[mommariffic]

My DD loves when I tell her stories - we snuggle, and she asks for "stories from my head..." which I've been supplying with her for a few weeks. Only problem?<br><br>
I kind of stink at it <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/redface.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="Embarrassment"><br><br>
I saw somewhere a resource/book for story telling with kids, and I'm wondering if anyone knows what I'm talking about?<br><br>
Also, how do you go about story telling in your home?

 

[aprons_and_acorns]

When DS was younger we did storytelling by candlelight at bedtime. I made it a point to sort of memorize a few stories and some I just improvised. Simple folktales were the easiest to memorize and he loved them. The stories I just told "off the cuff" would be very boring by literature standards but they really held his interest. Usually the improvised stories would be starring our family and we would go somewhere like the beach and I would just tell about our adventures. Around birthday time there would be a lot of requests for birthday stories. Gentle little bedtime stories, those were such sweet times!<br><br>
Around age 4 1/2 DS really wanted to hear stories about him being a hero of some sort, usually it would be rescuing an animal. Those were VERY popular and he liked to hear them over and over again.<br><br>
Now, at almost six years old we usually do picture books at bedtime and then one little story in the dark, something gentle and with no drama. Although we do some more "exciting" storytelling at other times, especially riding in the car and anywhere we have to wait. He loves to hear stories about when I was a little girl, and we are also doing some of the simpler fairy tales. The longer ones are just too long for me to commit to memory. I am in admiration of the folks who can do it though!

 

[aprons_and_acorns]

<div style="margin:20px;margin-top:5px;">
<div class="smallfont" style="margin-bottom:2px;">Quote:</div>
<table border="0" cellpadding="6" cellspacing="0" width="99%"><tr><td class="alt2" style="border:1px inset;">
<div>Originally Posted by <strong>mommariffic</strong> <a href="/community/forum/post/15431255"><img alt="View Post" class="inlineimg" src="/community/img/forum/go_quote.gif" style="border:0px solid;"></a></div>
<div style="font-style:italic;">I kind of stink at it <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/redface.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="Embarrassment"></div>
</td>
</tr></table></div>
I forgot to add-- I bet your DD doesn't think you stink at it <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/smile.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="smile"><br><br>
I didn't mean for my post to come off like I think I'm some kind of expert storyteller! I hope it didn't sound that way. I am kind of a talky-talker around the house so its easy enough to bumble my way through an improvised "Our Picnic at the Lake" but I think they are stories only my own child would enjoy. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/lol.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="lol">

 

[boatbaby]

If she is asking you again and again to tell them, then you don't stink at it... especially in her eyes. We are BIGbigBIG story tellers here. It's clearly SO important to my DS and even my DH who one would not normally consider the creative or dramatic type, has learned to do it too in his own style.<br><br>
I tell stories about when I was little (his favorite) often with a twist that makes it a little more magical. DH steals more popular culture stories and then changes them, tones them down, makes them his own and one that DS would like. Just roll with it. You can steal a theme (like Goldilocks wandering in the woods and finding a cabin) and then completely change it and make it your own. No bears, different name, she finds something completely different in the cabin, etc. Taylor it to your ideas and your child's interests.<br><br>
Just know what you are doing is FABULOUS and will leave such a warm, special memory with your little one down the road. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/thumb.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="thumbs up">

 

[sweetpeppers]

I'm the same way. He likes my stories, but I would love to get better at it. If anyone knows of some story-telling hints, let me know. They sound so boring to me.