ACTIVITY CORNER

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Tell me a story

Melanie Pilcher, quality and standards manager at the Alliance, shares ideas for exploring storytelling and reading at your provision

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Melanie is responsible for resources that support best practice in all matters relating to the EYFS.

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) educational programmes reinforce the vital importance of reading to children and engaging them in stories, non-fiction, rhymes and poems.

Stories from books

Stories from books will allow children to embed new knowledge with words and pictures, bringing abstract concepts to life. Many story books will become firm favourites, with children demanding that adults read them repeatedly. Children will delight in knowing what comes next and will quickly correct an adult who attempts to skip some of the text.

Children will also test out unfamiliar words that they have heard in stories by placing them in everyday contexts as they engage with their peers during play. There are also plenty of opportunities for role play as they take on the characters in a favourite story and act them out.

Books are important and there is never a wrong time to share a story with a child. Sharing a book can soothe and relax as part of a bedtime at the end of a busy day. Books also inspire and educate children as they see themselves represented as part of a diverse world. Their cultural capital is increased as their eyes are opened to new experiences that build aspiration by conveying the message that the world and all it has to offer is within their reach.

Stories with props

Props can greatly enhance a story. The most obvious examples are the tools that every storyteller possesses – voice, facial expressions and gestures. These should be used in every storytelling session.

Clothes can also add to a story – big pockets, hats, scarves or costumes will always intrigue curious little minds. The story sack is another example of how children’s imaginations are ignited with a few carefully chosen accessories related to a favourite storybook. Story sacks can make stories more accessible to everyone, including children for whom English is not their first language and children with additional needs or disabilities.

Puppets are another fantastic resource when it comes to storytelling. Many children will be fascinated by puppets so they could be a way to engage those who may struggle to concentrate or those who are not used to having stories read to them.

Making it up as you go

Children who have listened to stories will have an innate desire to make up their own. They will relish a chance to change a familiar story or use their own imaginations to create something new. Educators can help to inspire children with a prompt or a less obvious prop such as a stick and mud or sand.

Innuit tribes in North America have for generations used this method to share stories as they draw them in the mud, using sharpened whale bones to create simple figures, similarly other indigenous people have told their stories through cave paintings, that have stood the test of time, surviving for centuries, to be discovered and told again to a new generation.

Young children will soon learn that the story can go in any direction they want. Educators can pique children’s interest, especially if they have a particular learning intention they want to encourage. For example, during outdoor play a child may find a snail or insect. The educator can wonder aloud: “Is that Brian the snail who lives in our garden? I bet he has lots of exciting adventures…”

What comes next?

Older children may find the idea of ‘what comes next?’ hilarious. The educator might start the story by saying: “I saw Brian the snail in the supermarket, he was sitting on a lettuce. I said: ‘Brian, what are you doing?’ and he said…”

Children can then take it in turns to add their bit to a story. Children will draw on their existing knowledge for some aspects. They may know that snails eat lettuce or they may decide to take Brian on a completely different adventure as they flex their imaginations. It all counts!

Helping children to develop a love of books and stories is one of the greatest gifts any parent, carer, or educator can give to a child. Books are the first step, but storytelling came long before books were created. throughout history humans have told stories to entertain, inform and educate, they are how ancient traditions and legends are kept alive and a way of communicating with each other.

As educators, we must prepare children to take their place in a world that is driven by technology. There are more ways than ever for children to listen to stories or access information in a convenient but sometimes clinical way. Audio books or other media may present a story to a child, but there is no substitute for sharing a story together, whether making it up as you go along, or reading from a book and responding ‘in the moment’.