A great way to spark your child’s imagination is to encourage them to make up stories. No, no not little white lies, I’m tallking about creative fiction. When you create these stories together with your kids, you will not only ignite the flame of their imagination but it’s a great family activity. A story circle is a great way to create such a story.
It’s really quite simple to do. You can do this when you have a bunch of kids over, with your own kids or if you have just one child like I do, the two of you can still create a great story together. But first you’ll need a Story Stick.
A Story Stick is similar to the Talking Sticks many families use when having a family meeting. The person holding the stick is the only one allowed to talk. The same goes with the Story Stick. You can make one with a cardboard tube or dowel and have your child paint or glue pictures and other embellishments on it.
Once you have your stick you’re ready to begin. One person starts the story and then passes the Story Stick to the next person for that person to continue with a sentence or two. Then the stick is passed on and on with each person adding a bit to the story. If you can, record the story so that you can go back and write it down or keep the recording for a family treasure.
You may want to have some story starters before you begin, just to get the ball rolling. You can also write prompts on pieces of paper, fold and place them in a hat or paper bag. Then the person who starts the story can pull a prompt and then add to it with their own sentence or two. You also want to establish how many sentences each person will add to avoid having one person go on and on.
You can also select a theme, a ghost story for example, to get the ball rolling. Tyler and I did this once with the lights off and a flashlight pointed on our face! It was fun with a capital F. Another idea is to take a well-known story and retell it.
These are just suggestions to get you started. Use your own imagination to create your own story circle and see just how much fun you can have.
See also:
Using Audio Books During Family Storytime
Finding Books for Family Storytime