An activity that my kiddos really love is what I call, What’s Your Story? Sit in a circle or at a table where you can have eye contact with each child. I usually start with a song just to get the kids paying attention and all on the same page. Even my one year olds will come and sit on the floor with us when we start to sing. I start off the story telling by beginning with a sentence like; “The big bad wolf was coming to town and….”. I the touch the child next to me, or hand off something to them like a wooden spoon, to signify it’s their turn to finish the sentence. It’s then handed to the next child after each child has said their part. Today it went something like this;
The big bad wolf was coming to town and…. He fell down! (this is illustrated with a demonstration) …He said I’ll knock your house down!...So he huffed and he puffed and scooped up a little pig….then he climbed up on top and fell down!...and cracked his head and went to the hospital…then he decide to leave because he wasn’t having fun……he fell down and went to the hospital…. he got a big big bandage on his head….it was so big he couldn’t see cause it was all over his head…. the wolf was tired and his head hurt so he……he went outside and said little pig little pig and I’ll knock your house down.….then he fell down!...... he hurt his knee and couldn’t walk…..he really wanted to go home and go to bed so he started walking home and…..when he got there he fell down! (still being illustrated with a demo)
And so the story went. It is a time for creative thinking, imagination and learning to take turns and listen. Of course it is a time for hilarity and all the silliness you can muster. But it is a good bonding time and memory making time too. This is something you could also do in the car. I like sitting with them and having the eye contact the best though. I believe the kids really feel you are interested in them and care about them this way when you are eye to eye. Try it, you will be glad you did.
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I need to try this with mine who always want a new story, made up with their choice of characters. After working in the classroom all day, my well is sometimes dry.
ReplyDeleteYes it is great for giving them the oportunity to invent all kinds of things and take the burden off you. However, I have had to explain to them a couple of times the difference between making up something and pretending it's real for fun and outright lying. So depending on the childs age, beware! :)
DeleteWhat a great activity! I think it would give children self-confidence, knowing that what they have to say is important to everyone else at the table. Good advice, too, on the "making stuff up" part! You have so many beautiful ideas for personal interaction with the grand kids!
ReplyDeleteThank you! Kids need to be valued for who they are. Sometimes an older child will disagree with the narative another is giving. I remind them that each can say what they like as their part. It doesn't have to make sense or go with the rest of the story.
DeleteI love your example story. I can just hear the excitement in the voices of the children as they add to the narrative!
ReplyDeleteIt gets very exciting at times! Especialiy when they all decide to act out their narrative :)
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