Looking for Storytelling Ideas..

My son is only 2&1/2, but he has loved the "Litle Critter" books by Mercer Mayer since he was born. I used to teach school, so have probably 20 different books by this author. If you're not familiar with these books, they are the "Just Me & My Dad," "Just Me & My Mom," "Just Going to the Beach," "Just Going to the Dentist," "Just Go to the Potty," etc.
Anyhow, my son likes for me to tell him stories about Little Critter (the main character) and him. So I make up storeis about Little Critter and him hanging out watching movies, going to the beach together, going to the library together, etc. He loves it, and sometimes we do that before bedtime, instead of actually reading a book.

Why don't you take a well-known fairy tale and rework the story or tell it from another characters point of view. Maybe give an old story a new setting and see where you can go from there.

My 3 1/2 is doing the same thing. I try to get her to tell me who she would like to have in the story and what they are doing. That way she also has to use her imagination. After the cast and action are decided, I have the story and characters reinact something that she has done that day. She loves having the characters act like her! Good luck.

Get the complete Grimm's Fairy Tales - there are hundreds of stories in there, literally.

Let your son have a turn! Start off with "once upon a time there was a..." and then say "what was there? Help me out with this story!". It might take a few days for him to get what you're doing, but I do this with my 2- and 3-year-old and they love it now. It's fun for me too, because I get to hear what they come up with.

Tell a story that recaps your son's day, with him as the protagonist. My kids love doing this too - the everyday stuff is totally cool in their eyes. Not every story has to have a moral or even much of a plot - just enjoy your time creating a lovely scene with your son.

One of the things we did when the kids were little was always start the story with "Once upon a time there lived a little boy at (our address)..." This helped our kids learn their address. We would sneak in the phone number when they got the address memorized.
Some of the stories I can remember telling are about a trip to CandyLand, a city over the rainbow that had lost all its colors, a friendly dinosaur that hatched from a rock, and aliens. We also tell stories about family vacations, and funny things the kids had done, or what we thought they might be when they grew up.

Hey -
My son is 5 and I just bought a children's bible for him and we are both really enjoying the stories. They are short and understandable for a small child (and actually teach me too!).

Also, if you son is like mine, he may LOVE Thomas. I bought my son a Thomas book of the month club when he turned 2 and we STILL read all of those Thomas stories. And, if you don't want a book a month, I think they will structure it so that they come every other month or so (Scholastics.com).

Also, you could tell him about your childhood - adventure that you went on in your backyard. I know when we were kids, we played outside a LOT more than kids do today and I am sure some of the things I did as a child would make my kids laugh.

-L.

Dear Malini:

I see that you have recieved many great suggestions. I just wanted to add that there are wordless storybooks that you may want to pick up at the library. You can use those as a starting point and you (or your child) could make up a story to go with them. Perhaps this could be a "jumping off point" to get your child more interested in books. And of course, you can use the same animation and flexibility that you use for storytelling when you read a book. You can change the names, town, etc. If your child calls your bluff it will be funny and may inspire him to figure out what all those words really mean.

:-) Jen

Hi, I have 2 and 3 yr old boys whom I tell stories to every night. I also tell them bible stories. I don't think there's anything wrong with telling them the same stories over and over. They like learning the stories. And then they like to tell the stories. We also go to the library and get lots of books. We don't have a tv anymore so they are big on books. Hope this helps.

Hi, I have a just turned 3yr old. She is requesting the same thing from us every day. She still loves her books, but after books she wants me to make up stories. Her favorite ones are ones of when her mommy and daddy were babies and how they grew up and had her. She also likes stories about her. I usually start with "Once upon a time, there was a little girl....." It gets old and my stories end up not making sense most of the time, but she likes them anyway! Good luck!

Your local library should have a wealth of information on storytelling. I would ask to speak to the children's librarian and she or he should be able to point you in the right direction.

Malini
I used to tell my boys and many other children a story about my husband having a pet fish that he kept in a rain brrel. He would take it out of the barrel, put a leash on it and take it for a walk. Of course sound effects is what they really enjoyed.
I also told a story about a group of bugs could talk and do all kinds of thing.
You can make a story out of anything. The sound effects and the excitment is what makes it interesting.

I was a librian at an elementary school 8 years ago and I still have kids that remind me of the talking fish story. Infact my youngest who is an 11th grader wants me to tell it again to him.
I never told it the same way twice. It was always different and if they reminded me about a part I forgot I would have them fill in the blanks.
Tell him stories about your childhood.
Anything can be a story just bring it to life and make it fun.

Hope I helped.

