Family Storytelling Tips

Creating a delightful original story on the spur of the moment isn’t always easy. Should you experience a time when you open your mouth and nothing comes out, it can help to have handy a few storytelling props – things you and your child can count on to get your storytelling juices flowing. Here are some helpful ideas.

We have listed some suggestions we have for using Storytelling Props to the right.

“I love all the TallTales stories — zany and fun with a scoop of adventure. They put a smile on my face.”
— Brenna, Age 12, Walnut Creek, Ca

Choose from these exciting, original kids’ audio stories.

Tall Tales Audio CD Audiobooks

Clem the Detective Dog
Ralphie The Gopher
Sheriff Daisy & Deputy Bud
Rainbow of the Sioux
The Monotonia Chronicles
Tibbodnock Stories
Fiona the Smart Ghost
Ivan the Not-So-Terrible
Nikki the Invisible Girl
Sarabel to the Rescue

Storytelling Tips

Listen to storytelling podcasts (fun for parents and kids) or subscribe to free TallTales Audio podcasts at the iTunes Store.

Storytelling Props

1) Paint a truck on the ceiling.
Recognizing that stories are often told at bedtime, it can work brilliantly to paint the picture of a favorite item on the bedroom ceiling or wall — a truck, an animal, a hot air balloon, a friendly dragon or anything else your child enjoys. Especially for younger children this will allow you to fashion hundreds of stories about Tommy the Truck, Eunice the Unicorn, Bitsy the Balloon or Donald the Dragon.

2) Feature a favorite stuffed animal.
Kids love having their stuffies come to life. So it follows that whoever your child wraps his or her arms around every night is a perfect subject for a story. But remember, children often closely identify with their stuffed buddies, so you’ll want to be careful to keep them out of harms way.

3) Put objects on the dresser.
All children accumulate favorite items — a brass replica of the Statue of Liberty, a black chrome dog with a broken tail, a Japanese doll and so on. Line up five or six in a visible spot near your son or daughter’s bed. Then let him or her pick which little friend or possibly friends will be the star of that night’s story.

4) Spin a globe.
If your child is lucky enough to have a globe, give it a slow spin and let your child place his or her finger on a country where that night’s story will be set. Don’t worry that you confuse Latvia and Estonia — you’ll do well enough.

5) Hang a few posters.
Many thousands of charming, colorful kids’ posters are available for a reasonable price. Hang a few on your child’s wall with an eye towards storytelling. Like a truck painted on the ceiling, a goofy dinosaur smiling down from the wall over the bed is sure to spark ideas for fun stories. To find posters your child will like, check out www.childgraphics.com, www.barewalls.com and www.allposters.com.

6) Open the family photo album.
Most children, especially 7-12 year olds, delight in hearing the childhood adventures of parents, grandparents or others they love. Turn to the picture of when you were 10 and caught that big fish and your child is sure to beg you to recount every detail. And never be afraid to tell a story because it’s slightly embarrassing. Your kids will appreciate knowing that you weren’t perfect either.

7) Bring out your child’s first toy or article of clothing.
Many kids love to hear stories about their own birth and infancy. (And, of course, everyone is allowed to exaggerate the charming antics of their children by at least 50%.)

8) Dust off the sports memorabilia.
For kids who love sports, your ticket stubs to the third game of the 1980 World Series, or the ball your dad caught off Willie Mays’s bat at the Polo Grounds in 1954 are sure to spark interest not only in that game, but in the whole sports era.

9) Bring out Admiral Byrd’s boots.
My grandfather had somehow scored a pair of boots worn by Admiral Richard Byrd on one of his early 20th century polar explorations. I still remember sitting in his lap stroking those boots as he spun yarns about trekking to the North or South Pole. Many families have similar talismanic objects that make perfect touchstones for exciting stories (check out www.wikipedia.com if you need to brush up on some history).

10) Whistle for the family pet.
All animals have secret lives, even old Bowser asleep under your kitchen table. Have fun expanding on, and perhaps creating, your pet’s secret adventures. It’s especially fun to combine your pet’s adventures with those of your child’s stuffies.

11) Continue a favorite book.
In The Wind in the Willows, Rat, Mole, Badger and Mr. Toad engage in many exciting capers. But even after the last page is read, you can create many more. And even though you never achieve Kenneth Grahame’s storytelling proficiency, your small child is unlikely to notice.

12) Make shadow puppets on the wall.
In “Don’t Kill the Buffalo,” the third episode in the Sheriff Daisy & Deputy Bud CD featured on this site, the shy Indian children make friends by shaping their fingers to create animal-shaped shadows on the teepee walls. By properly arranging the light, you can do the same thing on your child’s bedroom wall, thus illustrating your own story. For inspiration and instructions, check out The Art of Hand Shadows, by Albert Almoznino (Dover) or check out www.kellys.com/ashley/shadow.html.

13) Create a story tent.
Most children, especially youngsters, delight in enclosed tent-like spaces. Whether during family time or at bedtime, if you make a simple tent (often draping a spread from a bedpost or pole will do it), you’ll find that everything you say will be a little bit more interesting.