Ways to Build Storytelling Skills

Share Family Stories
"When I Was a Kid..."Jar
Pick something to share from your memory (from this list, or put them in a jar to draw from, or look at scrapbooks). These are great to do for a family night (or at the dinner table if no scrapbooks): (add a visual with any of these ideas to make it even more fun for kids. Example: keys to draw from when its your turn to share a travel story)

• your self: favorite clothes, a hobby you did, etc.
• your family: family nights/reunion, quirks about siblings, time with a parent/quotables, etc.
• your house: any room, dinner time, playing in the yard, etc.
• your neighborhood: your block, your friend, playing nearby, your school, etc.
• your travel: family vacations, youth camp, your car, going to school, etc.
• your time: pick a season, a time of day, a day of the week, stage of life, etc.
• your food: meal times, special event foods, story cookbook (recipes with a story behind it), etc.

Family Personality Share...

• expressions
• customs
• characters
• embarrassments
• bonding moments
• discipline moments
• practical jokes

Cooperative Stories/Games
Story Elements Sequence
Its fun to substitute random pieces of a story to piece together. You can do this by having people submit certain elements in the story: person, place, conflict, solution, ending. Or you can use the who, what, where, when, why outline to create a story.

Here is an example sequence that's a little more detailed...

1. The main character is...
2. The setting is...
3. The time is...
4. Other people are...
5. The Main character wants...
6. First thing the main character does...
7. What happens to the main character...
8. What does the main character do now...
9. What happens to the main character...
10. How does the main character try to fix things...
11. Does it solve anything..
12. How does the story end...

*wild cards: Add...

• another character
• something to the scene
• a stinky smell
• a bitter taste
• loud sound
• nice smell
• pleasant taste
• soft sound
• an animal
• a machine
• some food
• a plant

Random Story Rocks

This is like the game "story cube" where there are different words or pictures on each rock and each person picks one. Then one by one you work to string your word onto the next part of a story until they are all used. This also works well with string (either with beads or with clothespins--attach words, pictures/objects). You could adapt this to tell relevant real life stories too, by just picking one word rock and sharing a memory associated.

Rabbit from a Hat
Pretend to pull a rabbit from a hat. Describe it's physical appearance, it's feelings and it's thoughts. Take turns changing those three elements and change the animal too.

Problem Solving Story Games

The Inventor

The adult is the inventor and the children help the inventor create something that satisfies the king's unlikely request. A request is to make something that connects two opposites (make something sweet and salty). The idea is to let the children brainstorm until they creatively find a connection and a story is created.

Wizard

The child plays the role of Wizard and the adult takes the role of a child. Parent starts to tell a story about a situation and asks the Wizard what to do about it. (adaptable to real child's problem situations)

Other Ideas...

Read/Listen to Stories...then share them

Reading lots of stories gets story ideas into your minds. Then practicing retelling them sharpens them into a more clear picture. Each time you practice sharing a story you make the story clearer and clearer in your mind and for others. This allows you to get more familiar with and detailed in your ability to share the story with depth. (as you share more and more add similies and remember to be descriptive with your senses/adjectives.)

Dreams

Accessing our Dreams will help us better find our inner story teller

Preparation: make mental note of a desire to remember dreams

Remember: record them upon awakening

Creation Story
Make up your own creation story of how the world came to be. This is great for kids. And they don't have to write it down (which implies judgment).

Illustrations
Just look at the pictures of a book and guess a story. Pretend you are part of something in the story and tell it from that angle. Whatever works...

Make Written Stories Fun
Written stories are a little 'flat." So why not embellish them and add some dimentson to them. Kids will connect more emotionally, which means they will retain them better in their memory--this is fabulous for stories with good morals behind them (but don't focus on the moral and teach it...the kids will get it from the story without the lecture).

• enhance general descriptions
• personalize the story (add name of child)
• embelling rhyming stories with add lib rhyme
• add sound effects
• modulate voice (and change for characters)
• use your body to show the emotions
• act it out
• substitute silly words
• try singing the words
• change the ending

Retell Folk Tales and Fables

Retelling folktales allows you to cater them for the needs and age of the children. Here are some tips:

1. read the story, noting characters, dialog and plot
2. decide which characters to include and how to speak for them
3. decide how to behind the story and catch the children's attention
4. decide on three to five incidents of the story to dramatize with your voice
5. decide how to end the story to satsify the children