D. - I too love to tell stories. Birth mom of 2 boys but mother to many.

My grandson is same age and loves stories too. I have found he loves stories based on what we did that day or plan to do the next day. I tell his things like "Once upon a time, there was a little boy named ________" and he will fill in the blanks. He loves stories that interact with lion sounds, animal sounds, etc. He recently moved to an apt. after living in the same home since he was born, so I made that into a fun story for him. Small things, going to pool, taking a bath, etc and running into a "sad lion" that has no friends until he met my son. They are not picky as long as you make them sound animated and let them interact and add to story. Have fun and good luck!

How about "background" stories about the "supporting cast" of famous fairy tales like: the Seven Dwarfs, the Big Bad Wolf, etc.

Some of these have become very famous stories of our time, such as in "Wicked" (based on "The Wizard of Oz" story). :) Best wishes!

My children loved for me to just tell the story of the three bears or three little pigs without the story book, and you could also try telling stories of your ancestors, or your childhood, thinngs you played and playmates etc.

This is the time for you to start telling your life history to your children. Write down things that happen to you and your husband. You'd be surprised how fun stories about you or your husband when you were little will crack up your kid.
j

Tell him stories about your childhood and things you did when you were his age. Favorite people in your family, family vacations, holidays or just day to day happenings, pets you had. Things that happened between you and your siblings. Children never think of their parents as being children and they love these stories no matter how old they are or how old they get. The best thing is you never run out of material and you give your children a legacy that is priceless.

Pop some words on pieces of paper and everytime you get to a hmmm? point in the story- pick a pice and start from there-
Also, stories on tape can be found at the library- great for car rides.
Have fun- lucky you!- Trust me- enjoy having them want to listen to you while you can- HA!

D. Sansone
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Have you tried story-time at your local library? Many story-time programs are more than just reading books to kids. Some can involve puppet shows or magicians or art projects. Some libraries even have "bedtime" story time that's at 7 or so at night so you can take them to story time in their pajamas and then put them to bed soon after you get home.

It is exciting to read all the responses to your request. There are numerous social and educational benefits of storytelling. And storytelling is very different from story reading--both have distinct benefits. My husband and I are both professional storytellers and we encourage parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles,...to actively tell stories to the children. And the personal family stories are treasures. Please tell your little ones stories about your childhood.

To jump start a story, you can keep a small box of maybe a few of your childhood treasures and family photos. Let your kid pick something out of the box and you can use it as the theme of your tale.

You don't need to memorize a story, just tell it "by heart." This gives you the freedom to adapt the story to a particular child's needs. And making your child a character in the story is always a hit.

Also, check out the storytimes at your area public libraries. Right now there are lots of storytellers doing library programs--all free. You can get loads of ideas of what and how to tell from watching and listening to them.

If you wish to polish your skills, an excellent book is "Creative Storytelling: Choosing, Inventing, and Sharing Tales for Children" bu Jack Maguire. There are also some wonderful storytelling guilds in the area including the Dallas Storytelling Guild, and the members are always ready, willing and able to share stories and techniques.

--P.

How about telling stories about you and your childhood? Some of my favorite stories were about my mom and dad and their brothers and different things they did. The stories don't have to be wild or fantastic -- just hearing about their lives was cool.

An example: My mom stayed up under the Christmas tree for Santa, but fell asleep. When she woke up, she had a brand new doll in her arms. She beat her brother over the head with the doll because it was unwrapped -- and since Santa didn't leave unwrapped presents, obviously he had opened it!

My daughter is 4 and loves to hear stories about the adventures my dog and I had when I was a child.

If you need inspiration, pull out an old photo album or set of pictures and use them to remind you of the story behind the event photographed, or be inspired to tell various stories about the people in the pictures.

My kids want the same thing, so when I ran out of ideas I started letting them "tell" the story. I will say "once upon a time there was a ________ and they lived in ___________. She/He's favorite ______ was a __________" and so on. I just let them fill in the blanks. It's been fun to hear all the stories they come up with and while I still have to be creative enough to direct the story, they get to do all the hard parts, the details.

I have 3 girls and they love hearing stories also. Sometimes I will read their books and memorize the main details and then re-tell the story as best I can adding whatever I can't remember or changing the story a little to make it better. Also, I don't know if all kids are the same, but my kids love hearing the same story over and over and over and over again!

I have an almost 3 year old and let me tell you I am storied out as well!! Every night it's "mommy tell me a story" over and over again. I am so glad he is interested so I always give in. My child is like yours, he wants me to tell him a story, he won't let me take the easy way out by just reading a book. I ran out of stories a long time ago so this is what I started doing: I tell him stories about himself and what he did that day and just exaggerate them or tell him stories about things he really likes to do. Those are my sons favorite, I hope it helps with yours.

Wow! You must be tired! But what a great mom you sound like! Keep up the wonderful work! You are doing the most important thing in the whole world and you will be rewarded for it, daily and eternally. :-)

I really liked the story of The Goose Girl adapted by Shannon Hale. You should read the book (when you have time). ;-) It is a cinderella type story of a girl who gets displaced out of her royal family and ends up going to another town and tends geese for royalty. Then, or course that prince falls in love with her. She has a special ability to "Talk" to the animals so some people think she is weird (witchy) and some don't. I think she saves the kings geese from theives at some point and everyone is amazed.

