Stories to tell children

[Just1More]

My children have always enjoyed me telling stories to them, but I'm really no good at it at all.  I was wondering if anyone would be willing to share some stories that they've made up for their kids to give me some ideas?

Thanks!

[KristyDi]

Not really what you asked, but as a kid I really loved stories about my parents lives.

My dad told us stories from his football and Army days all the time.  My mom told stories about her summer job as a life guard and the crazy things her brother got up to.

[meemee]

hey you cant be no good as long as your children keep asking for stories.

i am with pp. you dont need content. you have it all within you. i used that time to teach dd about our family history. i'd tell her esp. about the persons who were gone - what life was like then. she loves listening to the stories of when seh was a baby. 

my mom had this signature story that she didnt tell at bedtime but told us at time to hurry up eating or calm us down or get our attention. and the key was that she gave this broad outline and we filled in the story. its about this limousine with everything miniature inside. i remember we would be absolutely fascinated and ask her continuous questions which provided the content. 

the best stories told are not just during bedtime but during other times of the day too. like when we walking to school (though our story telling has been mostly a conversation with me doing most of the talking and dd asking a bunch of questions).

really have faith in yourself. as a toddler dd loved the forest so i'd provide the background and through her questions i'd take the story to where she wanted to go with it. after a while i realised we had focused on a family of butterflies who had all these great adventures in the jungle. when she was 3 and had by mistake let go of this balloon we created an adventure following all the possible places the balloon could have gone and where it could have gotten entangled. 

[reezley]

Following the adventures of the floating balloon is such a nice idea!

The simplest little "adventures" seem to be enough for a bedtime story. Two themes I have are:  The magic car-cart at the supermarket, that the kids (whose names sounds a lot like my two ds's...I just swapped the first letter of the their names) get into when they want an adventure, and the cart really can drive with some magic words!... so they go somewhere and do something (a hike in the woods or whatever), add a few little details of things they saw or someone they met, and then they take the cart back to the store and walk home, sooooo tired, etc. etc.   The second theme I came up with is the rainbow who has gentle little stories about his friends the cloud and the birds, etc.  Sometimes he travels different places and states and stuff. 

Enjoy!  They'll love anything you tell them I'm sure!

[zinemama]

My kids liked to hear about when I was little. Me getting into trouble was especially popular. But heck, they were happy with the account of a snowy morning of sledding.

[mumkimum]

For the longest time, dh told dd stories about herself and her friend ("nanu aah-aah") doing all of dd's favorite things together (going to the beach, play museum, etc.)  He'd let dd guide the stories by asking what she wanted to do together, etc.  They'd fly to Mexico to visit her cousin or whatever and eat all her favorite things .  

I've sometimes told dd stories about a little gnome girl (with dd's name) who wears a pink sparkly gnome hat and . . . seems to always be having tea parties or birthday parties or holidays.

My dad used to tell me stories about myself going on adventures with the king of the bears (those were pretty good).

[Magelet]

As a kid, I loved stories about my parents. When they were kids, and such. Even simple stories, like the time my uncle stole the last dinner roll off my mom's plate and stuffed it in his mouth. Or when he drank turpentine that was in a milk glass, and then bit the policeman who stuck a finger down his throat to make him throw up... Ummm, actually, I think almost all of my mom's stories involve her younger brother and some sort of trouble.... lol.

[Snowflake777]

Originally Posted by Magelet 

As a kid, I loved stories about my parents. When they were kids, and such. Even simple stories, like the time my uncle stole the last dinner roll off my mom's plate and stuffed it in his mouth. Or when he drank turpentine that was in a milk glass, and then bit the policeman who stuck a finger down his throat to make him throw up... Ummm, actually, I think almost all of my mom's stories involve her younger brother and some sort of trouble.... lol.

Ditto this! My brother & I used to beg our dad to tell us stories from when he was a kid.

[Just1More]

Thanks for the support and replies.

Oddly enough, I don't remember much of my childhood.  I don't know why.  We did fun stuff, but most of what I can think up isn't much for a story.  I'll have to think on it more.  Dh is good at that, though.

Tonight, I tricked him into telling the story.  He thought he couldn't do it, and I thought I couldn't share a story that way, but we both could!  And it was fun.

So, thanks!

[mtiger]

I was never very good at making up stories (my ex was excellent at it, though...). So I just told them about stuff from when I was little, stories my parents had told me, stories about their Dad and I when they were little or before they were born. Kind of "the story of them".