Why Storytelling Is Important For Children (Of All Ages)

photo by Mark Russell

My philosophy, when it comes to story-telling, involves several core values, essential reasons why I believe storytelling is crucial to children and their development.

• Storytelling is a wonderful, dynamic way to unlock a child’s imagination. Storytelling lets us “break the rules” for a little while, so that we can explore beyond the bounds of ordinary life and reality. This is immensely liberating and exciting for kids, whose lives are bound by structure and rules.
• Storytelling requires a child’s attention, and helps them develop their own inner mental imagery. Unlike watching TV or movies, storytelling requires children to cultivate their own imaginative responses and visualizations to go with a narrative.
• Storytelling introduces notions of problem-solving. Many of the stories I tell involve a character who gets into trouble, and has to think creatively in order to “save” themselves or others. These stories demonstrate to children how we can use our native intelligence and creativity to work through difficulties we encounter in life.
• Storytelling creates a safe space for exploring issues that are important to kids: being silly, getting into trouble (and out of it), how to be happy (and what to do when we’re not), and what happens when we grow and change.