For nursery school children, stories are a portal to adventure. They transport little minds to new worlds, introducing kids to new words, creatures, and places. Both story reading and storytelling- when done right- are important for cementing an early passion for literature. They are also key to giving children a head start in terms of language skills and academics at large. How can you make storytelling in nursery and primary school more fun, engaging, and informative?
Here are some of our tip ideas on nailing storytelling for young kids in a way that builds their interest in reading and language.
Translate ideas into the real world
Stories become even more fun and enthralling when children can experience them in real life. If you’re reading to your students or children a story about lions and other animals of the wild, following up this session with a trip to the zoo, where they can see these creatures in person, is highly beneficial.
When children can regularly see the parallels between what they are reading about and real life, they’ll be motivated to take the driver’s seat in the reading and learning process. They’ll be curious to take on even more adventures.
Leverage the power of props and puppets
Puppets and other storytelling props have quite a large impact on kids, particularly when it comes to teaching storytelling to reserved or shy personalities. With puppets able to shoulder some of the spotlights, these props can help children come into their own and become more comfortable with increased attention on themselves.
On the other hand, children can also learn language skills by mimicking puppets in terms of how they:
- Behave
- Modify their voice
- Move
- Sign or rhyme
Inanimate objects can also help to amp up the antics or drama and give more life to a story. Encourage children to act out communications between two puppets and to try and reenact stories after you’ve shown them to them.
Show passion with story-building games
A storyteller’s most valuable skill is his imagination. But it is a skill that takes time and practice to nail down. One such way to do that is by playing story-building games with nursery school children.
Here, you come up with stories or ideas for stories from scratch. You can start by figuring out what characters you’d both like in the story and giving them names that reflect their personality.
Ensure children take active roles in weaving the storyline, which could borrow inspiration from everyday events such as taking the dog for a walk. Chip in with an initial idea and let your toddler suggest what should happen next.
For instance, you could start, “One day, a man in a yellow hat went to the park and saw a… ” Then the child can fill in what happens next, and so on. Story-building games exercise children’s creativity and imagination while growing their affinity for books and language learning.
Play-act children’s favourite stories
Most nursery and primary school students have a favourite book or two they can’t get enough of. They’ve read these books multiple times over and know the characters and storyline like the back of their hands. Let children enact scenes from these books.
Playing acting can engrain interest in storytelling in addition to bolstering language skills. Doing so can help little ones to learn how to:
- Vary their tones to fit the context- such as using an elevated pitch when a character is happy or a lower tone to convey sadness
- Actively listen to their peers and practice turn-taking when conversing with others
- To accommodate or take into account other people’s emotions as they respond to them
Play-acting builds language skills and can also work wonders for children’s emotional intelligence. It might also be just what the doctor ordered for beginner readers who’re playing catch-up with their peers.
Make storytelling very expressive
The best storytellers aren’t just loud and audible. They are also charismatic and can take on the state of mind of the characters in their stories. It’s important that teachers are highly expressive when reading stories to children so that they can borrow a leaf.
So don’t be afraid to be expressive. If a character jumps in a story, do so in real life. If they tip-toed or got burned by a hot object, illustrate these actions or reactions. Ensure your body language and tone fully capture the extent of what’s happening in the story at that point in time. Remember, little minds watch and learn from your every move.
Stories are gifts that keep on growing
The great thing about storytelling and books is that these are gifts that you can open again and again. And they are not just some fun pastimes; they can mould a child’s language and literacy skills. They can shape their views of the world and even contribute to their personalities for the better. Teachers and parents should prioritize variety in storytelling to expand the horizons of little minds and help them explore a range of experiences.
Also Read Top Storytelling, Reading And Writing Tools From India You Must Know and List Of Storytelling Apps And Tools For Students.
