Storytelling for Kids: A Complete Guide for Parents
You've come to the right place if you're interested in reading stories to children and want to learn more about it. This article delves into the value of storytelling for your child, as well as what holds us back and how we can develop our storytelling skills so that our young children do not miss out on the gift of stories. We hope that narrating stories for toddlers and young children will make you feel more inspired and secure.
Why storytelling for kids is important
Storytelling is facing tough competition from several factors. Digital media and animation have made storytelling possible on demand with only a few mouse clicks. But do we know that it can't replace the importance of an individual narrating a story? If you read through the points below, you'll notice that digital storytelling doesn't allow for as much imagination and isn't as interactive; these are the key factors that contribute to the stated benefits of storytelling for children.
Let's take a look at it.
1. Instill Virtue
Reading stories to children will help them understand the principles of good and evil, as well as the more complicated concepts of morality and ethics. The lessons of the stories are better understood and remembered if they are summarized at the end. It helps the child imbibe all of the values you hope to instill in your stories over time. Of course, you'll need to be a role model for this. Just sharing stories isn't going to help. Respecting elders, caring for others, being compassionate, sharing things, and other values, on the other hand, can be challenging concepts for your child to grasp and imbibe solely through storytelling.
2. Assists in the Learning of Feelings
Stories cover a wide range of emotions. In stories, you will find happiness, joy, elation, sadness, loss, fear, envy, affection, hate, and so on. Storytelling is an emotional feast for children. As a result, children who are exposed to a wide variety of feelings learn to understand and comprehend them. This is the first step toward improving children's emotional intelligence.
3. Promotes Imagination and Creativity in Children
Stories are an excellent way to promote imagination and creativity in children. Your child will imagine the story as you narrate it. If you tell a child a story about a lion king in the jungle, he or she can envision it in a variety of ways. This is where storytelling varies from visual media, where the lion and the forest are depicted with no space for the child to imagine.
4. It's a year-round choice. Action that is enjoyable:
If done correctly, storytelling can be a lot of fun for your kids. Your child will eagerly anticipate ‘storytelling time' (which is normally at bedtime!). This can be used as a motivator (read: reward) to prevent your child from doing something you don't approve of.
Aside from the various advantages of storytelling, it is also a fun activity for your kids. And the best part is that there are no big time or location constraints. You should say a story to help your child escape boredom in a number of circumstances. For instance, you can use a story to support you in any of the following situations:
If you're in the park with your child and he or she refuses to play,
If the weather is poor outside and you're bored indoors,
Before going to bed
If you're waiting for a delayed flight in an airport,
When you're on a long road trip.
5. Stimulate interest and make learning enjoyable:
Stories will enthrall and pique people's interest. It's also a pleasurable way to think. Make use of a wide vocabulary and learn new words. Children can understand and remember the meaning of new words when they are introduced within sentences in the sense of a story. You don't have to restrict yourself to stories you've already read or heard.
Get imaginative and use storytelling to make learning more enjoyable. You may create stories based on your child's favorite characters or lessons you want them to learn. Don't be too concerned with the storyline.
7. Offers assistance Educate about one's culture and roots
Teaching about one's culture and past is also seen as complicated and dull. Storytelling is a fun way to do this. You can tell stories from your youth, holidays, and so on. Mythological tales are also excellent vehicles for imparting cultural information. Children will grow up isolated from their origins if such stories are not included in the "curriculum."
8. Build Listening Skills
Children must learn to listen effectively. Early childhood learning accounts for up to 80% of all learning. As a result, children who have better listening abilities would have an advantage over their peers. Storytelling is an excellent listening practice for youngsters, as it increases patience and enhances active listening skills. These are some of the most important values you can instill in your children.
9. Communication and Speech Skills
Children who listen to stories are also interested in the process and conversation that accompanies the stories. This enables them to formulate questions in order to clarify their concerns, express their opinions, and engage in the debate. As a result, it inspires them to communicate and, over time, helps them develop their communication skills. This also gives them a chance to share their emotions and opinions.
10. Reduces screen time
In addition to all of the other advantages, storytelling for kids has the added benefit of reducing children's screen time. It is not unusual for children to use their phones before going to bed (which is a no-no!). Storytelling in bed is a nice way to pass the time.
How to Learn Storytelling Skills
1. Self-Learning: Children are forgiving and do not judge others.
That's all it takes if you have some stories to tell and the desire to try. You'll improve when you tell stories evening after evening. If you're out of story ideas, pick up a children's book and learn a few. After that, practice telling them in your own terms. If you're at a loss for what to do, go through your child's favorite stories again, even if you've told them before.
2. Participate in online classes
There are several online courses available to teach you how to tell stories. You can take free online courses like this one, and you can also take both free and paid Udemy courses on Khan Academy. The majority of these, however, are oriented toward telling a tale to an audience rather than children. Even though children's storytelling skills are different, you can still improvise and adapt.
Participate in local seminars.
Also, keep an eye out for any storytelling workshops that may be taking place in your city. These may be an excellent way to learn the fundamentals from professionals and develop your storytelling abilities.
We've also included a list of tools that you might find useful. Please let us know how you came across our post. If you enjoyed it, please share it. Sharing is caring, after all!
Resources
Websites:
Free audio stories at storynory.com
Tellmeastorymom.com by Sweta Shrivastava.
WHEEL Council’s blog post about Storytellers.
Books:
Storytelling with Children by Nancy Mellor.
Show Me a Story by Emily K. Neuburger.
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