Story-telling – a creative opportunity not to be missed!

Photo credit: s-o-c-i-a-l-c-u-t on Unsplash

Kids love stories, right? If you have children, you will have books – probably lots of them, whether bought, borrowed or lovingly handed down.

If you have been here a while, you will know that I LOVE books and have the most enormous stash of children’s books (now set aside for any grandchildren that may come my way 😉). My children loved a good book every night before sleep.

I also loved to read and be read to as a child (and have recently wondered why I don’t make more time for it now!) but what I remember most vividly is my Grandad telling me stories about his childhood as I drifted off to sleep… I know they were true stories but to me they were a very different world and isn’t that what stories are?

Telling stories orally is as old as time. Before books, this was how the stories that we know as fairy tales were conceived. They were handed down from generation to generation, adapted as they went. It was a natural thing to do, but these days it seems like it’s something we couldn’t do even though we have been brought up with these stories ourselves and know the basic framework of them.

I know, I know… making up stories seems like hard work when there are so many amazing books out there, and then there is the issue that if you are trying to think of something to tell a story about, your mind goes blank!

But how much fun will it be, and I bet your child REALLY enjoys it – even if you think it’s...

the.

Worst.

Story.

EVER!

They will also benefit from sharing this time with you. They will learn how stories can be told and not written. They may even join in. They will remember your stories and be able to re-tell them. And remember, you don’t have to tell the same version of the same story – it’s much more fun if it changes! It gives children a confidence in their words too, which is going have an impact on their thinking 🙌

This week on Insta, I’m running a story-telling challenge on my stories (seemed the most suitable place to set the challenge! 😆). Each day, I will post a photo of something along with a prompt to get your story-telling journey started. So…

- Read the prompt (if you want to) as your first sentence.

- Then continue on your own.

- Don’t be afraid to make it silly or even not make sense!

- You can make up your own words – Roald Dahl did it, so you can too!

- Don’t put pressure on yourself to be perfect. Children love imperfections!

- If you find it difficult, share the story-telling with your child: you say the first sentence, they say the next and so on and so on… This is a great way to start if you are feeling less confident but really want to give this challenge a go.

BUT

Most of all, be brave and give it a go!

Go on! What’s the worst that can happen?!

Join the fun at www.instagram.com/grow_a_creative_child

And let me know how you get on! Reply here or send a message via Insta or FB

See you next week!

Debbie x