Seizing the moment: Telling a new story for early childhood
Boost Your Child’s Early Learning Through Storytelling
Everyone has a story to tell. Yes, even your preschooler can weave a compelling tale about their day when prompted.
Stories are how humans connect. Sharing experiences with others improves communication skills and fosters creativity. Young children are no different.
Reading and storytelling promote brain development and help your child regulate their emotions. Storytelling is one of the most effective ways to boost your child’s early learning.
What is storytelling in early childhood?
Storytelling helps children develop the fundamentally human endeavour of sharing information with and imparting wisdom to others. Children love to hear stories and tell stories. It’s one of the reasons reading to babies and young children is encouraged by child development experts.
Story acting allows children to act out important events to share with their families and peers. They can use this technique to celebrate a success or share something of great interest.
Why is storytelling in early childhood beneficial?
Stories create knowledge and help your child learn from others. It’s one of the most effective ways to build communication skills that involve both speaking and listening.
In traditional storytelling or story acting, adults listen to children and children listen to adults and their peers. Listening to others’ stories whilst having the opportunity to share yours is a powerful learning tool.
Among the ways storytelling and story acting benefit your child are as follows:
- It boosts memory. Children must pay attention to remember the characters, plot, and other important details of a story. When they focus, it improves their memory.
- It develops cultural and moral understanding. Children can learn important cultural and moral lessons from age-appropriate stories that explore different peoples and places.
- It fosters creative thinking.
Storytelling without showing pictures encourages children to use their creativity to imagine how characters and places look. - It improves language skills.
Most parents know reading improves language skills. However, they may not realise storytelling achieves the same results. Storytelling helps children grasp the pronunciation of words and recognise proper sentence structure.
How do you use storytelling at home?
You can boost your child’s early learning through storytelling techniques that extend into their home routines. Some ways you can encourage them to practise their storytelling and story-acting skills at home include:
- Lead by example. Children are little imitators. If they see an adult engaging in an activity, they are more likely to try it. Swap out book reading a few nights a week and replace it with storytelling and story acting.
- Visit storytelling and story-acting events. Libraries, cultural centres, and other programs designed for early learning host storytelling and story-acting events throughout the year. Visit some of these events with your child to develop their love of the craft.
Find storytelling partners
Choose a childcare centre that embraces the power of storytelling in its early childhood curriculum. Creative Childcare prioritises storytelling at every level of learning. Children can enjoy story time that includes both book reading and story acting designed to boost engagement and learning.
Reach out today to learn more about how our team uses storytelling or to book a tour of our facilities.