I love telling stories to young children. I like seeing their eyes grow bigger and bigger and bigger as they listen and watch. When I tell stories to the little ones I want them to jump inside the world of the story right along with me.
I see my responsibility as a storyteller for young children as this: Be true to the art of storytelling by telling in a way that creates pictures in the mind and leaves lots to the imagination, but also be true to children. Allow children to move and chant and sing and dance and act things out as the story unfolds because that is what children like to do best– be active! Also, I want to do everything possible to make sure that the children understand the story so that they will enjoy the story.I am discovering that the role of storyteller for young children is not always an easy task. I feel like I am walking a tightrope at times.
A big decision I have to make is props or no props? To make this decision I ask myself: Why do I need this particular prop? Will it help the children better understand the story? If I feel that the prop aids in understanding, then I use it. I also have to figure out just the right spot in the story where a little audience participation will not take away from the story, but instead enhance the story. Some questions I ask myself are… What part of the story is perfect for a repeating line or song? What simple body actions go well with the words? Should I use rhyme or rhythm? What words will children think are fun to say?
Sometimes my earliest ideas do not work out so well. For example, I recently created my version of The Magic Porridge Pot by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. In this story an old, mysterious woman gives a little girl a pot that cooks up porridge if you say magic words. I knew I should explain “porridge” because it is an old-fashioned word. I did a little research. I discovered that porridge of long ago is similar to oatmeal that we eat today, so I brought in real oatmeal for the children to see. I also brought in a pot just in case there was one child in the audience who might not know the meaning of that word “pot”. That might sound strange, but most likely there would be that one child sitting there. Now, with the aid of my “props”, we had a meaningful discussion. I could see the children’s heads shaking up and down with understanding, and of course some children blurted out, “I eat oatmeal for breakfast!” Now when the pot cooks up the porridge everybody will “get it”!
In this story there is a chant that the little girl must repeat to make the pot cook and stop. I always like to make the chant my own in some way so this is what I came up with: Cook little pot, cook up a lot! Cook little pot cook, pretty please! And …Stop little pot, not one more drop! Stop little pot stop, thanks a lot!I thought it was perfect. But then I told the story to my first group of kindergartners. It was way too many words for them to remember. So the next day I shortened it: Cook little pot cook, pretty please! And… Stop little pot stop, thanks a lot. Voila! Those words worked like a charm. The story flows so much better now and the children like those simple rhythmic words.
At the end of the story the pot does not stop because the mother forgets the magic words. A porridge flood fills the village. Once the little girl helps her mother and stops the pot, the villagers come onto the streets with buckets, bowls, and cups to scoop up the porridge. Hmmm… I thought, “Wouldn’t it be fun to pass out some little containers to the children so that they can help the villagers spoon up all of that porridge?” I bought some little plastic dishes and buckets. The children love it. It makes the story come alive for them. And that is exactly what I want the children to do – jump inside the story right along with me because It is so much fun! And you know what? I believe children learn best when they are having fun!
Leave a Reply