Another story:
My mother used to tell me a lovely little story about a swan who was flying in the air in the sunny afternoon and became tired so he took a nap on a cloud. She really described the sun, the warmth, the softness of the cloud.

Best Wishes! You sound like a loving and wonderful mother.
Blessings,
A.

My 3 year old loves hearing my story about the day she was born and also fun stories about me and my mom or dad from when i was a kid. Don't think you need to make up something new every night. When you ask him what story he wants, don't be surprised if he has a favorite that is about you or him... my DD asks for the story of the day she was born at least 3-4 times/week!

Something I do is to tell a part of the story and ask the child, "What happens next?", that way they are being stimulated too. You may also go over the story afterward and ask what they remember from the story. Good Luck, B.

Story Line- it is free and they tell stories on the phone. You could go on there and listen and remember and re-tell the story or if your boy is able to listen to the story on the phone (maybe speaker) he could do that.

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When my kids were little I created a fictional character. Her name was Imelda. She had a funny accent and talked like a little kid. I always began the story the same way, "Hi, I'm Imelda, and I'm 5 years old.....one day...." Imelda always got into some kind of trouble and the story would always end with her saying, "Wah Wah wah wah wah".
Just the other day we were all in the living room and the 13yo girl said, "Can you tell us an Imelda story?"
The stories were always about normal life activities such as going to Grandma's house (breaking something and hiding that she broke it), a sibling being sick (getting in trouble for connecting with a permanent marker his chicken pox dots), going to the park and deciding to go swing on the swing way far away without telling a grown up. It was a great way to share safety issues and also morality - just do the right thing, even if you'll get into trouble.
Use your own life experiences for stories.

If you want more ideas, let me know.
T.

The Book of Virtues by William J. Bennett has great stories of all kinds and from all sources. My kids love them and they come in handy when a story is needed to emphasize a life lesson. You could easily read the stories aloud or retell them.

I love this book called the runaway bunny. This little bunny tells the Mom that he is going to turn into a fish, a flower in a hidden garden, etc and the Mother bunny says she will turn into what ever will counter it. Ex he will be a bird and then she will be a tree that he comes home to and at the end he turns into a boy and runs into a house and she becomes his mother and hugs him and then he says Shucks I might as well stay here and be your little bunny.

Read to him. Show him the pictures. He is enjoying your attention as much as what you are saying. This is the perfect oppurtunity to introduce him to the great adventure of books!

Tell your child about you, and your family. Were did they come from? What did you do when you were a kid, were did you go, what games did you play, etc.... What did your dad do, how about your mother....

Children love to have touch points as to who they really are,,,if you tell them about their family good and bad it ables them to know them self better.

My children love it when I make up stories about themselves, but thinly guised as someone else. They think that's so funny.

They especially love hearing their birth stories and hearing about things they said and did as babies. Funny things like biting mommies breasts when their teeth grew in.

They also love hearing how I and my husband met and fell in love as well as any childhood stories about me and my husband.

Good question.

Hi..I think it's great you are telling stories, as well as reading. I think telling stories helps to develop their imaginations. When my 3 yr old grandson comes to visit I tell a story after we read 3 stories from books. We recently moved to the country and I have incorporated a grasshopper that talks & rides on his shoulder (the story is always about a little boy who happens to have his same name) as we visit the pond, or look for deer, etc. He LOVES it! He also loves stories about when he was a baby or when his mom (my daughter) was a little girl, or when I was a little girl! I think your son would love any story that he is included in! It can be about camping, hiking, fishing, etc. Hope this gives you some new material!! D. G.

I tell my kids stories about themselves, but I call them brown eyed boy and red haired boy and I include their favorite stuffed animals a lot. I also tell stories about (our last name)land where their grandparents and cousins and stuff are characters and they usually do simple things like make cookies or go to the zoo, but I have crazy stuff happen and give their relatives superhero attributes, like Jannel has fire-proof hands so she saved the cookies from burning and Grandpa can fly and Aunt Robin has super finding skills. They tell me when I've got the wrong relative for the job. Think of what they did that day and then tell the story of it to them but have something go funnily wrong. It's fun stuff. You might tape yourself telling the stories and your kids can listen to them over and over.

Dear Malini N,

Ask your mom and grandmom (and your husband's family as well) to tell you stories about when they grew up. It's a win, win, win! You will enjoy knowing more about your heritage and get to spend time with your family while doing so. You will be able to pass the family stories on to your children. My children and grandchilren also love to hear stories about themselves when they were babies.

Enjoy your time together with your precious son!

Deb D