through my storytelling sessions that older kids like to participate as well, so get them involved. When I tell stories to the YMCA day campers, the eighth grade counselors-in-training and the older counselors jump right into the stories, and their enthusiasm is contagious.
Of course, when I ran my fifth-grade storytelling troupe, my kids not only acted out the stories, they told them!