todayschild

Today's Child

The Age of Storytelling
Children today are exposed to stories in a wide variety of methods...from computer games, television, and story books with sounds and moving parts, to puppets of every sort imaginable, and the theatre. If you take a look at all these opportunities you will see that everything is given to the child, and adult for that matter. We do not have to think: the story is presented to us; we do not have to use our imagination: the characters and setting are clearly visible; we do not experience the joy and brain exercise of creating our own stories. This does not mean that these wonderful experiences are inappropriate. It does mean that we need to ensure we are balancing it out with other things: with storytelling, for example. Storytelling: an art form which is being lost with the abundance of technological storytellers in our society. Disappearing is the day when people huddled around the fireplace and shared stories of the day or stories for entertainment. Disappearing is the sharing of traditions and values through stories told without all the props and pictures and imageries presented to enhance the story. The corners of our minds, which in the past have been the creators of images, are getting dusty and rusty. These "corners" not only create the images for stories, but they also are key players in other aspects of our learning, of our lives. By building a child's ability to not only envision the story, rather than just looking at the pictures, but also to tell a story, create a story, we are also building problem solving skills, self-confidence, public speaking skills, ability to express themselves clearly, vocabulary and many other personal skills. Storytelling plays a major role in the overall development of the whole child. "a story a day keeps the cobwebs away"
How to Start a Story Need some help to get it started ? Try these: pictures from calendars, or famous works of art (also builds art appreciation) common objects such as pencils and elastic bands: tell their history, their story nursery rhymes: what happened before / after people you pass on the street, or on the highway: where are they heading Note: (this is also a great way to build empathy, when you create a story about those "inconsiderate drivers": why are they in a hurry, where are they headed, where have they been) story cubes (pictures glued onto blocks): roll the dice and tell a story using the pictures which are showing	How to Build a Story guide the story telling by asking questions encourage the use of descriptive words build into the stories "reasons" things happened all stories need a decisive ending model the use of non-verbal messages: facial expressions, voice tone etc enjoy: enjoy telling a story; enjoy listening to a story
What Next? The sky is the limit. The children can draw a picture of their story create a cartoon story act out their story build props: costumes, backdrops, tools film their play tell "why" they chose the words they used (what previous experiences did they draw on)
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