Happily Ever Teaching

Join a virtual staffroom of keen teachers to explore the best teaching method known to science: storytelling. In 2014, Epic Tales and EU Lifelong Learning proved that children perform an average of 26% better in tests when taught through stories, a fact that's since been backed up by London's Institute of Education and Bath University, so we're here to help your learners achieve greater success in English, Maths, Science, and more.

Hosted by Oxford Owl storyteller Chip Colquhoun, author of the EU’s guidance on using stories in the classroom, each 15min-or-so episode takes the weekly story in our sister podcast, Fables & Fairy Tales, and discusses it with experienced teachers around a specific curriculum subject. You'll come away with off-the-shelf lesson ideas that are effective, memorable, and enjoyable – all at the same time.

To get the stories as special edition paperbacks containing detailed lesson plans, along with artwork by incredible illustrators such as Winnie the Witch's Korky Paul, join the Epic Learning Book Club by visiting epictales.co.uk/teachhappily

You can also find us on Facebook for weekly storytelling tips from Chip, and join our discussions on Twitter using @TeachHappily to let us know what topics you'd like us to cover.

We look forward to sharing stories with you!

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Last refreshed: August 18th, 2025 at 5:19 AM ⓘ

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Episodes

Teach Art with a Princess and a Giant

Discover fun and effective ways to easily engage children aged 4–11 with lessons around words as pictures, the colour of emotions, and illustrating a text, using the tale of a princess who comes face-to-face with a mountain-shaking giant! Sharing their ideas with you are teachers Helen and Rob alongside Epic Storyteller Chip. Listen to the full story via our sister podcast Fables & Fairy Tales . For additional resources – including lesson plans, story books, storytelling videos, classroom ch...

Nov 11, 2021•8 min•Season 1Ep. 15

Teach Design & Technology with a Princess and a Giant

Discover fun and effective ways to easily engage children aged 4–11 with lessons around strength of materials, strengthening materials, and tool-making, using the tale of a princess who comes face-to-face with a mountain-shaking giant! Sharing their ideas with you are teachers Helen and Rob alongside Epic Storyteller Chip. Listen to the full story via our sister podcast Fables & Fairy Tales . For additional resources – including lesson plans, story books, storytelling videos, classroom chall...

Nov 10, 2021•7 min•Season 1Ep. 14

Teach History & Geography with a Princess and a Giant

Discover fun and effective ways to easily engage children aged 4–11 with lessons around historical jobs, earthquakes, and cultural myths around the world, using the tale of a princess who comes face-to-face with a mountain-shaking giant! Sharing their ideas with you are teachers Helen and Rob alongside Epic Storyteller Chip. Listen to the full story via our sister podcast Fables & Fairy Tales . For additional resources – including lesson plans, story books, storytelling videos, classroom cha...

Nov 09, 2021•10 min•Season 1Ep. 13

Teach Science with a Princess and Giant

Discover fun and effective ways to easily engage children aged 4–11 with lessons around gravity, diets, and circuits, using the tale of a princess who comes face-to-face with a mountain-shaking giant! Sharing their ideas with you are teachers Helen and Rob alongside Epic Storyteller Chip. Listen to the full story via our sister podcast Fables & Fairy Tales . For additional resources – including lesson plans, story books, storytelling videos, classroom challenges and more – visit epictales.co...

Nov 05, 2021•11 min•Season 1Ep. 12

Teach Maths with a Princess and Giant

Discover fun and effective ways to easily engage children aged 4–11 with lessons around scale, area, and volume, using the tale of a princess who comes face-to-face with a mountain-shaking giant! Sharing their ideas with you are teachers Helen and Rob alongside Epic Storyteller Chip. Listen to the full story via our sister podcast Fables & Fairy Tales . For additional resources – including lesson plans, story books, storytelling videos, classroom challenges and more – visit epictales.co.uk P...

Nov 04, 2021•8 min•Season 1Ep. 11

Teach English with a Princess and Giant

Discover fun and effective ways to easily engage children aged 4–11 with lessons around description, persuasion, and poetry, using the tale of a princess who comes face-to-face with a mountain-shaking giant! Sharing their ideas with you are teachers Helen and Rob alongside Epic Storyteller Chip. Listen to the full story via our sister podcast Fables & Fairy Tales . For additional resources – including lesson plans, story books, storytelling videos, classroom challenges and more – visit epict...

