10 TIPS FOR EFFECTIVE STORYTELLING
“Storytelling is the oldest form of education.” – Terry Tempest Williams
And, probably the most effective one. Stories are everywhere, and the art of storytelling is engaging, interesting, and can be made innovative in many ways.
The American Academy of Pediatrics advises parents to start reading to your child from infancy. Children love to listen to stories and reading and storytelling with children promotes brain development and imagination, develops language and emotions, and strengthens relationship between a parent and child.
A study published in Perspectives on Psychological Science in January 2013 stated that ‘reading to a child in an interactive style raises his or her IQ by over 6 points.’
“Reading aloud to young children, particularly in an engaging manner, promotes emerging literacy and language development and supports the relationship between child and parent. “
However, reading is not only a way to help with your child’s language and literacy development. Telling stories is a great activity for both learning and having fun at the same time. A child can learn words and develop language skills from stories and conversations that you share together.
A study published in 2019 that involves MRI images of children’s brain shows that taking away screens and reading to kids younger than 5 boost brain development.
Hence, an effective way to make reading interesting is Storytelling. A research states that “Reading aloud to young children, particularly in an engaging manner, promotes emerging literacy and language development and supports the relationship between child and parent.” We already know the manifold benefits of reading to a child or storytelling.
10 simple ways to make Storytelling interesting & engaging to a child
1. Choose the right story
It is important to know what kind of stories you should read to your child so that he/she finds it interesting. So, know your child’s interest before choosing a book or story to read out.
2. Choose the right time
Kids love to listen to stories at bed time or while eating, make the most of it. Don’t wait for them to feel too sleepy else they will hardly show interest. Keep a specific time every day to read out to them, it can be while they are having their food, before going to bed. Having a dedicated ‘story time’ every day or week will build a habit of reading and a child will look forward to this time.
3. Choose the right pace
You have to read a story according to the pace your child understands and not at the pace that you are comfortable with. So, give time to your child to understand the flow. Start with the cover of the book, explain the images, author name etc. Give them a pretext about the story and the characters and as you read, try to use the fingers to point out the words, mostly for younger kids. Also explain how the characters interact and what is morale (if any) of the story.
Read: Top 5 Must-Read Books for 2-year-old Children on Love & Relationship
4. Use expressions & gestures
Storytelling is all about expression and effective narration. Right from facial expressions, gestures, voice modulation to props, everything matters. Use your hands to point out at things, use different voice for different characters or animal sounds. Also, if possible, use simple props available at home. However, make sure not to overdo it because then their attention might get diverted from the book.
5. Choose an appropriate spot
Though, you can read stories at every nook and corner of the house, still having a ‘cosy corner’ for your child is a good idea. Make a special spot for them where you can spend time reading stories to them or they are comfortable and peaceful at mind. Create an atmosphere at home to tell stories and encourage kids to tell stories.
6. Start early
Experts advice that you should start reading to your child right from birth. They respond to sounds and gradually pick up words. You can read out books with big images and illustrations for babies and toddlers, while stories with simple words for pre-schoolers. Gradually, you can increase the complexity as they grow up. Moreover, it has been noticed that repeating the same story or books, especially for babies and toddlers helps in nurturing curiosity.
7. Add personal touch
Adding personal stories or experiences that your child can relate to while narrating a story makes it more relatable. They can instantly connect to it and you can explain concepts in a better way. Reading parts of the book beforehand and thinking of examples from real life that you can cite while reading will be a good idea.
8. Engage in conversation
It is very important for your child to understand and internalize and not just listen, therefore engage them in conversation while reading. Like for a young kid, you can ask, “What is the animal doing” or some simple questions. For elder kids, you can ask them to interpret the story in their own words or give it a different ending.
9. Enjoy the process
This is probably one of the most important things which we often ignore. You need to enjoy the storytelling time as much as your child. Don’t treat it as chore or sound or look bored. Your child might pick up the cues. So, be happy, sound joyful and use a lot of emotions as required in narration. So, choose a time which is suitable for you and you can focus the most.
10. Plan post story time activities
It is always fun if they have a scope to implement their learnings. You can plan for activities like Storytime during dinner, role plays, story boards based on the story or book you have read to them.
Storytelling is the universal language of communication. Let’s enjoy the process and make it fun & engaging for the child.
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