Babies and toddlers will love to hear you tell a story about them!
The sound of your voice will be soothing and keep them distracted while you’re out and about. Even if they don’t understand all of what you’re saying, hearing their name, other familiar names, or sounds they like, such as animal or vehicle noises, will keep them listening.
Your child can join in
As they get older, your child will be able to join in and begin to develop their own story telling skills. You could help them by beginning a story about them, a favourite toy, or pet. If you start a story, leave spaces for your child to help fill in names, actions, and sounds, or to decide what happens next.
Make up a story anywhere
Making up a story together with your child is a fun activity that gets them thinking, speaking and using their imagination. You can make up a story anywhere, when you're out and about use the things around you as ideas to help with the story.
The story subject doesn’t matter. It can be a simple story about themselves, someone they know, or something completely made up. Ideas can come from books, TV shows or favourite toys. Talking about a character or toy they already know can help children feel more confident making up a story.
Here’s some story starter ideas to help you get started:
- An enormous bird landed on the…
- The girl heard a very strange noise…
- I took my dog to the park, but when I got there…
- It was a rainy, and a sunny sort of day, and…
Or you could try re-telling a favourite book, such as We’re Going on a Bear Hunt.
Try including your child's name in a story as you re-tell it, for example Amir and the Three Bears, instead of Goldilocks and the Three bears OR Lara and the Beanstalk instead of Jack and the Beanstalk!
Top tip!
Have fun making up silly stories together! The stories children make up when they’re young might seem a bit silly, or not make much sense to you, but it’s an important skill they’re developing. Don’t be put off if your child’s ideas don’t quite fit with yours!
