Storytelling Month
May is Storytelling Month at our local school. The children are treated to visiting storytellers, a teacher tells a story over the intercom each morning, and workshops are held to encourage the students to become creative and engaging storytellers. The children each learn and recite a tale from another culture (our eldest son is learning an African folktale), and are taught to use their bodies and voices to help convey meaning and emotion to the audience.
All kids are natural storytellers–so much of their play involves setting a scene and then filling it with characters, dialogue and action. This holds true whether they are playing with dolls or trucks or stuffed animals, or outside playing knights or superheroes. I will often see one of our boys by himself, talking to thin air while creating his latest adventure.
But actual storytelling, one individual narrating to another, is an art unto itself, and one with great benefits for the child and parent alike. It builds vocabulary, inspires creativity and encourages self-confidence and self-expression. It can also help make sense of experiences, putting things in order and drawing conclusions. For a parent, the child’s stories can provide some insight into the child’s mind, showing the interests and fears and emotions that may not otherwise be expressed.
Stories don’t have to be fanciful: They can be as simple as “Tell me about the day we went to the beach”. And children love to hear their own parents’ memories, and will preserve these memories as part of their own store of knowledge.
Sometimes props will help set the framework for the story–my sons will tell lengthy stories about their stuffed animals. An Ostheimer figure or two may provide characters to people the tale. HABA’s storytelling game is a great starting point as well. But we can also get wonderful creations with the words, “Tell me a story,” and an interest in what the teller has to say.