How Storytelling Builds Vocabulary and Creativity in Kids

Introduction

Storytelling is an age-old craft and can be defined as a creative and intriguing way of narrating a particular incident that can be hypothetical or borrowed from a real-life event. It's an effective technique for parents to help put their kids to sleep or to entertain them. Other than entertainment, some benefits of storytelling include fostering creativity and also building language skills among children. A growing kid learns different kinds of words by reading and constant interactions with others.

Since storytelling is a creative format that effectively uses language, children are more likely to learn new words and develop a deeper understanding of the construction of sentences. It also provides a creative platform for children to understand the narration and develop an autonomous perspective.

How Storytelling Improves Kids’ Vocabulary and Creativity

Children are inquisitive learners who are always on the quest to know about something new. Storytelling fulfills that requirement of kids. Here is how storytelling improves vocabulary and creativity among children.

• Use of New Words

By narrating different kinds of stories to your kid, you can diversify their vocabulary. Stories are a fun way of introducing new words to your child without making them cram words. The child will also get a practical way of using these words in real-life conversations. This contextual methodology is a great way to introduce new words in your child's vocabulary without making it too difficult for your child.

• Analysis of Language

During a storytelling session, you will see that your child will ask you a lot of questions. Sometimes it may be related to a particular character, emotions, or different things. Hence, your child's mind will be in a perpetual analysis session, where they will try to figure out the connotation behind every word and phrase. This way the child is more likely to retain new words and phrases.

• Better Communication

The bilateral question and answer series during a storytelling session will allow your child to become a more confident communicator. It also facilitates great listening skills and develops patience in your child. All these factors are integral in facilitating a strong foundation of language and vocabulary. You might see that your child's social communication has also improved significantly.

• Open-Mindedness

Storytelling is a creative activity that requires a lot of spontaneity and self-expression. Since it also involves different plots and characters, it gives a child a lot of new perspectives on life. This makes a child more open-minded and accommodating. It also enables the ability to deal with unprecedented situations more carefully.

• Organization of Thoughts

When a child accumulates so much information during the storytelling session, it leads to a natural organization of thoughts. Each thought leads to the other to make a meaningful concept. Thus, a child learns how to accommodate different pieces of information and thoughts all together to make something meaningful out of it. It also helps a child develop a better sense of setting goals and deriving meaning out of a certain situation.

Different Ways to Integrate Storytelling into Your Kid's Life

Here is a look at six engaging ways to integrate storytelling into your everyday life.

• Picture Books

Picture books are visually attractive and have extremely interesting storylines. You can pick up some interesting picture books as per your child's age and read the book to them while showing them the pictures. Encourage them to ask different questions related to both the story and the pictures.

• Puppet Theatre

Puppet theatre is an extremely engaging and unconventional way of introducing storytelling to your child. Try to take your kid to different puppet shows, and if not possible, you can make it happen at home with the help of some popsicles stick figures or with old socks worn on your hands to make characters.

• Bedtime Stories

You may also make it a habit to narrate at least one bedtime story to your kid every day. Try to make it sound as interesting and detail oriented as possible. Change the context every day to keep them interesting.

• Story Stones

Story stones are like a game in which you must take different smooth stones and paint them to make them look like different figures such as a postman, doctor, a young boy, a mermaid, and much more. Now put all of these stones in a bag and ask your child to pick up any stone randomly. The game is to build the story around the stone picked and keep progressing the story by picking up more stones. It is a very spontaneous activity that requires the child to be extremely creative.

Conclusion

It is safe to say that storytelling is an art on its own. It can expose your child to different concepts around the world without actually having to travel. Try to be as creative and imaginative with your storytelling as a parent to instill a deep-rooted interest in stories in your child.