Encouraging storytelling is something we’ve spent a good deal of time talking about here at Classic Play. There are so many reasons to encourage your child’s love of storytelling as well as flex your own literary prowess. Not only will you stimulate the right section of your brain, your children will learn a little something about you and in turn you’ll learn more about them. Creativity, empathy, ability to convey ideas to others—these are a just a few of the qualities of a great storyteller.
So tonight as you’re gathered around the dinner table or tucking the kids in for bed, try one of these exercises. You may find you have your very own Mark Twain living in your house:
Story Improv: assigned each family member a section of story (beginning, middle, end). The first person starts the story and passes it to the next. That person gives it to the next person and so on until the last person is reached and needs to wrap up the tale.
Character/Setting/Problem/Solution: Each person is assigned to come up with one of the follow: character(s), setting, problem or solution. The list is compiled and one or more family members craft a story incorporating all of the elements generated. You use this one as a frame work for the story improv exercise above.
What Happens Next: This is one in which you choose a common story (e.g. Three Little Pigs, Goldilocks, etc) and you ask what happens next? Each person gets a turn to tell what they think happens after the original story ends. Another option is to have everyone come up with new endings for a chosen story.
Mad Libs: For those of you looking for more direction here’s a link for free printable Spring themed Mad Libs. It’s a great tool for learning about parts of speech. Plus you don’t have to face the scary thought of starting a story from scratch. While I personally find that part rather thrilling, I understand the need to wade before going all in.
A Few Notes:
-If the kids get stuck, ask them a few questions to get them started again.
-Have a signal for when a story should start wrapping up. I find that sometimes one can get so engrossed that they forget to keep the story on track for an ending.
-Don’t be afraid to be silly!
I’ve shared a few of the things our family does for storytime. Now it’s your turn. What are some of your favorite storytelling activities?
by Jennifer Cooper, posted on March 9th, 2010 in Ideas and Inspiration
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