Playing as a part of a story time

It's no secret that physical activity and playground games keep kids engaged and stimulated. It's great to have a game as a "reward" for finishing a more difficult activity that requires focus and concentration: e.g., we'll play "statues" after we finish discussing this short story.

To take a game to the next level during story time, we can 'twist' the game to involve characters or objects from our story.

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Stories about Summer - "Summer" by Rotraut Susanne Berner

Summer is in full swing in our part of the world, and it's a great opportunity to tell stories about the seasons, the changing weather and summer activities. "Summer" is a picture book by German artist and illustrator Rotraut Susanne Berner . It's a part of the series called "All Around Bustletown" - or simply "Wimmelbuch" in Berner's native German . Wimmelbuch , or Wimmelbilderbuch literally translates from German as a "book abound with pictures". German philologist Cornelia Rémi describes Wimmelbooks as "a type of wordless picture books which display a series of panoramas teeming with an immense amount of characters and details". According to Rémi, Wimmelbooks have "the potential to accompany children ... along their path to literacy and introduce them to different strategies of coping with the world and of telling stories". Indeed, in our story circle focused on Berner's Summer,...

Storytelling with toddlers - story circle structure

When my oldest kiddo was a toddler, I've tried to have an art activitiy in our local mommy and me group. I've brought finger paints and a big roll of paper. Couple of kids in the group were so eager to participate, they had a blast. They painted with their hands and feet. They got undressed to their diapers and got all arty and messy. Not my kid! He remained fully dressed, spot clean as he refused to touch the paint, and mounted on his tricycle. He calmly observed all the fun and partook absolutely no part of it. I was bitterly disappointed. That day I learned that beautiful messy art activities aren't for everyone. However, if you are consistent and keep art activities in your kids life, eventually they'll find some form of art that is right for them (for example, my kid's favorite art activitiy is playdough. *Not* messy painting). Storytelling with toddlers is really similar in this aspect. Not every kid will be eager to participate in a storytelling c...

Taking Storytelling Outside - and Upside Down

I love love love having story circle outside. True, there might be more distractions. But there's much more freedom. And freedom is great for any creative activity, including storytelling. Pippi Longstocking, arguably one of the freest and open-minded characters in children literature, is often portrayed upside down. “[Pippi] always slept with her feet on the pillow and her head far down under the covers. ‘That’s the way they sleep in Guatemala,’ she explained. ‘And it’s the only right way to do it. This way, I can wiggle my toes while I’m sleeping, too.‘” Astrid Lindgren, Pippi Longstocking (translated by Florence Lamborn).

Storytelling with Kids

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