Nov 03, 2021•10 min•Season 1Ep. 10

Teach PSHE with a Princess and Giant

Discover fun and effective ways to easily engage children aged 4–11 with lessons around stereotypes, prejudice, and responsibilities, using the tale of a princess who comes face-to-face with a mountain-shaking giant! Sharing their ideas with you are teachers Helen and Rob alongside Epic Storyteller Chip. Listen to the full story via our sister podcast Fables & Fairy Tales . For additional resources – including lesson plans, story books, storytelling videos, classroom challenges and more – vi...

Nov 02, 2021•16 min•Season 1Ep. 9

Teach Religious Ed & Foreign Language with an African Folk Tale

Discover fun and effective ways to easily engage children aged 4–11 with lessons around gods, African tribal languages, and decoding languages, using the tale of a spider who has to catch wasps, a snake, and a jaguar! Sharing their ideas with you are teachers Helen and Rob alongside Epic Storyteller Chip. Listen to the full story via our sister podcast Fables & Fairy Tales . For additional resources – including lesson plans, story books, storytelling videos, classroom challenges and more – v...

Oct 29, 2021•10 min•Season 1Ep. 8

Teach Music with an African Folk Tale

Discover fun and effective ways to easily engage children aged 4–11 with lessons around replicating sounds, body percussion, and creating soundtracks, using the tale of a spider who has to catch wasps, a snake, and a jaguar! Sharing their ideas with you are teachers Helen and Rob alongside Epic Storyteller Chip. Listen to the full story via our sister podcast Fables & Fairy Tales . For additional resources – including lesson plans, story books, storytelling videos, classroom challenges and m...

Oct 28, 2021•7 min•Season 1Ep. 7

Teach Art with an African Folk Tale

Discover fun and effective ways to easily engage children aged 4–11 with lessons around clay, Henry Rousseau, and Ghanaian decoration, using the tale of a spider who has to catch wasps, a snake, and a jaguar! Sharing their ideas with you are teachers Helen and Rob alongside Epic Storyteller Chip. Listen to the full story via our sister podcast Fables & Fairy Tales . For additional resources – including lesson plans, story books, storytelling videos, classroom challenges and more – visit epic...

Oct 27, 2021•9 min•Season 1Ep. 6

Teach Geography with an African Folk Tale

Discover fun and effective ways to easily engage children aged 4–11 with lessons around Ghana, comparing locations, and human and physical features, using the tale of a spider who has to catch wasps, a snake, and a jaguar! Sharing their ideas with you are teachers Helen and Rob alongside Epic Storyteller Chip. Listen to the full story via our sister podcast Fables & Fairy Tales . For additional resources – including lesson plans, story books, storytelling videos, classroom challenges and mor...

Oct 26, 2021•10 min•Season 1Ep. 5

Teach Science with an African folk tale

Discover fun and effective ways to easily engage children aged 4–11 with lessons around classification, diets, and catapults, using the tale of a spider who has to catch wasps, a snake, and a jaguar! Sharing their ideas with you are teachers Helen and Rob alongside Epic Storyteller Chip. Listen to the full story via our sister podcast Fables & Fairy Tales . For additional resources – including lesson plans, story books, storytelling videos, classroom challenges and more – visit epictales.co....

Oct 22, 2021•8 min•Season 1Ep. 4

Teach Maths with an African folk tale

Discover fun and effective ways to easily engage children aged 4–11 with lessons around measuring, estimation, and times tables, using the tale of a spider who has to catch wasps, a snake, and a jaguar! Sharing their ideas with you are teachers Helen and Rob alongside Epic Storyteller Chip. Listen to the full story via our sister podcast Fables & Fairy Tales . For additional resources – including lesson plans, story books, storytelling videos, classroom challenges and more – visit epictales....

Oct 21, 2021•10 min•Season 1Ep. 3

Teach English with an African folk tale

Discover fun and effective ways to easily engage children aged 4–11 with lessons around creating challenges, similes, and Haiku, using the tale of a spider who has to catch wasps, a snake, and a jaguar! Sharing their ideas with you are teachers Helen and Rob alongside Epic Storyteller Chip. Listen to the full story via our sister podcast Fables & Fairy Tales . For additional resources – including lesson plans, story books, storytelling videos, classroom challenges and more – visit epictales....

Oct 20, 2021•11 min•Season 1Ep. 2

Teach PSHE with an African folk tale

Discover fun and effective ways to easily engage children aged 4–11 with lessons around challenges, being brave, and handling emotions, using the tale of a spider who has to catch wasps, a snake, and a jaguar! Sharing their ideas with you are teachers Helen and Rob alongside Epic Storyteller Chip. Listen to the full story via our sister podcast Fables & Fairy Tales . For additional resources – including lesson plans, story books, storytelling videos, classroom challenges and more – visit epi...

Oct 19, 2021•16 min•Season 1Ep. 1

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