Creating Kiddo Story Time—Improvisation at Its Best
I sat down with my son, Calvin, to ask him a few questions about his new school and find out what he likes most and least about living in Sweden. His answers surprised me a bit!
After we finished the Q&A, we did a fun storytelling exercise where he provided a few details like the main character’s name and a setting and I took it from there, pausing at random intervals to let him fill in the blanks.
Allowing for 100% pure improvisation can take you and your child down some fun paths and I encourage you to try it out tonight.
Our kid-lib story starts at minute 6:00 above if you want to skip over the Q&A.
Creating kiddo story time:
- Ask them for the name of the main character
- Ask them what special characters they would like to include like a dragon, ghost, a tree that comes alive, I don’t know. Encourage them to be creative.
- Start the story with, “Once upon a time…”
- Pause at random intervals and have them fill in the blanks with dialogue or an action.
- Have fun, use your creativity, and when you feel a natural ending present itself, end with a big, “The end.”
I did this same exercise with my four-year-old daughter yesterday and her story was very different from her brother’s.
Sibling tip: I found it easiest to do when you are in a 1:1 situation and your kid can offer up ideas without feeling pressured by their sibling or without their sibling jumping in with new ideas. In order to challenge their creativity and to foster their voice, it really needs to be done 1:1.
**Music provided by bensound.com**
